I remember when I first heard this song, I couldn’t relate to the lyrics so there wasn’t any attachment. I listened to it again today and the first set of verses really hit what I’m going through right now. Ironically, I found out that the lyrics are actually describing the lives of three different people which is why it seemed so confusing. In this case, I’m the person he sings about in the first set of verses:
You can’t find the phone, so you can call it off but it might be for the best. You can’t walk away, anyway…because you’ve nowhere else to go. Is he worth all this, is it a simple yes? ‘Cause if you have to think, it’s f*cked. Feels like you loved him more, than he loved you and you wish you’d never met.
This Isn’t Everything You Are was released as a single in October of 2011 from the band’s sixth album, Fallen Empires. It was written by frontman Gary Lightbody, who was describing the issues going on in some of his friends lives at the time. The chorus then tries to explain that everything isn’t as bad as it seems. He wanted to “show them that there were people there for them whenever they needed. Sometimes it’s hard to reach out, it’s hard to ask for help.”
It went to #40 in the UK, #9 in Belgium, and #18 in Ireland. It did not make the charts in the United States.
