Warren wanted a Beach Boys thing for this one, and Carl Wilson and Billy Hinsche came in, with Carl arranging the vocal parts. The other harmony vocalists (credited as the "Gentlemen Boys") were Jackson Browne, J.D. Souther, Zevon's longtime backers Waddy Wachtel and Jorge Calderon, and Linda Rondstadt/Stone Poneys guitarist Kenny Edwards.
[Chorus]
Just sever that leash and release
Your freedom of speech
You just have to believe
Your deed will be received
Somehow somewhere
You won't be repaid with a blank stare
Let me know if you dare
There's no one that could cure you like she does
She does
No one could leave you so alone
Here I goes
My vibe is holy
My eyes closed
Either I'm asleep
Or what I'm thinkin' is deep
Eventually I sigh and kick the sheets
Try to piece together why I'm here
Nothing except my own damn eyes and ears
And then it severs so I listen to my heart
Always and ever
If it's not good it might get better
If it's not good it might just sever
I tell you money there's other honey
You always show it but you don't know it
Staring at the door thinking
About the mess you're in
In your couch sinking deep
Over the girl that's gone
[Chorus]
Now all you think about her drink about her
In vain
But all else feels like you're betraying
We're wakin' it up face up and shakin' it up
We know of an extended field
This is the deal we're letting and getting
The vibes that we want
Open up your heart and proceed to feel
Now you're inchin' up to the summit never plummet
Boot your system up
And then bail with the middle finger up
Why you so abrupt baby don't be corrupt
Standing in the club playin' the wall
That they're not her is all
You think and that is true
But what else can you do
Trying to turn back time
Or just to the line
'Cause the space you're in
Is no place like home
Just sever that leash and release
Your freedom of speech
You just have to believe
Your deed will be received
Somehow somewhere
You won't be repaid with a blank stare
Let me know if you dare
There's no one that could cure you like she does
She does
No one could leave you so alone
Here I goes
My vibe is holy
My eyes closed
Either I'm asleep
Or what I'm thinkin' is deep
Eventually I sigh and kick the sheets
Try to piece together why I'm here
Nothing except my own damn eyes and ears
And then it severs so I listen to my heart
Always and ever
If it's not good it might get better
If it's not good it might just sever
I tell you money there's other honey
You always show it but you don't know it
Staring at the door thinking
About the mess you're in
In your couch sinking deep
Over the girl that's gone
[Chorus]
Now all you think about her drink about her
In vain
But all else feels like you're betraying
We're wakin' it up face up and shakin' it up
We know of an extended field
This is the deal we're letting and getting
The vibes that we want
Open up your heart and proceed to feel
Now you're inchin' up to the summit never plummet
Boot your system up
And then bail with the middle finger up
Why you so abrupt baby don't be corrupt
Standing in the club playin' the wall
That they're not her is all
You think and that is true
But what else can you do
Trying to turn back time
Or just to the line
'Cause the space you're in
Is no place like home
Lyrics submitted by pen1234567
Sever Lyrics as written by Douglas Martinez Aaron Wills
Lyrics © Downtown Music Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Spirit Within
Bertoldi Brothers
Bertoldi Brothers
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
this dude just broke up with someone he loved.. and it sucks. it's hard as hell to sever the ties.
When I first bought Soundsystem I was in a situation sorta like this....I heard this song, and it quickly became my favorite. I'd listen to it 10 times a day just because it made me feel so much better. I agree with both of you...it's a song about how hard it is to let go of a love..there's always something inside you wishing that you could go back and fix everything, or hoping that things will eventually work out.
yea, I see the point of this song. My girlfriend broke up with me last friday night. I know sometimes things are better let just as the she wanted to be, but I have to confess: I really want her to come back to me. I need it, and everyone in the world whos reading this believe in this true deep everlasting feeling that I feel for her. I dont want to sever these ties! I can't!
I love how Nick refers to ending the relationship as 'severing' a leash and allowing him to say what he feels. It's so much a positive view of a situation. Also, SA's rhymes are beautifully rhythmic once again.
This is one of my fav 311 songs. "Or else, it feels like you're betraying.." I know exactly how it feels... I just can't stop..
When I first heard this song, when Nick starts singing...amazing, the feeling you get is beautiful, such a good song. The meaning is also just as good as the sound, how you just got to move on, sever the bad memories, and simply move on because you're wasting time on something you can't change or something that will only make you hurt more...
When I first heard this song, when Nick starts singing...amazing, the feeling you get is beautiful, such a good song. The meaning is also just as good as the sound, how you just got to move on, sever the bad memories, and simply move on because you're wasting time on something you can't change or something that will only make you hurt more...
It is definitely about gathering the strength and positive outlook to get over a bad break up. I don't think 311 necessarry mean that nick ended the relationship. Its just in general the feeling of knowing it isn't going to work out but youve already got emotions towards them and you don't really want to start over. If you listen he is very emotional about it and counters many positive outlooks.
I also went throughj a rough break up and hard times when I heard this song
how i see it, this song is kinda sending the same message as I Told Myself....like get out of the relationship..forget about it....but its about a relationship..move on, let go off the memories...