Don McLean: Crossroads Meaning
Crossroads Lyrics
Nothing to forget, I've got nothing to regret
But I'm all tied up on the inside
No one knows quite what I've got
And I know that on the outside, what I used to be, I'm not, anymore
You know...
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I love this album also! And this song. Don McLean did not write the lyrics Robert Johnson did.
Just FYI
Robert Johnson had his share of her times as we all have. I appreciate the ability to write sentences that are able to evoke so many emotions and cause us to consider what is.
LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE -
I love this album also! And this song. Don McLean did not write the lyrics Robert Johnson did.
Just FYI
Robert Johnson had his share of her times as we all have. I appreciate the ability to write sentences that are able to evoke so many emotions and cause us to consider what is. -
Completely different interpretation listen to it as a belief, a dialog, and a very deep confession, his walk with God thru life and the dark nights we all experience. I listen to this and I feel very deep love and consolation, and yes, especially when I hear “lay your hands upon me now”
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This is such a well written song about personal reflection that the writer should have shot himself...can't do any better than perfection! So sad that it was a hidden track on an awesome album. As good as American Pie and Vincent were Crossroads is heads and tails above both of them.
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In my opinion, this song is about endogenous depression.
Some people become depressed after losing a loved one, ending a relationship, or experiencing a trauma. However, endogenous depression occurs without an obvious stressful event or other trigger. Symptoms often appear suddenly and for no apparent reason. Thus the lyrics "I've got nothing on my mind / nothing to remember / Nothing to forget / I've got nothing to regret / But I'm all tied up on the inside / No one knows quite what I've got". All he is saying is that he is depressed for no reason.
Other hint that the song is about depression is this: "And I know that on the outside, what I used to be, I'm not, anymore". We know that depression changes the way we feel and thus the way we act. He is not happy anymore (what he "used to be"), he is a bitter and sad man.
Endogenous depression is also hard to relate. Thus he says "You know I have heard of people like me, but I never made the connection."
There is also the feeling that no matter what you do, you will still feel depressed. That is why he says "There is no need for turning back, 'cause all roads lead to where I stand". He stand sad, depressed, no matter what he does.
Sorry for my bad english. It is not my first language.
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Its a song about ones life, and getting older, and the choices that we all make, what i used to be im not,, anymore,,
realizing that what we were at one time in society or whatnot we are no longer, and that loss of identity, all roads lead to where we stand,
meaning doesnt matter what choices we make in life, we all end up in death,,
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There’s so much to say about this song lyrics.
But overall, I think it does have a very personal interpretation to each individual, we could probably agree on few lines but, every one of us, has a story we can relate to the song lyrics. I might be wrong but there’s no one interpretation fits all!
What does fits all, is the way it makes us feel.
I know that is a tear jerker ! The sentiment to which he wrote that song, perhaps at that time he was going thru something hard/ we do not know but, he put all his sentiment, feelings and passion he felt at that moment I’m sure.
I have twin sons, and as a foreigner in various countries, I have come in touch with these lyrics and most, when my son who lives in Chine asked me the other day, to listen again and he said and in few minutes I’ll call you back dad.
Needless to say, I couldn’t say a word, the tears were just running, the thoughts were just flowing and the feelings, well you know.
My son who called me from China was on the other side of the phone, and with broken words because of his crying too said to me, I love you dad.
I leave it up to each of you to finish the rest of the sentence or frase .
Life its just that, it makes us realise how fragile we are and it is, in those moments were we can, gain a new strength and renew ourselves like the eagles.
I’m sure we all here have gone, are going or might go thru things in your own life that, this kind of songs and lyrics with such a profound meaning, will bring you to your knees and make you look at the mirror of life and make some adjustments to your way of living.
Grace to you all, may the source of your own life, bring the happiness, joy and satisfaction of knowing who you are.
God bless you all.
Javier
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Don McLean went through some rough times, which are reflected on his American Pie album. His father died when he was just 15, and his marriage was on the rocks when he recorded the album. Faced with a bout of depression, he sympathized with Vincent Van Gogh, the Dutch painter who went insane and cut off his ear. Speaking with the UK newspaper The Telegraph, he revealed that in this song about a man who loses a love, the empty chairs are Van Gogh's paintings of a chair.
That's how I understand it, in connections to some of his songs and life experiences and likes.
Erin Apolthree (RP) -
This is a really beautiful song. I think it describes the struggles and misguidance throughout one's life. This song suggests that even though he may have gone through struggles, he doesn't regret any of it. A really moving song about acceptance of the past and the present.
Lily from Alaska. -
I think this is about a guy with addiction or mental illness issues reflecting on the course of his life. Ie. for the drug addict the person is still inside but their outward life is changed by the addiction.
" and I know that on the outside I am not what I used to be.."
Geoff Australia. -
I found it great comfort particularly after my sister passed away very suddenly in her fifties. I found that it spoke to me of the darkness/ depression, in my case brought on by loss and grief and the journey you are on. But then you find that you are never where you think you are on that road to peace or answers.I guess that is true day to day as we walk through life, relationships etc and try to make the right choices to control what path we are on and where it might take us and he freedom it may give us.
But the comfort I gain from this song is that no matter what we may have planned and what route we take we will all come to rest in the same place...for those with faith/ spirituality to give them comfort...that we all come to the same place/ crossroads in the end...No matter what choices we make! -
I found it great comfort particularly after my sister passed away very suddenly in her fifties. I found that it spoke to me of the darkness/ depression, in my case brought on by loss and grief and the journey you are on. But then you find that you are never where you think you are on that road to peace or answers.I guess that is true day to day as we walk through life, relationships etc and try to make the right choices to control what path we are on and where it might take us and he freedom it may give us.
But the comfort I gain from this song is that no matter what we may have planned and what route we take we will all come to rest in the same place...for those with faith/ spirituality to give them comfort...that we all come to the same place/ crossroads in the end...No matter what choices we make! -
Ok so on his path through his life he's found a new love which he has to keep secret and therefore no one knows what I've got and this is What he had planned has changed because of his new path and new love. He has no regrets about his past life but no particular memories he wants to keep. He only heard about affairs before but didn't think it would happen to him. His is not an affair - it's love so not the wrong direction or the need to turn back. He has walked the right path despite previous plans.
He wants his new love to heal his pain - his new love can make him whole as a person. -
So much to discuss here...The first part is all "I." "No matter what I may have planned." It's the individual search for love, I think. "No one knows quite what I've got [to offer]," and "What I used to be, I'm not." I've learned that I'm not the greatest thing to happen to anyone. But "There's no need for turning back." Because he has become, and would become in most any course of action where he experiences life." Then the song has lots of "you's" in it. There is a light that he sees in his "realistic" view of life. But engaging with that "you" brings them through "...all kinds of windy weather" that doesn't defeat them, but challenges them. It brings them to where they stand, and he knows they'll go through good and bad, but will experience the same life. "And I believe we'll walk them all, no matter what we may have planned."
To me it's celebratory. It's the union of a soul and a soul who are prepared to face crossroads and windy weather, and who will experience those things and are prepared for them. It's a love song...It's a song of a deep and lasting union based in the acceptance of the highs and lows that will accompany them through their lives. You can't turn back, because you'll learn all the same lessons no matter what road you take. Take the good and the bad, and celebrate that you have someone with which to share it all. -
This song has nothing to do with America (per the earlier post) ... that is "American Pie". However "Crossroads" is about each of our individual lives and the paths they take (in search of happiness and fulfilment). Though so many of us "find they've gone the wrong direction", in the end it was the journey through life "so there's no need for turning back".
That's how I view it.
JeffP from Australia.
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