Muse: Starlight Meaning
Starlight Lyrics
This ship has taken me far away
Far away from the memories
Of the people who care if I live or die
The starlight
I will be chasing a starlight
Until the end of my life
I don't know if it's worth it anymore
Hold you in my...
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1TOP RATED
#1 top rated interpretation:This is a similar Interpretation to what other people have said but I'll do My best to keep this original. At the Beginning of the song there are 2 sets of 4 note each that are in a major key. Then there is a small transition and then the same notes are repeated. However, if you take the Transition as the base for the key, the second set of 8 notes is now in a minor key. This opening then starts out with a theme in a major key but then repeats the same notes except that they appear to be in a more morose and sad minor key. I believe that this is a theme throughout the entire song since I think that the song in all if a song of sadness , separation and hopefulness that the speaker innerly knows not to be true. The beginning of the Lyrics I took almost Literally. When the singer is singing about the boat taking him far away, I took that to mean the the main character has to leave the person who he is singing to, someone that he cares for very dearly. Then, he says that he will be chasing "Starlight". I took this to mean that he will be chasing something so important that it appears to be Celestial or divine to him. Seeing as he, in the verse before, sang about someone that he he has been separated from, it is safe to assume that this "Starlight" that he is chasing in vain. Is the person in the aforementioned verse. This is followed up with the lines where he is singing about how he wishes that he could have held someone in his arms and how they electrify his life. This now gives a clue to this person that the singer is singing about. Since the singer has not yet even held this person in his arms, this could very well not have been a romantic relationship between the singer and this person. This points towards the person being a friend that the singer has known for a long time nut has never known very intimately but now wishes he had. After that the singer says the he will not let the person go as long as they do not fade away. I took this to very simply represent his wishes for the two of them both not forget each other. After that the song climaxes with the words, "Our hopes and expectations. Black holes and revelations." This demonstrates the singers deep hopelessness and sorrow for his situation which he lets loose be exclaiming his thoughts on how the two of them could have had a future. After this point the song repeats and the meaning does too. Several questions are still unanswered though. Who is the person? How were the two people connected? How did they get separated? The fact that all of this does not get answered also helps the general mood of the song though because the listener is not told and exact recollection of events, but rather is treated to a far more poetic series of emotions and feelings that explain what has happened. I am not completely sure on this interpretation. Still, this is one of the most amazing songs ever written. And comments or thought, please send to valentin.frank@gmail.com
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2TOP RATED
#2 top rated interpretation:To me, this song is telling a story. The singer is a man who's lost everything, especially his hope. The chorus points this out to me; he compares hopes to black holes, things that suck you in and then tear you to pieces. He also connects expectations and revelations, saying that things can change at any moment: hat you expect is often untrue, and leads to a new outlook and understanding.
The other verses, when looked at from this angle, fit in wonderfully. In the first verse, he says that he's leaving and going far away, leaving the people who care about him. This is either sarcastic, saying that he has no one left who cares, or is saying that he can't face them anymore after what he's lost.
The second verse says that he's chasing the "starlight". Starlight is physically impossible to reach or "catch". The fact that he used this term in the lyrics mean that he's chasing something impossible, whether it be a person or a dream or a way of life, that he considers unreachable. When he says that he's "not sure if it's worth it anymore", it shows that he's losing his faith in it. The person or dream used to mean something very important to him, but it's lost its true meaning. He's chasing it for the sake of having it, because it's something in his life that he considers normal, consistent.
In the next verse, he says that he wanted to hold something in his arms. The thing he wants to hold is the same person or thing that he refered to as starlight; he just wanted to have it, have a normal life, and he would have been happy. use of the word "just" indicates that he believes that he's lost it.
Verse number four says that this impossible dream/person "electrifys his life, or gives his life meaning. The line "all the souls that would die just to feel alive" refers to himself. His life has no meaning. He's lost, has no direction, no feeling, and would do anything to feel alive again. The fact that he used the verb "to die" instead of something less harmful indicates that he is trying anything he can think of, but is merely destroying himself further. In real life, this would probably be something along the lines of drug and alcohol abuse.
Finally, the fifth and final verse says that he'll never let you go if you promise not to fade away." This, again, may not refer to a person, but to his lifestyle and life in general. He says that if he could have everything in his life back the way it was, then he wouldn't leave, and would be content to stay, but he can't stay there while everything around him disappears.
The tune and rhythm also contribute to this. In the first chorus, the tune is slow and wistful, whereas in the second, it is more forceful, beaten, loud. This shows that in the first chorus, he's more lost and broken, whereas in the second, he is angry, demanding answers. In the third verse, when he says he wanted to "hold you in my arms" it sounds painful, like his very soul is hurt, and longing.
