Song Meaning
The lyrics paint a picture of cyclical stagnation, returning to the "same old place as the last year" and "speaking the same story." There's a palpable sense of waiting, not for something specific, but for a change that feels perpetually out of reach. The narrator observes the world divided into those asleep and those awake, perhaps highlighting a shared, yet isolated, experience of this stasis. The repeated phrase "Tomorrow we will try" offers a sliver of hope, but it's tinged with the weariness of past failed attempts.
The central tension lies in the gap between aspiration and reality. The chorus, "We want everything," is a powerful declaration of desire, yet it's immediately undercut by the realization that "Everything we mean to do / All of it, we thought we knew." This suggests a profound uncertainty about how to achieve these grand desires, or perhaps that the desires themselves are ill-defined. The lyrics imply a struggle with follow-through, where "Promises were spoken / All has been forgotten," leaving only the potential to "Plant the seeds you're holding / Another year to grow them."
The most striking craft element is the recurring motif of the sun. "'Cause there's the sun, don't go away / It isn't done, until we say" positions the sun as a passive observer, its continuation dependent on human declaration. This is a fascinating inversion, suggesting that our own agency, or lack thereof, dictates even the most constant natural phenomena. This metaphorical sun seems to represent potential or opportunity, which remains dormant until actively claimed or defined by us. The repetition of "It always changes" further emphasizes the elusive nature of fulfillment.
Ultimately, these lyrics resonate because they capture the universal feeling of wanting more while struggling to define or grasp it. The writing effectively uses the contrast between grand desires ("everything") and the mundane reality of repeated cycles and forgotten promises to evoke a specific kind of hopeful melancholy. The final, insistent repetition of "We want everything" lands not as a triumphant demand, but as a wistful, almost desperate, acknowledgment of an unfulfilled longing.