‌we were together once

Song Meaning

The lyrics paint a picture of someone struggling to cope after a breakup, with a pervasive sense of suffocation and isolation. The opening lines, "It's hard for me to breathe, smoke in the air," immediately establish a suffocating atmosphere, suggesting an inability to escape the pain or the lingering presence of the past relationship. This physical difficulty breathing mirrors the emotional weight the narrator carries, a weight amplified by the desperate hope that the other person "care[s]." The narrator is clearly stuck, unable to move past the memories and clinging to the belief that they "were meant to be." The central tension lies in the narrator's desperate attempts to reconnect and the overwhelming sense of loss and decay. They observe the other person, seeing them with "no where to go I can leave to," which could imply a shared sense of being trapped or a perceived lack of options for the other person as well. The narrator's plea, "Can't you see I need you," underscores their dependence and vulnerability. This is contrasted with the narrator's own state of isolation in Verse 2, where they are "smoking on my own" and "all alone," feeling buried "6 feet underneath this snow." The most striking aspect of the writing is the recurring motif of being unable to breathe and the imagery of being buried or lost. The narrator states, "Can't breathe when you fall asleep," a line that could suggest the other person's absence or emotional distance is literally life-threatening to them. This is amplified by the self-destructive behavior described as "wasted losing time" and "wasted losing mine." The repeated phrase "I'm about to die" in the final verse leaves no room for ambiguity about the narrator's dire emotional state. Ultimately, these lyrics are effective because they translate profound emotional pain into visceral, physical sensations. The narrator isn't just sad; they are suffocating, buried, and on the brink of collapse. The directness of the language, coupled with the stark imagery of smoke, snow, and death, creates a raw and unflinching portrait of heartbreak and despair, making the listener feel the weight of the narrator's isolation.