OneRepublic: Counting Stars Meaning
Song Released: 2013
Counting Stars Lyrics
Dreaming about the things that we could be
But baby I been, I been prayin' hard
Said no more counting dollars
We'll be counting stars
Yeah, we'll be counting stars
I see this life
Like a swinging...
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I believe that the truth behind this song is in correlation with Abraham and Genius 15.5 "counting stars". How he is waiting for the promise that god made onto us.
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He wants to be free from money and other things we promote in society. Nothing about being rich or drugs or taking down the government.
"Take that money/ watch it burn/sink in the river/the lessons I learned" he does not want money he wants to be free.
"No more counting dollars we'll be counting stars" he wants to follow his dreams.
"Feel something so wrong doing the right thing" I think he means "right thing", ideas we promote in society. He would rather be poor and happy than rich and not.
"We'll be counting" says he is trying to convince someone to also just follow their dreams. Maybe a lover or possibly us, the listeners. But I think it is a positive song. -
part of me thinks that hes telling people to stop going by what religion and society thinks im no athiest i believe in God but what ever happened to the lost books of the bible..how come Gods name was removed from the bible..how come there is no J in the hebrew language so jesus wasnt a hebrew then...by letting go of religion you can free yourself to see what it for what it really is stop living and burning your money in churches also known as (circe)
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Seems religious.
Ever seen the movie "You Can't Take it With You" ?
A depression era classic.
Life isn't about money.
It's about what we can do in life, what we have been given. -
It's saying forget the money [make that money, watch it burn] and see what the society is saying, because if you're obsessed with money, you aren't that great [young, but im not that bold].
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This song is about Fight Club. If you don't believe me, I've taken the song and managed to connect it to the movie (and since the movie possess many of the themes talked about here that was quite easy).
"Lately, I've been, I've been losing sleep, dreaming about the things that we could be"
The narrator (Edward Norton) is clearly losing sleep dreaming about what his club could become.
"But baby, I've been, I've been praying hard,
Said no more counting dollars, we'll be counting stars"
He is sick of society telling him to earn a living, working at a crappy job to simply buy stupid crap he doesn't need. He'd rather be knocked out and counting stars (you know in cartoons when a character gets hit on the head and stars start swirling around them. That's what I mean) by fighting then wasting his life.
"I see this life, like a swinging vine, swing my heart across the line"
This line is saying that he sees life like a potential thrill ride, and he wants to swing on it as much as possible. The swing my heart across the line is saying that he doesn't care if he steps out of line, it's part of the fun.
"In my face is flashing signs, seek them out and you shall find"
This could mean that it's clear he's been in a fight from all the blood and wounds on his face,
Or
It could mean that he's clearly done something exhilarating because he's flashing signs such as smiling and such.
"Old, but I'm not that old, young, but I'm not that bold"
This might be saying that he hasn't doesn't done much in his life, or he isn't that bold. It might be in here because he wants to make an impact on the world in some way.
"I don't think the world is sold, I'm just doing what we're told"
I think this is him thinking that the world doesn't really know what to do, where it's going. So he might be sick if this fact, and sick of following orders from others trying to advance a society with no purpose, no meaning. That is probably what drive him to make the Fight Club, sick of being in a pointless society with no freedoms.
"I feel something so right, by doing the wrong thing,
And I feel something so wrong by doing the right thing"
He feels something right by breaking the set rules of society, and feels stripped of his freedoms and himself doing what society perceives the right thing to do.
"I could lie, could lie, could lie"
He is sick of faking himself. From destroying what he is and covering it up with what you see. He is sick of lying to the world about what he thinks is right, and lying to himself about who he is.
"But everything that kills me makes me feel alive"
Literally, getting his ass handed to him in the movie seems to be exhilarating to him. The fact that he accepted the truth about himself, rather than the lie, has made him feel alive.
