What Is To Be Done?

Song Meaning

The lyrics paint a stark picture of helplessness against the relentless march of time and irreversible change. The repeated phrase "Since you're flying away" and "Since you're hiding your face" immediately establishes a sense of departure and emotional distance, setting a tone of resigned observation. The narrator acknowledges a series of events – a child growing, time passing, a lover leaving, love letters lost – all presented as faits accomplis, things that have already happened and cannot be undone. This creates an atmosphere of quiet despair, where the only consistent response is the refrain, "There's nothing I can do about that." The central tension lies in the contrast between the passive acceptance of "nothing I can do" and the desperate, repeated question, "What do we do about that?" This isn't a plea for help, but rather a profound, almost existential lament. The narrator has tried and failed, acknowledging that "we all lose this game" and that names are forgotten. The shift from individual helplessness to a collective "we" in the questioning suggests a shared, inescapable fate, even as the initial statements focus on personal loss and separation. The most striking craft element is the pervasive use of "Since." This word, typically used to indicate a starting point or a reason, here functions as a marker of inevitable consequence. Each "Since" introduces a new, unchangeable reality that leads to the narrator's current state of powerlessness. The accumulation of these "since" clauses builds a crushing weight of finality. The imagery of "blue turned to black" and "tide changed its course" further emphasizes this sense of irreversible decline and loss of control, culminating in the fading signal and lost creations. Ultimately, the lyrics resonate because they articulate a universal feeling of being overwhelmed by circumstances beyond one's control. The simple, declarative statements of loss are amplified by the insistent, unanswered question. It's the sound of someone staring into the abyss of what has happened, acknowledging the end of a play, and finding no answer, only the echo of their own bewildered query. The repeated "What do we do about that?" becomes a mantra of shared human vulnerability in the face of endings.