Sara Bareilles: Between the Lines Meaning
Between the Lines Lyrics
To burden your mouth for what you say
No pieces of paper in the way
Cause i cant continue pretending to choose
The opposite sides on which we fall
The loving you laters if at all
No right minds could...
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To me it sounds like, she is the wife and has found out her husband has been cheating on her and has decided to leave her (his wife) for the other woman (whose name she heard but wasn't listening at the time). She was trying to figure out if she could forgive him and stay in the marriage but he has taken the choice from her and decided to leave with the other. You usually call the other (as in the other woman, not as in the already existing relationship).
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I've never been divorced but to me this song is about divorce or separation...the loving you laters if at all...the person male or female is writing a love letter that they never send...or it could be the person writing a love note to someone they have secret feelings for but it is never consumated...
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It's about a girl that's too late to realize that the guy she loves is also in love with her. But when she's ready, he already has another girl.
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Just throwing this out there. I am sure these were not the intentions when the song was written, but for me it has a non-romantic resonance. My sister has been battling a heroin addiction for 3 years, only one of which anyone in the family was even aware she had a problem. She can write all the apology letters she wants but it will mean more when she has the guts to say it out loud. My family literally divided when we learned of her addiction and I was left in the middle. The only one who was in a position to help her, and the only one left that she could manipulate. Constantly wanting to love her but fearing another betrayal, literally loving her later if at all. But she had to have been out of her mind somehow to have done all the terrible and hurtful things she did to our family while she was using. I kept telling myself that no right mind could do these things so it had to be the addiction that drove her to it. She jokingly refers to me as the bloodhound because I literally investigate everything she tells me and have argued with detectives and lawyers and courts and caught her in so many lies. My attention to detail has both saved her life and brought it to a screeching halt. Yet when she had me convinced she was truly working on her recovery, anything that felt out of place I could come up with something to justify it so I could at least passively trick myself into believing she was trying to get better. My family had suspected she had a drug problem for a while before she admitted it but I'd refused to believe it. So when the admission came, I almost already knew. I'd heard it a thousand times but wasn't willing to listen. She plays the role of an addict eager for recovery very well when it suits her. And we will talk in circles for hours. On a few occasions, its actually come back around to her telling me that sobriety is too hard and if I can't love her and her heroin then I need to let go. But that's only after hours of pleading with me not ti give up on her. She isn't ready to commit to sobriety and I've poured my heart out her and vice versa so many times that when the relapse comes or a betrayal is discovered, its devastating. So now, I just prefer not to indulge in the lengthy tearful explanations or excuses she offers anymore. But, I am always too easily fooled when she tells me over and over again that she is trying again, so my eyes remain wide shut unopened. I am the only one left in the family who hasn't completely written her off, while at the same time, aside from monetary loses, I stand to lose the most over and over again every time she relapses so my love for her is a new guarded kind. "I love you" will never mean just that again. She will always be looking out for me trying to spot any signs of relapse or untruth, and I will always be looking further into everything she says and does because there is mutually no trust btwn us. We will always be in a relationship based solely on what lies between the lines.
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**It's a song about a beautiful friendship that was never expressed between them.. ending up with the girl being hurt, 'cause the guy moved on with her knowing, and he talked to her about this new girl he likes, at the end, when she was ready to open up, it was to late for her, and now she has to decide, whether to remain as friends just to keep him in her alive(Even though it's gonna hurt her even more) or to let him go and never come back**
Time to tell me the truth
To burden your mouth for what you say
(She want's him to tell her what she want's to hear)
No pieces of paper in the way
(She doesn't want hear it in any other way)
'Cause I can't continue pretending to choose
(She can't bear the thought of choosing either friendship or love towards him anymore)
The opposite sides on which we fall
(She see's that their relationship could be either way, love or friends)
The loving you laters, if at all
(She is hoping to get a sign of love from him and not just friendship anymore)
No right minds could wrong be this many times
(She knew that their relationship can never be nothing else but love)
My memory is cruel
I'm queen of attention-to-details
(Her memories of him and her still haunts her, 'cause she remembers every moment)
Defending intentions if he fails
(He has shown her signs, but she doesn't want to acknowledge/accept it, 'cause she is unsure if it's true)
Until now, he told me her name
It sounded familiar in a way
(After some time(he moved on), when he told her about a building relationship with this other girl)
I could have sworn I'd heard him
Say it ten thousand times
(She realizes then that he has fallen for this new girl)
If only I had been listening
(She blames herself for not paying attention to the signs that he had moved on)
Leave unsaid unspoken
(Regrettably, she leaves him alone, never revealing her feelings)
Eyes wide shut unopened
(She doesn't want to see that she could have the love the new girl has)
You and me
Always between the lines
(She still want's to believe that they are still between the lines of love or friendship, hoping..)
