Dave Matthews Band: Say Goodbye Meaning

Say Goodbye Lyrics

So here we are tonight, you and me together
The storm outside, the fire is bright
And in your eyes I see what’s on my mind
You’ve got me wild, turned around inside
And then desire, see, is creeping up heavy inside here
And do you feel the...

1. 1TOP RATED

   #1 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

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   Jun 28th 2007 !⃝

   Basically this song is one of the hottest Dave songs period. It is all of the above and just makes you want to shag that one close hot friend of yours that you either have (and is a secret to others) or want to. Well at least it's how it makes me feel.
2. anonymous

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   Oct 20th 2018 !⃝

   The man is in love with the woman. At the end of the song he cries out, “love you.” She just sees him as a friend. She has a boyfriend. (I don’t think husband, because once you are married, you really should not be sleeping with another man!). She may or may not have feelings for her friend too, but she is not in love with him. He has always longed for her, and this night, she sees him as more than a friend, which is what he’s always wanted.
3. anonymous

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   Sep 25th 2017 !⃝

   This song is about a one night stand. The end.
4. anonymous

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   Jun 18th 2017 !⃝

   This song means saying goodbye with the old you, saying goodbye with the past hurts, past memories, past failures, past rejections, past disappointments, past hopes, past dreams and saying hello with the present and the future!
   
   Goodbye Past!
   Welcome Present and Future!

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
5. anonymous

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   Jun 7th 2017 !⃝

   About this song, Dave speaks in his concert at Blue Note (Columbia, Mo - 22 October 1994): "So one time, uh, so one time, I'm stuck in a room, in a little house, and we're kinda snowed in. We got a little fire burning and there's a girl with me, who's a good friend of mine, and we're all alone, and she's got a boyfriend, and I got a girlfriend, but then one thing leads to another, and next day we're all kinda uncomfortable. *Ahem.* So that's, this song's called Say Goodbye"
   
   This scenario will not happen if you truly love your significant other and you really treat your good friends as strictly friendship and you let them feel and be blunt at them that you are only friends. There will be no temptation of thinking of having an affair or something.
   
   Also, those who are in a monogamous relationships are free to have many friends as they want as long as they are loyal and true to their significant other.
   
   However, if one day you or your significant other or both of you became to close to a good friend of yours. It's better to set each other free and realize that you were never really meant for each other. But if you realize you truly love each other then continue your relationship.
   
   - Had platonic male friends before.
   
   Platonic Person
6. anonymous

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   Jun 7th 2017 !⃝

   I don't think this song is about death at all.
   
   Say goodbye doesn't mean saying goodbye to life, it means saying goodbye to the idea of a relationship. The man in this song is clearly in love/lust with someone he cannot have because she has someone else in her life. Whether it's about timing or compatibility, they are unable to be together. And instead of leaving their significant others to explore a relationship between the two of them, they decide to cave into their desires and be with each other for the night. It's a morally corrupt song which I feel many people in a monogamous relationship can relate to - having that one person in your life that "got away", and succumbing to an evening of infediliy because it's easier than trying something new.
   
   Just my thoughts :)
7. anonymous

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   Dec 11th 2012 !⃝

   Dave said he wrote this song after him and a really good friend were away on business, and they were snowed in, and things happened, and it was weird because he had a girlfriend and she had a boyfriend. I feel like he knows what he is talking about.
8. anonymous

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   Mar 14th 2011 !⃝

   This song is about a connection between a man and women who have been hiding their feelings for each other. One night they let all their fears and "wrongful" thoughts go, and live the life they've dreamed for just one night.
9. anonymous

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   Jan 13th 2010 !⃝

   It's about a one night stand for sure, but she has a man. I used to love this song until my wife had an affair with my best friend. The interpretation of the song changed for me after that happened.
   
   "But then tomorrow go back to your man
   I'm back to my world
   And we're back to being friends"
10. anonymous

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    Feb 19th 2009 !⃝

    This song is the ultimate one night stand song. (i put lyrics which back my interpretation in parentheses
    
    This guy likes the girl who he is hanging out with tonight (lyrics: here we are tonight you and me together)
    
    and this guy just wants some amazing sex. (so stay here with me, just for a night just for this evening...and our tonge twist and sweat drips...)
    
    Then tomorrow, we go back to pretending that nothing ever happened... (tomorrow, go back to being friends)
11. anonymous

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    Sep 21st 2008 !⃝

    The song isn't about dying. The song is about the end of a friendship. Throughout the song he's talking about taking the relationship to the next level. He knows that everything changes after this night, but he's trying to convince himself that it won't.
12. anonymous

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    Feb 15th 2008 !⃝

    I have an early recording of this song and it's not 100% clear but it's clear enough that at the beginning he says "This song is about dying, it's called Say Goodbye!" So I'm trying to find out how this relates to dying
13. anonymous

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    Dec 25th 2007 !⃝

    This is a song where he just wants to be friends with this girl because there relationship isn't working out...He doesn't want to hurt her because he still cares about her...but he thinks it is best if they move on

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
14. anonymous

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    Dec 5th 2006 !⃝

    look, its basically about friends with benefits, ok?
15. anonymous

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    Aug 1st 2006 !⃝

    This song isn't about a one night stand, it's about a guy who's in love with his friend, and tries to assure her, as well as himself, that after they have sex that one night everything will go back to the way it was, which is why it sounds like a love song.
16. anonymous

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    Jan 5th 2006 !⃝

    This song is about a guy and a girl who are just friends but they are alone together for the night and have sex and the next day they go back to there lives like nothing has happened and are just "back to being friends"...

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