Alan Walker: Faded Meaning
Song Released: 2015
Faded Lyrics
[Verse 1]
You were the shadow to my light
Did you feel us?
Another star, you fade away
Afraid our aim is out of sight
Wanna see us, alive
[Pre-Chorus 1]
Where are you now?
Where are you now?
Where are you...
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1TOP RATED
#1 top rated interpretation:The simple chord progression of Am F C to G, this masterpiece, like many other songs, talk about a past memory. Not necessarily love or friendship but rather emotional connections and memories from the past. I guess you could call this a modern poem for it features non-traditional instruments but rather electronic generated beats and melodies. The opening lines mentions a non-traditional relationship: rather a light to the shadows as for guidance, the guidance was taken away by someone. The person also puts into question whether they felt the same, strong feelings as they did. They go deep into their minds and compares the memories to Atlantis, a majestic palace that is now gone and impossible to find. The same feelings the person is looking for are no longer felt and are lost but instead of giving up, they make an effort to search for their happiness by metaphorically diving into their sea of memories. With no luck, they get lost in thoughts and what they thought was real was pure imagination and are unable to seek joy. They become lonely while the dark abyss surrounds them and while the loneliness slowly consumes them, they are lost and faded. Not only does the song have some darkness behind it, but it also shows many characteristics of a poem. With the basics, there are rhymes throughout this piece. Light and sight, fantasy and imaginary, sea and me, dive and alive are some of the rhymes mentions. Another feature of the song is the motifs. The lister gets a lot of “faded”, “now”, and “sea” to truly understand the distress of the person in the song. While it is a song, it is also a story. It introduces the subject/purpose (the search for escape or guidance to the light), the adventures and trials of attempting to accomplish, and a bitter ending. Like all poems, this song teaches us something. Through the metaphors in the song, the meaning lies in the first lines. The person in distress looked at the shadows taking away the light, taking away the opportunity for escape and life. While they are free now, this dark memory made its way back into the thoughts like a flashback and this person is searching a way out of this terrible memory and searches deep in their minds to get rid of it, but fails. They try to get their happiness back from this shadow but fail. The meaning behind this is to avoid the shadows in the first place. The person is going through the pain for others. It means to live in the moment and enjoy the given opportunities to make happy memories and not letting the dark ones in. It means to leave the past behind and move on because by looking back you just relieve the moment and it becomes an endless cycle. This song a very popular among the EDM fan base, maybe it is because of its sick beats but maybe it is to show how hard it is to move past this song and listen to another and how hard it is to let go. These dark memories may represent abusive parents, abusive relationships, a victim of being bullied, a war veteran, or others.
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2TOP RATED
#2 top rated interpretation:It's about longing for the romanticized love of your youth and coming to question whether it was real.
You were the shadow to my light
Did you feel us?
(We were different but complimentary, like night and day, yin and yang. Did you feel the same?)
Another star
You fade away
(But like the many stars in my sky you faded away)
Afraid our aim is out of sight
Wanna see us, A light
(Our expectations were too high. We were young, chasing a fairy tale)
Where are you now
Was it all in my fantasy
Were you only imaginary
Where are you now
Atlantis
Under the sea
(Atlantis, an ancient paradise that is lost, that everyone searches for, that in reality probably never really existed. Here Atlantis represents the true love that we feel exists but remains lost beneath the surface.)
These shallow waters, never met
What I needed
I'm letting go
A deeper dive
(My shallow life and relationships never satisfied me. I'm moving deeper in search of "Atlantis")
Eternal silence of the sea
I'm breathing
Alive
Where are you now?
(But I find that I'm alone down here. Where are you now that I'm ready for you?)
Under the bright
But faded lights
You set my heart on fire
Where are you now
(We shared an intense moment that I idealize but that moment is fading.)
Where are you now
Where are you now
Atlantis
Under the sea
Under the sea
Where are you now
Another dream
The monsters running wild inside of me
(The loneliness is consuming me as I'm lost searching for Atlantis, but you're nowhere to be found.)
I'm faded
I'm faded
So lost
I'm faded
I'm faded
So lost
I'm faded -
3TOP RATED
#3 top rated interpretation:Its about how people idealize someone they love then look back later and have difficulty reconciling how they felt then to now... its about recognizing that most of the time its how we look at things that determine how we feel about them.
