James Blunt: 1973 Meaning
Song Released: 2007
1973 Lyrics
You're getting older
Your journey's been
Etched on your skin
Simona
Wish I had known that
What seemed so strong
Has been and gone
I would call you up every Saturday night
And we'd both stay out till the morning light
And we...
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#1 top rated interpretation:He has correctly identified us starting to repeat the mistakes of the 1970's, and I think this song, whilst I wish it was better musically, pays homage to the good things that lived and died in that era. The magical sense of hope and freedom, equality and even power for women. Mona sounds like an aging hipster or mod girl who, being very much a product of her generation, found herself a young man to love and teach about the way the world will be in his future. James now looks at her and the promises made in their childhood and realises that her nievete trumped his own, perhaps even learn from her mistakes and at the same time console her in keeping the ideals she imparted alive.
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My interpretation is he wrote this song in respect of his parents. With James being born in 74, the timeline is correct and this is his tribute to his parents who loved each other, before they started a family... changing the dynamics, that still included love once he was born and priorities changing. I recall personally having that same carefree, fun time in my life and in the 80’s and saddens me that today’s youth is missing out on this sort of experience... I wonder if there is an APP they can buy for the experience. (joking, but not joking)
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The girl is actually Petra whom he was dating. The name Simona was derived from her fiance's name (Simon Atlee) who was killed the previous year in the same tsunami that Petra was nearly killed by. Simona consequently works extremely well within the song for rhyme purposes while concealing the name of his squeeze at the time (Petra).
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I've heard him say its about a night he spent with a girls he met in the Ibiza nightclub Pacha. He called the song 1973 because it was the year that Pacha opened/moved into its current Ibiza premises.
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I guess my interpretation is when James Blunt met the girl who called Simona . in 1973 . so he was happy with her ! but i think he has left this country when he met his girlfriend so ! he just missed her again and he missed what they were doing ! I mean when he said : I would call you up every Saturday night
And we'd both stay out till the morning light
And we sang, "Here we go again". so he just keep doing the good things which he was doing with her ! and of course he promises her ! that he keeps do these things forever . but when he came back to the country he found that the country has changed at all ! i mean ! everything is gone ! Even his girlfriend so he became sad ! and more ! hopeful -
He was interviewed about this. It's about a club he read about.
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James was born in Feb 1974, and he is singing about a relationship in the generation of his parents, which understandably has interest to the poet/author in him. I was aged 18/19 in 1973, a year when clubs for dancing, drinking and eating scampi out of baskets were starting to flourish, and if I had known a girl called Simona I’m sure I would have wanted to call her up every Saturday night for good, carefree times. The song is written today (nearly 40 years later) looking back. With love, but some regrets – “we’ve been there and gone”, “the journey’s been etched on your skin”.
Like most pop songs written by JB or anyone else, best not to over-analyse every single word – the best songs are created from the heart: fusing poetry, melody and fleeting thoughts and emotions rather than facts. So references to songs like “I can see clearly now the rain has gone” and “The same old song” are not from 1973 but may still be representative snippets from the singer’s memories of Simona in the 1970s (and could have played at discos in 1973).
When I first heard the song I thought it was maybe about James’ relationship with a much older woman, wishing they had been together during her prime of youth. But much more likely to be about a guy in his late 50’s wishing he could recapture the best moments of his life when he first fell in love with Simona. -
James Blunt gives two stories I know of about this song, 1973, one that its about a club in Spain that was founded in 1973 and second, a radio interview where he says its about his memories of going to clubs in britain during the 1990's.
I think the second does make sense. If you went pub crawling in britain during the 1990's there were disco themed nights and some clubs were just plain out of the 70's and yes, all they played the song here we go again endlessly no matter where you went.LOL.
The rest of the album is rather dark suggesting a reference to the Troubles in Northern Ireland and the clubs on the mainland, which was certainly was a factor in going out in Britain during that time.
I could be wrong Bones. -
This song in my interpretation is of the times he had wen he was younger he went to the club had his time and youth and moved on and allowed the younger generation to have their moment in the sum but just because he moved on doesn't mean he wanted to or will forget it his time was then this is ares now.
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After he toured and did all his stuff for back to bedlam, he went to some secluded area in Europe to write more music. He would go to the clubs and stuff and this song is about a woman he met at a club called 1973 and his relationship with her.
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