The singer is bitter. He tried and lost everything, so he sees his goals and dreams as things that suck you in only to rip you apart. He’s also let down by his expectations; he’s realizing that the world isn’t perfect.
This song is about a man who’s trying to understand the point of living if memories bring pain, hopes just hurt you, and everything you know can change almost instantly. -
3TOP RATED
#3 top rated interpretation:I'm just thinking but for one thing it's obvious he's talking about someone he loves ("you electrify my life" "hold you in my arms") He may be worried this person is fading away, and he doesn't want to lose her. He's chasing her and he never wants to let her go, but putting all his devotion with her he is growing apart from his friends and family. "This ship is taking me far away" The "ship" is her. The ship is him, in love, and devoted to this girl. She must be something special
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No, no, no... I think the whole point is that the "starlight" he was chasing turned out (i.e.: "revealed") to be a black hole
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It's like with me and an impossible or starlight love, I'm on a ship, not always literally, it could be the metaphor of life, travelling as we are, I travel my life, encounter YOU, a 'starlight' YouTube star I'm in love/infatuated with, but, my life, and hers, are 2 ships passing in the night, right? I still just want to hold her in my arms...but of course, her life and mine just most likely will never be.
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I think this is a song about losing someone dear and despairing over ever forgetting that sense of loss.
It's such a profound loss that the only reprieve the protagonist sees is to embark on a journey to someplace far away, chasing the "Starlight" which the person hopes would alter his/her/their reality to be something close to a healing.
In the midst of this journey, the person is weary and realises that his journey may in the end just be for nothing and the last shred of desperate hope left in them is that somehow the revelations made by science would let them go back in time to the person they cannot forget even if it's to hold them for one last time. -
Although the music video takes place on a literal ship, the imagery mentioned in the song more likely indicates a man who has been thrust deep into space in a *space*ship, far away from the love of his life. The starlight, or "her" starlight, is the light he sees from our own sun or star system, which he will probably spend the rest of his life trying to reach.
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I believe this song is about death. He's chasing the starlight (heaven)and doesnt know if he can do it anymore. He doesn't want people to forget him so he'll never fade away. All of the expectations are a null and void when you die, br=ecause we just will never know. the people that care if he lives or dies are all at his funeral.
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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 think that this song is about a love that's so strong you'd do anything for it, not caring if it consumes your entire life, nor if it works out. The love is the "ship", and it is more important to you than all the people who care about you. It could end up taking you far away from them. The "starlight" is the hope that keeps you going even when you don't think it's worth it anymore. You just want to love her ("hold you in my arms"). She brings excitement to your life, but sometimes also pain because of the struggles you may face. You will never let her go if she promises not to leave you. Your hopes and expectations could be all for nothing ("black holes and revelations"). In the end you would do anything just to spend your life with her.
I see it this way, which is exactly how I feel about someone now... This song hit it spot on, I cried when I first heard it...
I don't care if I'm only 15. -
It's a very sad song, and to me it's like he's given up things to either chase his dream or someone he loves. He's leaving behind the people that care about him to go after this 'starlight', but his faith is failing and he's not so sure if any of it was worth it because he was expecting something bigger, or more but he's realised that it's not as good as he hoped, or he can't quiet get all of it.
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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I also feel like he is singing about following his dream, but more specifically, I believe he is talking about music. I assume "this ship" is a metaphor for his career as an artist...the journey his is on right now being in a successful band and being in the star-light. It has taken him away from the people that really knew him and cared about him (i.e. family and close friends). He will continue on this path even though sometimes he wonders if it is worth the sacrifice it now requires. Music electrifies his life and he wants to use it to touch the "souls that would die just to feel alive" (i.e. his audience/fans). Despite the sacrifice it requires, he will continue on this path hoping that the starlight will not fade away...in other words, that music will continue to thrill him and allow him to touch his audience the way it has so far.
Can anyone explain how the "hold you in my arms" part ties into this? -
When I hear this song it just keeps reminding me of all the US soldiers who are sacrificing their lives for us. I'm sure they are ready to come home and hold their children and hug their wife/husband. That's what it means to me!
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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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Ok, the ship is pretty straight forward, a starship. The part about chasing a starlight is about relativistic space travel near the speed of light. this also matches with being carried away from the memories of the people who care since being subjected to near light speed travel means you age much more slowly than people back on (I presume) earth.
The ship carries people in 'stasis' so the bit about reigniting souls is all about reanimating the people who 'died' so they could have a chance at a new life.
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