At the time of the relationship, the way the other person was,how they looked, all that made them attractive and how special the relationship was,was only in the perception of the person, inflated with their imagination and desire to feel love and give love.
The relationship comes to an end, the person starts a new relationship and... has the realisation/doubt that maybe it was all in their head, but they still yearn for how they felt at that time and dont want to accept that it couldve all just been in their imagination/perception. They are addicted to the emotions they felt then. They hope that the other person also felt something special. They wonder how the other person looks back at the same relationship. Maybe they dont see it the same way and the act of looking back in such a way might be like hopefully believing in atlantis, a myth we enjoy entertaining and theres always some evidence that points to it but we still cant be sure, it requires imagination and fantasy. Its probably not true but we hope it is, cause that would be so cool.
Faded doesnt mean that the relationship faded... but that the persons perception of who he/she loved has faded and with that the perception of the relationship has faded too...Thats why she says "im faded"... "where are you now".
If you think about it, the relationships weve had dont fade, theyve happened n cant change, its us who change and with it our perceptions of past experiences change aswell. -
This story was so sad... Now, that I know what does this song means, perhaps it will be my favorite song later on, I guess? I'm just a child, and I'm not related to this story since that I've never experience these things before but I feel the emotions and the story.. I will be a hard part of you're life if you we're in this situation.. Thanks for the meaning, I really like this!! Please create more content about this, I swear, I'll always read it.. Thanks for this, bro! God bless you! <3 <3 :D
~Princess Liyah~ -
This song about someone who lost their loved ones. They tried looking for them but they couldn't find their loved ones. They then gave up and wanted them to come back, but they didn't.
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Verse1:
You were the shadow to my light, can you see it. Another star you fade away. Afraid our aim is out of sight. Can you feel us at last.
Chorous:
Where are you now it’s mot a dream theres monster wild inside of me. I’m fading,
I’m so lost i’m faded. -
I think this song is made up in a tragic shape because in some verses the poet telling about deep water and some time with great feeling of love with someone. But i got it a story of Atlantis which is drowned in sea . And the poet mourning on the the Atlantis and feel very lost for itself. Sometime he/she get Atlantis as himself talking about it. There is a long story behind this song but very interesting i listening it in the night and feeling very sad
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I think this song is made up in a tragic shape because in some verses the poet telling about deep water and some time with great feeling of love with someone. But i got it a story of Atlantis which is drowned in sea . And the poet mourning on the the Atlantis and feel very lost for itself. Sometime he/she get Atlantis as himself talking about it. There is a long story behind this song but very interesting i listening it in the night and feeling very sad
-
I think this song is made up in a tragic shape because in some verses the poet telling about deep water and some time with great feeling of love with someone. But i got it a story of Atlantis which is drowned in sea . And the poet mourning on the the Atlantis and feel very lost for itself. Sometime he/she get Atlantis as himself talking about it. There is a long story behind this song but very interesting i listening it in the night and feeling very sad
-
I think this song is made up in a tragic shape because in some verses the poet telling about deep water and some time with great feeling of love with someone. But i got it a story of Atlantis which is drowned in sea . And the poet mourning on the the Atlantis and feel very lost for itself. Sometime he/she get Atlantis as himself talking about it. There is a long story behind this song but very interesting i listening it in the night and feeling very sad
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I think the song is about a perfect relationship that makes the writer not to achieve much, which then disappears suddenly like a star..imagine 'light' and a 'shadow'...on the other hand,the writer is also worried/afraid that their aim..what they wanted to achieve despite the situation they are in now may be hard to reach..as the lyrics goes on, the writer is struck by the thought that maybe what they had was just an imagination..a fantasy..the writer kind of wants it back when he asks "where are you now?" but he knows that it will be another dead end..so he is lost in the confusion(so lost)and he is unable to see things clearly (I'm faded)...in the second stanza, the writer expresses the insatiability of what they had(shallow Waters never meant what I needed) but he has made his mind to let it go(I'm letting) and he is taking a step towards finding himself(a deeper dive)..and it looks like he has succeeded, he has found himself in the place he has reached in his life now, which it is comfortable in a way( eternal silence of The sea.. I'm breathing, Alive)..he is finally breathing..alive.