[I will skip the parts I have already done to avoid repeating myself]
"I feel the love, and I feel it burn, down this river, every turn"
He has a love for breaking the rules, feeling alive, being free. Like a fire that keeps burning brighter and bright (providing it isn't a contained one that will eventually burn itself out)
The river refers to life, and he wants to be completely free. He has set himself free from societies chains, but he is still in it's cage.
"Hope is a four letter word"
I think he has hopes for what he is doing and that it will succeed.
"Take that money, watch it burn"
He wants ignore what he has been raised to be. To forget about what society has taught him and let freedom ring. To take what's left of society and watch it burn. To simply forget about all of the things society has made looks important and worth fighting for, in this case money, and experience happiness.
[Skipping ahead again]
"Take that money, watch it burn,
Sink into the river of the lessons I learned"
This is about letting go of society and burning it, and then thinking about it, or sinking into a river of the lessons you'ved learned. Reflecting on what you've done, how you'ved changed, what you'ved changed. -
This is another revolution anthem. He is calling for a societal revolution because we value all of the wrong things. We value possessions, material goods, and money over joy, love, and compassion. (feel right/doing wrong etc) Counting stars instead of dollars is asking all of us to begin to think in a way counter to what we have been taught by society. Understand and revel in the amazement of the universe around us, our spirituality (religion aside), and abandon the rat race for money. Money is made up people, there is a private corporation that prints it. Cmon? We need to wake up, and understand that the idea of earning a living has been forced onto us, and we were told it was a 'good' thing. For who? We are humans, of the planet Earth, we were born here, why do we need to pay? Question authority, question everything you know. Listen to Imagine Dragons - Radioactive. These two songs lend themselves to each other. If your eyes work properly, you'd see our government is criminal and we are being forced into modern day slavery.
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I think it means that it tells us to forget about the money and what the society says. It is also the guy is torn about his lifestyle (I feel something so right doing the wrong things) means that he knows he is doing something wrong but because the way people influenced him he doesn't know that he is going against his belief. The crock means that evil is surrounding or lurking in everything that we do. That they shouldn't care about the money they should only care about the people who are underneath all of those rich poor problems because of these problems they cause a war in our world Oh by the way if you read this and find it amazing a thirteen year old wrote this :)
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Remember when Ashton Kutcher was on the Teen Choice Awards talking about working hard and earning money and having hope for a good future? Doing what you need to do, but knowing that you will move up, climb a ladder, and instead of counting every penny and thinking how far away you are, keep your focus higher and "count stars". I think that's what it means. I also think that the song is saying that it's not viewed as popular to start out working in a fast food restaurant or be a grocer when you get out of college. A lot of people think working there with this is "beneath them" and a great paying job should be handed to them on a pedestia. But an unpopular viewpoint is that it is okay to work there and work hard. You learn that there is more to life than money, that you can make it through the hardships of money with faith, hope and love. Great song by the way!
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He is troubled in his life and wants and end to life being ruled by money, The Alligator symbolizes Evil and The Congregation is The good, However as the song carries on it shows that the evil, is actually doing no harm and the good maybe actually something else, IE a con artist tricking people by suggestion that they are having an experience. The fact this takes place in a lowly decrepit apartment, seems to me that they have paid for the experience and the preacher is a con man, Taking there money for the congregations hopes and dreams of a higher force.And ultimatly putting them in a dangerous situation showing all is not what it seems,The band being between supposed good and evil seems to me the preachers tool, using the euphoric music as a catalyst to the experience. Put enough euphoric music in to some one and they will raise there hands and want to dance and cry. All through emotional suggestion.
I think all in all Money is the route to all evil, even in the hands of religion and its safer to chase your hopes and dreams -
To me, it's about a person who has been lost.