**I assume this is a flashback after the chorus**
I thought I was ready to bleed
That we'd move from the shadows on the wall
And stand in the center of it all
(She was ready but didn't know it was to late to finally open up to him)
Too late, two choices, to stay or to leave
Mine was so easy to uncover
He'd already left with the other
(She learned that he's with another already, he made his choice and now she has to choose herself, to remain as friends and bear the pain or to leave and let go)
So I learned to listen through silence
(Now she has to think, all alone and blinded by sadness)
Leave unsaid unspoken
Eyes wide shut unopened
You and me, always be...
You and me, always be...
I tell myself
All the words he surely meant to say
(She doesn't want to accept the fact he has someone else to love, so she tries to believe that what he said about this new girl was actually for her)
I'll talk until
The conversation doesn't stay on
(She wants to believe that whenever he talks to her about his new found love is still about her even though she knows that it is not anymore)
"Wait for me, I'm almost ready,"
(She hope she could turn back time and pour her heart out)
When he meant "Let go,"
(In the end, it was actually to late, and he can't look back now, he want's her to let him go and move on)
Leave unsaid unspoken
Eyes wide shut unopened
You and me, always be...
You and me
Always between the lines -
This song is about a girl who has a friendship with a guy that she reads more into than he does, and it ends up hurting her, and barely affecting him.
Time to tell me the truth
To burden your mouth for what you say
(I need to know what you really want)
No pieces of paper in the way
(no little notes to tell me what is true)
Cause I can't continue pretending to choose
These opposite sides on which we fall
(I don't want to choose, but I am being forced to)
The loving you later as if at all
(the two sides are loving you later, or never)
No right minds could wrong me this many times
(A person in their right mind couldn't ever do this many things to hurt me)
My memory is cruel
Im queen of attention to details
(I remember every small thing he told me, every little bit of conversation we ever had, even if I don't want to)
Defending intentions if he fails
(if he doesn't show, something must have happened to make him not be able to show. He really wants me to be with me)
Until now, he told me her name
(there comes another girl in the story)
It sounded familiar in a way
I could have sworn i'd heard him say it ten thousand times
(I thought I knew who she was, but apparently not)
If only I had been listening
Leave unsaid unspoken
(don't tell me things that we both know but don't want to say)
Eyes wide shut unopened
(I am not looking for things that I don't want to see)
You and me
will always be-tween the lines
(our relationship will always have to be read between the lines)
Between the lines
I thought I thought I was ready to bleed
(I figured I was ready to sacrifice for you)
That we'd move from the shadows on the wall
And stand in the center of it all
(we should make our relationship known to other people, going from dark to light)
Too late two choices to stay or to leave
(I have 2 choices)
Mine was so easy to uncover
He'd already left with the other
(the choice was clear because he wasn't choosing me)
So I learned to listen through silence
(the silence proved that he didn't want me)
Leave unsaid unspoken
Eyes wide shut unopened
You and me be
You and me always be
I tell myself all the words he surely meant to say
(there were so many things that he must have wanted to say, but he didn't)
I'll talk until the conversation doesn't stay on
(I try to keep the conversation going when there is none)
Wait for me I'm almost ready
When he meant let go
(waiting for someone is a hard thing to do, but he didn't want me to wait for him)
Leave unsaid unspoken
Eyes wide shut unopened
You and me
Always be
You and me
Always between the lines
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