Rise Against: This is Letting Go Meaning
This is Letting Go Lyrics
Always stepped in time, regardless of the beat
I moved my feet, I carried weight
When I could not do a thing
And I'm done seeking treasure
Just to wake up in an early grave
So I stopped...
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1TOP RATED
#1 top rated interpretation:I think it is about a relationship that he was really trying to make work but it never really did. The first verse is about the beginning of the relationship when he put up with things that he might not have agreed with because he liked the person. "I dug seeking treasure just to wake up in an early grave" means he was trying to find the good in the person but wound up disappointed. The second verse is when he finally starts to realize that it is not going to work out, even though he tried so hard to make it work. The third verse is when he finally decides to end the relationship, and it is very hard for him. "She asked why, I said I don't know why I just know". There is no one way he can sum up the disappointments of the relationship. "I tried to brave this discontent but now I'm through, I'm letting go of you." I only interpret it this way because I was in a nearly two year relationship that went pretty much exactly like this. Ending it was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do, but it needed to be done.
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2TOP RATED
#2 top rated interpretation:"Once upon a time I could take anything, anything." means he would have done anything for this person but he has grown up
and realized this person would not do the same for him in return, "So I stopped right there" is the writer telling us that he didn't just fade away, he stopped on the spot and said "Go on alone, 'cause I won't follow" and that these it hurt him to leave the person so he tells us he didn't give up... he changed and let go of the past -
The singer had always went in the direction everyone but himself was pointing to until he pulls the breaks and stops to go on his own and let go of those who he had followed and became who he is, rather than what everyone expects him to be.
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I totally agree with the people above here. This song is, for the moment, my absolute favorite 'cause I think that I'm in the exact same situation. And ofcourse this is just what I think...
So anyhow,
"Once upon a time I could take anything, anything. Always stepped in time, regardless of the beat. I moved my feet, I carried weight. When I could not do a thing
And I'm done seeking treasure.Just to wake up in an early grave"
This part of the song makes me think of the time (that's 6 months ago) that I was really in love with a guy. I would have done anything for him. Whatever he asked me to do, I did it for him. I just had to follow his lead, it was amazing just he way he took leadership off my life. I even started to believe in all the things I abolutely didn't before. I kept coming back to him for more, I just wanted him. In a way he adored me too but he aways kept a kind of distance. And then I started to realize that he would never really love me back. That I was just a girl for him.
In this song happens the exact same thing, in my opinion.
"The path I call from here on out will be my own. The path will be my own"
The boy, in the song, understands that there is no way he can say with her. He has to go and find his own dreams instead of following hers... -
"Once upon a time I could take anything, anything.
Always stepped in time, regardless of the beat
I moved my feet, I carried weight
When I could not do a thing
And I'm done seeking treasure
Just to wake up in an early grave
So I stopped right there and said"
The beginning of the song speaks to the past, where the singer did everything everyone else expected of him and never stepped out of beat.
"Go on alone, 'cause I won't follow.
But this isn't giving up, no this is letting go
Out with the old dreams I've borrowed
The path I call from here on out will be my own
The path will be my own."
This is when he realizes that giving up isn't the same as letting go, and that it's better for him to chart his own path than to take the path laid out for him by others.
"This is the part where the needle skips
And the chorus plays like a sink that drips
A syllable repeating, like a warning we aren't heeding
Until all of a sudden we notice it
When the wheels brace and the tires grip
A map we've been misreading
A defeat we're not conceding
Until now
There must be some other way out"
Possibly some of the most poetic lyrics I've ever heard, the needle skipping refers to the same word playing over and over again. The syllable repeating is the word "Stop," which goes unnoticed until the metaphorical brakes are suddenly slammed. The singer realizes that he's read the map wrong, and thinks that maybe it's time to concede defeat. Instead, he looks for a different way out.
"The wind died
The whole world ceased to move
Now so quiet
Her beating heart became a boom
We locked eyes
For just a moment or two
She asked why
I said "I don't know why"
I just know
I just know"
The song's bridge is repeated twice, and changes to a new scenario, a quiet place where someone, perhaps the singer's wife, is questioning his decision. He says that he doesn't know why he's changing paths, but he knows that it's right.
"Go on alone, 'cause I won't follow
But this isn't giving up, no this is letting go
I'll make the most of all this sorrow
I tried to brave these tears' contempt but now I'm through
I'm letting go of you."
"This is letting go"
"This is letting go"
"Once upon a time I could take anything, anything."
Finally, he reiterates his decision to go on his own path, and how he'll make the most out of the trouble he's endured. He also says how he tried to brave his way through, but realized that the right course is just to let go and start anew. The final line is just a reminder about the person he used to be at the beginning of the song.
This is Letting Go is like it's title, it's a song about letting go and charting your own path through any situation life throws at you, and how it "isn't giving up, no this is letting go." It's kind of an anthem for anyone who's ever been pushed around in their life, and all together just a phenomenal song. -
Well I think that this song is about how once one person went with the flow, what ever the world does he/she does hence, "Always stepped in time, regardless of the beat".
"And I'm done seeking treasure Just to wake up in an early grave" Is when the person stop focusing in his/her own desires and realises that what he/she is doing is killing the world or him/herself (global warming, war, global hunger etc).
Then the chorus is giving the impression that this person is no longer doing what they're expected of them by everyone else. "Go one alone,'cause I won't follow",but the person is not giving up on the world and it's potential to set things straight " But this isn't giving up, no this is letting go" perhaps letting go of the world's old traditions i.e creating wars, producing green house gasses etc.
this theory is further supported by the 2nd verse. "And the chorus plays like a sink that drips, a syllable repeating, like a warning we aren't heeding" means that people talk about changing our ways all the time, hence the syllable repeating, but no one actually does something about it hence, like a warning we aren't heading.
So yeah that's my interpretation -
I think this song is about following your own dreams. "Out with the old dreams i've borrowed," this could mean that the writer really followed someone else's dream of himself. "The path I carve from here on out will be my own," and now he'll follow his own dreams instead of doing what others want him to do.
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This is a song about how we don't have to follow our thoughts through. We can change our ways, let go of what we once believed in, once thought to be true but have since changed our minds, and follow a differnet path, our own path as the song states. We can choose to let go of all that is bad in the world, in our lives, to let go of all the bad we can.
In this song, he tries to explain this to a girl but she is unwilling to let go of the bad so he is forced to let go of her, to move on with his life and try to do all the good he can and let go of the bad.
At one point in his life he could take anything, he wouldn't of had to think about good or bad, of the concequences he would have to face for his actions, he would simply act. I like to think that this is a child's mind; we do whatever we want to because we have no concept or understanding of how our actions affect other people. By the end of this song however, he has grwon up and realized that every action bears a concequence and he should let go of thoughts to make decisions that could be considered bad or hurt himself, the world or others, and focus on making good decisions. -
This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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