"Lately I been, I been losing sleep
Dreaming about the things that we could be
But baby, I been, I been prayin' hard
Said no more counting dollars
We'll be counting stars
Yeah, we'll be counting stars"
They've been losing sleep because they are too busy thinking about someone. As in, like, they just broke up and they can't even sleep because they are thinking about each other. And then the line "But baby, I been, I been prayin' hard" almost like they both want to get back together. "Said no more counting dollars" the reason they broke up was because one of them was obsessed with money and it's all that really mattered to them. "We'll be counting stars" It's impossible to count all the stars, but like a lot of other people said, chasing dreams. Basically, in my opinion, he's saying "I've been losing sleep because I'm thinking way to much about you and what we could be and praying you'll take me back because, you know what, fuck money, let's go chase our dreams."
"I see this life
Like a swinging vine
Swing my heart across the line
In my face is flashing signs
Seek it out and ye shall find"
He sees life like a vine, it swings back and forth, "Swing my heart across the line" where as he used to love money more than anything, his heart is crossing the line that separates money and the girl he used to be with. "In my face is flashing signs, seek it out and ye shall find" is like saying he sees why he loved money in the first place, but if you really look at it, money vs the person you love most, you'll find which is more important to you.
So, if you go with the rest of the lyrics, and try to think how I do when I lesten to it, then it makes sense, right? Then again, I write a bunch of stories and have a very active imagination, so maybe you won't see it like this. -
I think just maybe everyone on here has gotten the meaning of the song wrong... From the song vocalist and writer,out of Ryan Tedder's own mouth he admitted the lines loosing sleep and counting stars are about money. He said he can't wait for the day when he's no longer counting dollars he'll be counting stars. I dont think it's about religion trying to take money or force it's views,I believe the song is talking about what's pretty obvious in the chorus http://news.radio.com/2013/06/04/how-beyonce-adele-and-an-aloof-folk-singer-helped-onerepublic-make-counting-stars/
But if we do go into religion maybe these lyrics here can be explained two ways:"I feel something so right
At doing the wrong thing
I feel something so wrong
At doing the right thing"
1.Maybe its hard for him to follow the right way of doing this because it feels good and makes money fast.
or
2. Maybe doing the wrong thing means not following the world's way of doing things and therefore he feels right doing the wrong thing not following what everyone else is doing. get it?
And if we really look at these lyrics from a religious stand point it only goes two way also and connects with all the previous lyrics:"Everything that kills me makes me feel alive"
1. I think it pretty obvious...sin feels good to the flesh.
or
2. Everything that dying in his flesh makes him feel alive. 2 Corinthians 5:17 and he's still trying to figure things out?
I think it's the mystery of the song is kind of suppose to be that way...I also think its the mystery of the writer that make its a good song -
"No more counting dollars", means that they will be so rich they won't need to count every dollar "we'll be counting stars" they will have a lot of free time to count stars(because counting stars takes a lot of time)
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GOSHHHHHH PEOPLE ARE SO IGNORANTS THAT EVEN A SIMPLE AND UNDERSTANDABLE SONG AS THIS ONE, HAVE TO CONNECTED WITH DRUGS AND BAD HABITS, WHEN HIS IS DESPERATE SPLAYING ABSOLUTELY THE OPOSIT, UFFFFFFFF, LYRICS AND VIDEO EVEN THE COUNTRY STILE OF THE SONG TELL US ABOUT FOLLOW YOUR DREAMS NO MATTER WHAT, TO FOGHET ABOUT THE MONEY, THE SOCIETY, (Oh, but I'm not that old
Young, but I'm not that bold) MEANS THAT WE ARE NEVER LATE TO START BELIEVING, and we behave as the society allow, living for working and paying bills, his is prying hard to see the things change, and while hi is playing and the EVIL surround the band in the bottom (crocodile) the GOOD is doing his job as well (people dancing with joy in the name of the lord)
(I feel something so right
Doing the wrong thing
I feel something so wrong
Doing the right thing)
this happens to everyone when we fall in love of the poor when are parents or society said that we should choose a rich men, or perhaps follow your dreams instead to just do a job to give you money. be poor and happy, burn that money, and if you find God as them at the end of the song much much better!!!!
please dont be stupid and stop to thinks bad all the time! this is actually a good song with a good propose! -
This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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