The part that says "Under the bright with faded lights you set my heart on fire"Expresses how the writer is hurt by the way they were under a perfect relationship(the bright) but with less advantages(but with faded lights) broke his heart ( set my heart on fire)...He then continues asking where are now? But this time with the impression that says.. where are you to see me now... see how I'm handling myself without you.. The writer compares how far/distant the love/lover is in the moment to Atlantis.. Under the sea and he is angered by the fact that he can't reach it....
Anyway.. thank you guys so much for taking your time to read through this.. I hope that I helped shine some light in the complicated staff I have written up there.. reply with #tag d101 if you agree with me.. -
This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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I know nobody will like or read this but, here we go.
I think this song was written about a breakup, but to me it has an extremely deep meaning. Much more than just a breakup. I think it’s about how when the other half of you is gone, you feel like your fading. Lost. So you have to find you again.
“Atlantis, under the sea, under the sea”
I think these lyrics describe how they are feeling. Like the sunken Atlantis. Lost and never to be found.
Finding who you really are is the most important part of life, I think. And this song really brings that feeling to the surface of my mind when this comes on.
So, I’d like it if anybody who did read this would post their interpretation and put 110310 at the start if it is in reply to this. Again, even if it is about how you think this sucked.
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I feel it is a song that can be interpreted many ways. For myself, it reminds me of my late husband."You were the shadow to my light did u feel us?". We complimented each other well."Another star, fade away" He has passed away, so the "where are you now?" Makes me wonder where he is?... maybe Atlantis, under the sea. I also see the video. A lost wondering soul. We seperated. He was homeless, dressed like the person in the video and going to the same places.
"I'm faded, so lost, I'm faded" is me. "The shallow water never met what I needed" me leaving him, while still in love with him. Part of the song sounds like it says "breathe". He overdosed and died. Stop breathing. Just a lot to it. Reminds me of losing someone. It was so good for so long, "was it just a dream, or my imagination"... was it real? I lost my soulmate.. Nov. 2019. They say breathing and alive a lot. The where are you now gets to me.. where is he??? -
Though most people interpreted it as a song about a lost love, I would say it is about self discovery. Walker is talking about having been someone different than who he is now, and the song being as nostalgic as it is, probably misses who he was. He is apparently looking for his lost self, hence the iconic line "Where are you now?"
Walker, in the very first line "you were the shadow to my light," is talking about how who he was was always keeping him from being who he was meant to be;yet he keeps trying to him.
In the chorus, the reference to Atlantis means Walker's other self was pretty much as mythical as the lost city, yet he keeps trying to find it.
In the second verse says
"these shallow waters were never what I needed
I'm letting go, a deeper dive"
Which means he is indeed starting to let go and accept that his older self was shallow, but not completely, for he starts calling out to his old self again in the pre-chourus.
And finally
"I'm faded
I'm faded
I'm faded
So lost
I'm faded"
Means that Walker's older self has, indeed, faded and he has to find a way to get along as he is now.
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Conclusively, Mr. Walker has stated that the lyrical content of “Faded” is meant to be interpreted by the listeners themselves. That being said, there is definitely a storyline contained therein. And this story is one in which the singer is in search of something – whether it be a person, place or thing – or just trying to find her place in life in general.
Read more at: https://www.songmeaningsandfacts.com/faded-by-alan-walker/
For the recent interpretation. Agree, love don't disappear after 8 weeks. He only used you and really has a girl. Forget about him. You deserve someone who loves you without thinking of cars, money, things. Love yourself. Love your life. Love the special people in your life. Live life to the fullest. You'll meet the right guy for you. Be strong and be brave.
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I red a lot of comments, no one see the toxic relationship? When someone is coming to you for what you have, like a car, cigarettes, money?
I recognize myself saying “Where r u”? You said that I’m the one, you make me feel crazy about you… And, you find better than me ( I was poor, 800.00$ a month) but he was coming from jail… So, he stay 2 month than go… and I said why? And he said, I was not in love… But but… You told me last Friday that you where so in luv with me… Dhuh ( on his cell ) heee what? Oh really??? I don’t remember. Sorry, got to go see a friend. ( he came back after 4 days… and, he took his thing,, say bye!!! The woman was waiting for him in her car… I was feeling stupid, and steel in luv with him. Did I was dreaming? You said the opposite after 2 months. This is not possible. Love don’t fall down after 8:weeks!!!
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