Ed Sheeran: Autumn Leaves Meaning
Autumn Leaves Lyrics
Passes by just like mine
It's not complicated
Another mind
Another soul
Another body to grow old
It's not complicated
Do you ever wonder if the stars shine out for you?
Float down, like autumn leaves
Hush...
-
1TOP RATED
#1 top rated interpretation:Autumn leaves describes the longing you get for someone you no longer have. Whether that's from death, break ups, or fall outs. Despite this being awful and seeming like the end of the world for you, Ed Sheeran describes it in such a way that makes it seem like a common part of life. He does this by the repetitive use of 'another' showing that lots of other people are effected by the same thing. The regularity is also show by the lines 'Another day another life, passes by just like mine it's not complicated another mind another soul another body to grow old it's not complicated' along with the repetitive rhythm and beat.
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2TOP RATED
#2 top rated interpretation:Ed Sheeran and Jake Gosling begin with quite matter of fact lyrics describing life and the cold inevitability of death; - people live, people die, it's not unexpected.
The simple three/four-chord arpeggio melody lulls you into the expectation that the rest of the song will be pleasant, but somehow disconnected from any real emotional attachment to the person who has gone.
Your defences lowered; you're suddenly swept-into a powerful melodic and lyrical chorus that cries in desperate, passionate longing, for one last time, just to be with that person, spend time with them, just talk to them.
Very powerful stuff indeed... then you're given the brighter side:- the silver lining on the cloud of grief, if you like;
The stars shine for you, the birds sing for you... this is potent. The implication being that the person who has passed-away will never be forgotten, at any time or in any circumstance.
When I die, I would love for someone to choose this to play at my funeral... It's such a brilliant song that even people who had no time for me in life will well-up!
I've heard many songs in my time (41years), but this is definitely top 5 material... so powerful. Genius.
p.s. Ed... drop the bit about the 747. It doesn't add anything... just takes away. -
3TOP RATED
#3 top rated interpretation:I think this song is about a girl who committed suicide..
"Another life that's gone to waste
Another light lost from your face
It's complicated."
"Float down like autumn leaves.."
being lowered into her grave..
"..And you're miles away And yesterday you were here with me"
he's remembering what it was like when she was around..
"My symphony played the song that carried you out And Ooh how I miss you
I miss you and I wish you'd stay..."
Kind of self explanatory, he misses her.
"..Stay out and we'll live forever now"
He will remember her forever. -
Sometimes life can prove challenging, especially when a loved one is lost. I have experienced this and this song really helped me connect and let my feelings out. For anyone who has lost a loved one, know they are still there in your heart <3
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747 is a plane.
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It's about the pain of having to lose someone close to you.
When I listen to this song I would think about how inevitable death is. (Just what like the top ans. said)
I would think how my parents started out as babies too... And how they grew and found each other and then I came into this world.
I can't help but think how hard it will be to lose them.. The two people who've known you back when you can't even remember.
How your way of life is part of what they did. Your beliefs, habits and appearance.
And then suddenly they would just not be there.
"..And you're miles away And yesterday you were here with me"
The fact that you have to wake up the next day knowing you won't see their faces again... Or hear their voices and laughs and realize that all you have now are just the memories and regrets.
The fact that you have to go on with your life without them and all you can think about are those days when they would scold you for doing something wrong... When back then all you would think about is "shut up"...now you would just wish for them to go on instead.
That pain... the pain that would make you wish you don't have to go through with everytime.
The pain that will make you selfish enough to prefer dying first.
----STAN -
I feel like this song is about suicide. At first it just seems like somebody died but there is just something... Different about it. The lyrics almost seem like they are talking about how everything is, well, hopeless.
For example, when it says "another life passes by" and "do birds still sing for you" it seems like it is talking about the meaninglessness and boredom of life.
In the lyrics "another tear another cry" is seems like it is talking about depression and sadness.
"Another place for us to die, it's not complicated" seems like the person singing is finding places to kill themselves.
"Another life gone to waste" is talking about how everything is meaningless and worthless.
In the chorus, "hush now close your eyes before the sleep" it is comforting someone who is going to commit suicide.
In the lyrics "do you ever wonder if the stars shine out for you" and "is it that its over or do birds still sing for you" talk about feeling lonely and wanting someone, anyone to care about you enough to shine for you and sing for you.
"Touch down" might mean to stop 'flying' or, well, living.
"Stay out" might mean that the singer wants the person who is killing themselves to stay alive, and that also coincides with "ooh how I miss you".
The last lyric in the song, "live forever now" means that they killed themselves and are now immortality heaven, 'living forever'. -
For one, this song has a very sad theme and bitterness against life and death and time. Secondly, I see a lot of theories about death, which seems accurate, but I had another idea which I felt could be an alternate meaning. It's about a close friend who is losing hope in life and begins to sink into a land inside their mind and fading into depression. I have a friend who retreats into a land of fantasy entirely in his head, dreaming of amazing things he can't have, especially when he's depressed, and this song reminds me of him, and the harder time of emptiness and confusion he's going through.
