57 Meanings
Add Yours
Share
Q&A

Possession Lyrics

Listen as the wind blows from across the great divide
voices trapped in yearning, memories trapped in time
the night is my companion, and solitude my guide
would I spend forever here and not be satisfied?


And I would be the one
to hold you down
kiss you so hard
I'll take your breath away
and after, I'd wipe away the tears
just close your eyes dear


Through this world I've stumbled
so many times betrayed
trying to find an honest word to find
the truth enslaved
oh you speak to me in riddles
and you speak to me in rhymes
my body aches to breathe your breath
your words keep me alive


And I would be the one
to hold you down
kiss you so hard
I'll take your breath away
and after, I'd wipe away the tears
just close your eyes dear


Into this night I wander
it's morning that I dread
another day of knowing of
the path I fear to tread
oh into the sea of waking dreams
I follow without pride
nothing stands between us here
and I won't be denied


And I would be the one
to hold you down
kiss you so hard
I'll take your breath away
and after, I'd wipe away the tears
just close your eyes.
Song Info
Submitted by
kevin On May 08, 2001
Questions and Answers

Ask specific questions and get answers to unlock more indepth meanings & facts.

57 Meanings

Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.

Cover art for Possession lyrics by Sarah McLachlan

sarah didnt write this song. she used the exact words from letters sent to her by a stalker. instead of running scared of him she confronted him with this song. ill break it down for you:

"And I would be the one To hold you down Kiss you so hard" ....he's talking about physically forcing her down against her will and violently kissing her

"I'll take your breath away and after, I'd wipe away the tears just close your eyes dear" ....he says ill take your breath away as in i will literally take your breath away by killing you. this whole verse is about him killing her.

"Through this world I've stumbled so many times betrayed" in this verse it means he feels like nobody has understood him his whole life, remember he is a mentally ill stalker, people like him feel like nobody understands them and that they are all alone in the world

"Trying to find an honest word To find the truth enslaved" this means he is paranoid

"Oh you speak to me in riddles and You speak to me in rhymes" in this line, it is explaing that he "knows" she is "speaking" to him through songs and other things, even though she really is not. he imagines her trying to speak to him because in his mind he thinks she is in love with him. he is obsessed with her.

"My body aches to breathe your breath You words keep me alive" he is obsessed with her and truely thinks he would be nothing without her. he wants to steal her breath as in kill her

"Into this night I wander It’s morning that I dread Another day of knowing of The path I fear to tread" he stalks her, he watches her in the night

"Oh into the sea of waking dreams I follow without pride Nothing stands between us here And I won’t be denied" he is saying there is nothing that will stop him from having her and he wont let her deny him no matter what it takes.

i agree that this is a beautiful song, but after you really understand the meaning of the lyrics and know the fact that this was written by an obviously mentally ill person it no longer is a love song or anything romantic. it is her stalker threatening her and talking about killing her. its not romantic, its just creepy

@donald209 She actually did write the song. She used the words from a back and forth fantasy relationship (her words) with a fan. The words of the song come from the letters they wrote back and forth to each other. Some his, some hers.

The guy sued her for song writting credits but hung himself the day before it was to go before civil court.

These are the parts written by Sarah to the "fake lover not visa versa.

Listen as the wind blows  From across the great divide  Voices trapped in yearning  Memories trapped in time  The night is my companion  And solitude...

Actually even the chorus was all Sarah. The only thing that was similar was the fact that both Vandrei and Sarah used the word “tear/tears” . Vandrei asked if she would ever collect his tear and Sarah’s chorus said about wiping away the tears. The similarities end there. I’ve dad every excerpt of his Possession was merely inspired by his work. Some people say an inspiration is enough for a songwriting credit but I doubt one word is enough.

Cover art for Possession lyrics by Sarah McLachlan

If one ignores the idea that Sarah wrote this song from the perspective of a stalker..

.. the song is even more beautiful. I prefer to believe that this song is an obsession song BY a female. You rarely hear those! And it's such a beautiful song. Placing all that trust and faith and hope in one person, so much that "my body aches to breathe your breath, your words keep me alive."

Life is so bitter. But you're that lamp in the dark that leads me.

