Champions of Red Wine

Song Meaning

These lyrics sketch a scene of recurring returns, steeped in a shared history and perhaps a bit of hedonism. The narrator and their companion are "champions of red wine," seemingly comfortable in a pattern of coming back to each other. There's an immediate sense of a practiced reunion, a familiar ritual unfolding. Yet, this isn't a simple love story. The lyrics introduce a central tension with "The fine art of crossed lines / Crossed for old times," suggesting a history of entanglement, miscommunication, or boundaries blurred. This "fine art" implies a practiced, almost celebrated, dysfunction that keeps pulling them back, a cycle described as "Like starting over" again and again. This magnetic pull is powerfully articulated through natural imagery and repetition. The narrator observes, "Oh like the headlands / Need waves to root for," suggesting an elemental, almost fated connection where one entity defines the other. The repeated chorus, "The steps I take back to you," reinforces this gravitational force, a conscious but seemingly unavoidable movement towards the other person, culminating in the insistent refrain of "We're coming over" in the outro. What makes these lyrics resonate is the narrator's self-awareness amidst this complicated dance. They declare, "I am not your love song / Love song gone wrong," pushing back against a simple, perhaps tragic, romantic narrative. Instead, there's a yearning for something more authentic, a hope to "save lives / If we don't spend them / Way undercover," suggesting a desire to break free from hidden patterns and embrace a more open, meaningful connection, even as the pull remains.