Every Time You Go by Ellie Goulding Lyrics Meaning – Exploring the Intricacies of Love and Loss
Lyrics
Every time you go
It starts with a picture
And it sits in your frame
And we part with a letter
And it ends in my name
And it starts with forever
And it ends with a touch
And I know that you’re clever
And I don’t ask for much
Maybe we forgot all the things we are when we are together
You said I’m arresting
You said I had heat
I really thought that we’d go further
The second time we meet
‘Cause I’m tired of trying to keep you
All I want to do is sleep
And perhaps, when I’m sleeping
You’ll get back on your feet
Maybe we forgot all the things we are when we are together
Wake me up, wake me up
Stop my fall
Every time you go
Tape me up, then break me up
Ever so gently
When I’m at my weakest
It’s not so hard
Every time you go
I run out to meet you
When I knew the storm had come
And I felt the rain on your face
And the damage you have done
I know what you’re thinking
It will never be the end
And when the storm is over
You won’t see me again
Didn’t know the price I paid
For all the times I stayed when we were together
Wake me up, wake me up
Stop my fall
Every time you go
Tape me up, then break me up
Ever so gently
When I’m at my weakest
It’s not so hard
Maybe we forgot, are we awake, or not?
Maybe we forgot, are we awake, or not?
Maybe we forgot, are we awake, or not?
Or maybe we forgot
Wake me up, wake me up
Stop my fall
Every time you go
Tape me up, then break me up
Ever so gently
When I’m at my weakest
Wake me up, wake me up
Stop my fall
Every time you go
Tape me up, then break me up
Ever so gently
When I’m at my weakest
It’s not so hard
Every time you go
Within the melodic weave of Ellie Goulding’s ‘Every Time You Go,’ lies a profound exploration of love’s ephemerality and the intimate dance with distance and closeness. The song, enveloped in Goulding’s signature ethereal vocals, delves into the shadows of a relationship where the permanence of separation looms over transient togetherness.
The lyrics serve as a poignant testament to the complexities that love threads into the fabric of our lives. Goulding’s heartfelt delivery transforms the words into a shared experience of collective human emotion, allowing listeners to navigate the nuanced topography of love, its profound connections, and the sense of loss that ensues in the wake of its absence.
Images in Frames – Symbols of a Static Love
The pictorial metaphor that opens the song – with a picture sitting silently in a frame – draws a poignant parallel to a relationship immobilized in time. Goulding paints the imagery of an emotional still life, where memories are preserved, and reality is suspended in the aftermath of a parting.
The ‘frame’ can be construed as a boundary, a limitation within which love is confined, reflecting on the paradox of holding onto a moment that has since slipped away. The finality of a letter’s end and the invocation of cleverness suggest a deep understanding between the lovers, an intimate recognition of limits within which they exist.
Of Heat and Heartbreak – The Push and Pull of Passion
‘You said I’m arresting, You said I had heat’ – these lines emphasize the intensity of emotions that once blazed between the two. Goulding captures the essence of a passionate connection, which despite its fervor, is not enough to sustain the entirety of the relationship.
The juxtaposition of a longing for closeness with the exhaustion of trying to maintain a connection illuminates the internal struggle often encountered in relationships at their brink. The desire for peace in solitude – ‘All I want to do is sleep’ – represents a resignation to the emotional turmoil and the hope for restorative separation.
The Hidden Meaning Behind the Storm’s Rage
The metaphor of a storm brewing and breaking is no stranger to songs about troubled relationships. In ‘Every Time You Go,’ the storm symbolizes the tumultuous emotions and conflicts that batter the foundation of the once stable bond.
Ellie Goulding’s acknowledgment of the storm’s presence and the acceptance of the damage done resonate with the reality of moving through relationship upheavals. Yet, the hope that lingers – ‘You won’t see me again’ – carries a dual whisper of an end and a subtle plea for reconsideration.
Unforgettable Lines That Echo the Soul’s Depths
‘Maybe we forgot all the things we are when we are together’ – this line forms the song’s emotional core, stressing how love can often lead us to lose sight of our collective essence. The repetition serves as an incantation, a desire to recall what has been forgotten in the realm of togetherness.
It encourages listeners to reflect on their own experiences where memory and identity become intertwined and obscured within the dynamics of a relationship. Goulding’s incisive articulation of this amnesia hints at the universal quest for recognition and self within the twined paths of love.
Awakening from Love’s Lethargy
The chorus ‘Wake me up, wake me up, Stop my fall’ is a powerful cry for salvation, an urgent plea to be pulled back up from the plummet of heartache. As Ellie Goulding repeatedly asks to be taped up after being broken, there’s a fragility exposed, a delicate human plea for gentle handling at one’s weakest moment.
Contrasting the song’s melancholic undercurrent, ‘It’s not so hard’ acts as a mantra of resilience, an assertion that amidst the cycles of parting and returning, there is strength to be found. It’s a recognition of love’s trials as endurable, a statement of survival through the perpetual ebb and flow.