Cover art for Possession lyrics by Sarah McLachlan

Uhhh yeah the obsessed fan...that was the obsessed fan's words...(I actually heard that the fan was a female) S/he is raping Sarah McLaclan...I will be the one to HOLD you down (Because I'm guessing it's easier to rape someone that way) Kiss you so HARD (you know because the other party isn't consenting) And after I'd wipe away your tears (you know because you're crying because you got raped).....I think it makes sense to me...But yeah I heard it was the exact thing that the fan said that was changed for lyrics in her song.

Cover art for Possession lyrics by Sarah McLachlan

This is a song that Sarah McLachlan made to help her deal with a stalker that was really taking a toll on her psyche. This song was made with the letters that the stalker wrote her. These words are straight from the stalkers mouth. There was a big court hearing because the actual stalker got upset and tried to sue McLachlan for using his writings to make a song but in the end McLachlan was victorious. The stalker actually committed suicide after the case was finished. This is a very haunting song in my opinion. It gives me the creep’s lol.

Song Meaning

oh man, i always knew about the stalker, but i didn't know about him killing himself over her. that makes the whole thing even creepier. he could still be stalking her in ghost form. skin's crawling

Cover art for Possession lyrics by Sarah McLachlan

This song is about an obsessed fan. Sarah herself said on VHI Storytellers, "I wrote this song to try to get into the shoes of the obsessed fan so that I can try to find a way to deal with it." So, there you go. It's told from the fan's point of view. This song is amazing. I know that Sarah wrote it about an obsessed fan, but that doesn't mean it has to have that exact meaning for everyone else. We listen to music because it touches us -- because we can relate to it. To me, this song perfectly describes how I feel about someone who I am in love with, but they don't love me back. I desperately want to show this person how I feel about them... I want to kiss them so hard and take their breath away. I yearn for them and I just want to be with them so badly -- I want them to love me and notice me. I'm alone and sad, and I want this person to fill this emptiness inside of me. I love this song. It means so much to me. The lyrics are beautiful and Sarah's voice is incredible.

Cover art for Possession lyrics by Sarah McLachlan

I created an account specifically to make this point about this song: I can't tell you exactly what Sarah meant, as I'm not her, but I can tell you that she's definitely implying that the obsessed person (whose point of view the song is from, and assuming it's a guy) intends to murder the object of his affections (assumed to be Sarah herself).

For example, the line, "hold you down, kiss you so hard I'll take your breath away" is clever in that it sounds like love, but in fact is deadly affection, and implies that perhaps the he will drown Sarah in the song. The "kiss you so hard" is not a literal kiss, but more of an "expression of love" that got out of hand.

"And after, I'd wipe away the tears" of having killed her. "Just close your eyes dear" referring to when someone lies dead, people shut their eyes.

It explores the, "If I can't have her, nobody can," mentality that can arise through absolute obsession.

Cover art for Possession lyrics by Sarah McLachlan

I think it's really interesting that she took the time to write an outstandingly original, beautiful song about someone who was obsessed with her... i don't think i've ever heard of someone else (famous) who did that unless it was a song intended in a derogatory way to the fan/stalker. Most musicians don't take the mental effort to do what Sarah did here. Very unique. Very good song.

Cover art for Possession lyrics by Sarah McLachlan

I heard Sarah explain she was inspired by a letter from a fan from the United states. ( across the great divide ) In the song she is speaking for him. his desire for someone he does not really know must mystify the object of his desire. Sarah appears to be the answer to his lonely life, not satisfied by forever with her, wandering in the night, fearing the day, it's morning that I dread, filled with yearning, solitude is his guide, he follows without pride. Her fan is unhappy with life , yet wants to have Sarah be the center of his life, believing they she would bring him meaning or fulfillment. she talks of wiping away tears, taking away her breath, and even forever not being enough to satisfy.

Cover art for Possession lyrics by Sarah McLachlan

It's about a stalker she had. It's sung from his perspective. Fits perfectly when you look at it from that point of view.

Cover art for Possession lyrics by Sarah McLachlan

I agree with pragmatic poetry. This song is about a woman. I don't necessarily know that love is object. I think this song is more about pent-up desires. She is singing to her lover of her NEED. I think she is after a man with baggage. "Nothing stands between us here and I won't be denied," tells me that she has been waiting for her opportunity and she is not going to wait for anything. Such powerful imagery in this song. She wants to hold him down and kiss him until he cries. What power.