"Another day, another life, passes by just like mine
It's not complicated (about how some times in life pass by seemingly empty and dark)
Another mind, another soul, another body to grow old
It's not complicated (About how everybody grows old and it can be depressing, especially when you can't see the point in what you're doing)
Do you ever wonder if the stars shine out for you? (Speaking of how the person dreams of life being more than it is, of wishes for fantasy dreams of befriending the stars to come true)
Float down
Like autumn leaves (Speaking of how the beauty we had we are losing hold of because of the cold season)
Hush now
Close your eyes before the sleep (Speaking of finding peace and being able to sleep without fear or longing)
And you're miles away
And yesterday you were here with me (Of how the friend is seemingly "far away", lost in the fantasy longings and impossibly dreams inside their head)
Another tear
Another cry
Another place for us to die
It's not complicated (This is sung/written with the bitterness against pain the I mentioned. Sometimes, you wonder why there's so much pain hurting those you love)
Another life that's gone to waste
Another light lost from your face (Of how your friend has finally lost hope and broken)
It's complicated (Of how you don't know how to help your friend and you just feel so weak and lost)
Is it that it's over or do birds still sing for you? (Of how you're wondering if there's any hope still for your friend)
Chorus
Ooh how I miss you
My symphony played the song that carried you out (I sang to you/reached out to you, trying to save you, as you drifted away)
Ooh how I miss you
And I, I miss you and I wish you'd stay (Of how you miss your friend and the person they were before they lost hope, and you wish they would come back)
Chorus
Touch down (Kind of unclear. Touch down, as in, come back from where you flew off to?)
Like a seven four seven (N/A)
Stay out and we'll live forever now (Come back to me and we can find love and hope together)
So yeah, this is my interpretation of how this song relates to me and what my friend is going through right now. -
This song is very powerful and I love how it sends a different message to each person who listens to it. To me I get a message to enjoy and appreciate all the people around you because one day they can be with you and the next they can be gone. Life happens very fast and so many people come and go every day, it’s not complicated. Ed explains how his symphony played the song that carried his dear friend Hans out. As he just let himself be free from stress and worries and he became like a child again when he saw the world through curiosity. When he had the innocents to wonder if the stars shined out for him or if the birds sung for him. He floated down like autumn leaves and closed eyes before his time came. The people around him were left to watch the beauty and sadness of the ending of his life. Wishing and hoping that he didn’t have to leave that he could just stay there with them. While they eventually came to realize that he can live forever with them in their hearts and souls.
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I think this song is about a friend who has killed themself. It seems to me like there are implications that the person had the choice to die. Maybe it's just me. But to me I feel like he speaker is soothing himself with this song. There's an eerie level of comfort to it, which to me seem like it's not a natural death, if there is such thing. I think the speaker is saying I can live with it because I have to, but I hope you know that if you stayed I'd still care about you just as much as I do now.
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I think the song is about losing someone you love, and the thoughts that come with it. You start to realize that you need to do something powerful with your life because they may not have had that chance, possibly because they died young.
-
For me this song isn't about dying. It is about living while you still can. For a moment let yourself be a child and see the world in wonder. Remember the beautiful times when you were held by someone you sung you to sleep? Remember when you saw the shining stars and thought they were shining just for you? Remember when you had time to watch the autumn leaves fall down? And my personal favorite is the last line that captures the way the inncoent think "... and we'll live forever now."
This song also teaches us to uncomplicated our lives. Accept the fact that people leave, things change, and autumn leaves fall down. All we can do is accept it and look for the beauty in the moment. -
This is all I could interprete:
Another day another life
Passes by just like mine (she dies)
It's not complicated
Another mind
Another soul
Another body to grow old (same as before)
It's not complicated
Do you ever wonder if the stars shine out for you? (you will never be forgotten)
Float down
Like autumn leaves (die)
Hush now (you can't make a sound)
Close your eyes before the sleep(when people die they close their eyes)
And your miles away (in heaven)
And yesterday you were here with me (obvious)
Another tear
Another cry
Another place for us to die
It's not complicated
Is it that it's over or do birds still sing for you? (everyone remembers you)
Ooh how I miss you
My symphony places the song that carries you out
Ooh how I miss you (obvious)
I miss you and I wish you'd stay
Do you ever wonder if the stars shine out for you? (some say that the stars are souls)
It's not that good but that's what I think -
He wrote this song when he was 18 to his friend when he died so young!
-
I feel as if this song can be interpreted in a few different ways, but the one that stands out the most for me is the depiction of a relationship that no longer exists between two people, with one party feeling slightly guilty about its demise. For instance, the line "My symphony plays the song that carries you out" feels, to me, as though the author feels personally responsible for pushing someone away. Likewise, the overall reverent tone of the song indicates that the person it's referring to was someone close to the author's heart.
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I'd day to me this song doesn't just talk about something as final as death but the feeling when you just left the person/people you love and the feeling of that initial loneliness without them. Personally the feeling that 'You're miles away, but yesterday you were here with me' is one I can really relate to. Its hard to describe how someone can feel so close (cause you saw them that morning at the airport) but so far away at the same time. This also explains the 'touch down like a seven four seven' bit. This is what the song says to me and this is why I like it. But you can disagree cause that's sort of the point of music; that it means different things to different people. Bye :)
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Someone in their last few days/hours (slowly dying)and their loved one is with them - beautiful song.
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