The lead track She Said unleashes the punch-in-the-gut of realization that “it’s over” and explores the absurdity of a last kiss and the struggle to keep composure until you can be alone to fall apart. From Mistake on through the entire CD all the songs make strong points, leaving no facet of the phases and faces of a break-up unexamined all while managing to beg the obvious question of why you wouldn’t want the person who has your heart to really know it in the moment it matters most.
From disbelief, shock, despair, acceptance, grief and longing , the prismatic spectrum of love had, lost, and better left behind are showcased and you’ll soon find yourself strumming along with Alex’s ‘Everyman’ journey; each melody stringing a story, taking you deeper into his pain and your own. After the dust settles and you collect the pieces of yourself, you’ll have the CD’s bonus eleven track mirror of instrumentals to reflect on as you try to move into the meantime of life-after -relationship.
With a stellar sense of humor fatefully paired with a lightning-fast wit, both onstage and off, Alex Nelson gets to the bottom of the human heart with all he says and does. His lyrics strip a person down to the soul to reveal a most universally undeniable factor: we all tend to think too much and hold back when we shouldn’t.
ask
Alex Nelson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
but sometimes you don't hear what you say
i spend my nights in bed without you
spend most my days thinking about
why does everything around me fall apart?
when the world comes crashing down
and every things gone wrong
feel so right?
i wonder why it took so long
to hold you in my arms
and how bad I wish
that you were here tonight
so if I ask nice
would you stay with me forever?
can i hold you in my arms all through the night
but you say some things, that don't sound very nice
and i wonder if we could make it through the days
well this is the life we choose
we play to win, but mostly lose
and in the end hope it all comes out alright
we spend most our lives to find the answers
but in the end all that matters
is the ones we thought were wrong
were really right
when the world comes crashing down
and every things gone wrong
why does everything about you
feel so right?
i wonder why it took so long
to hold you in my arms
and how bad I wish
that you were here tonight
so if I ask nice
would you stay with me forever?
can i hold you in my arms all through the night
but you say some things, that don't sound very nice
and i wonder if we could make it through the days
I'm so sick of wondering
just what we're gonna do
i just wish this one time
you would tell me the truth
[break]
when the world comes crashing down
and every things gone wrong
why does everything about you
feel so right?
i wonder why it took so long
to hold you in my arms
and how bad I wish
that you were here tonight
so if I ask nice
would you stay with me forever?
can i hold you in my arms all through the night
but you say some things, that don't sound very nice
and i wonder if we could make it through the days
so if I ask nice
would you stay, would you stay, would you stay
so if I ask nice
would you stay, would you stay, would you stay
In "Ask", Alex Nelson is trying to come to terms with his feelings about a relationship that seems to have its ups and downs. The song is a plea for the other person to stay with him and be honest with him, even though they sometimes say things that hurt him. He wonders why everything about this person feels right, but at the same time, everything around him seems to fall apart. Nelson uses the lines "when the world comes crashing down and everything's gone wrong, why does everything about you feel so right?" to express this dilemma.
The chorus of the song is particularly powerful, as Nelson sings about his longing for the other person to stay with him forever: "so if I ask nice, would you stay with me forever? can I hold you in my arms all through the night?" The song is full of intense emotions, and Nelson's voice conveys this perfectly, especially in the last verse where he says he's "so sick of wondering / just what we're gonna do / I just wish this one time / you would tell me the truth."
Overall, "Ask" is a beautiful exploration of the complexities of relationships, and the challenges that come with trying to make them work.
Line by Line Meaning
you say it's not a game that you play
You say that you're serious, but sometimes your words betray you
but sometimes you don't hear what you say
Sometimes you don't even realize you're contradicting yourself
i spend my nights in bed without you
I spend my nights longing for you to be there with me
spend most my days thinking about
Most days I can't stop thinking about you and how much I want you
why does everything around me fall apart?
I feel like everything in my life is falling apart and I don't know why
when the world comes crashing down
When everything goes wrong and my world is falling apart
and every things gone wrong
And nothing seems to be going right
why does everything about you
Why is it that everything about you still feels so right?
feel so right?
i wonder why it took so long
I can't help but wonder why it took so long for us to be together
to hold you in my arms
To finally have you close to me
and how bad I wish
And how much I wish
that you were here tonight
That you were here with me right now
so if I ask nice
So if I ask you sweetly
would you stay with me forever?
Will you stay with me forever?
can i hold you in my arms all through the night
Can I keep you close and hold you all night long?
but you say some things, that don't sound very nice
But sometimes you say things that hurt me
and i wonder if we could make it through the days
And I start to wonder if we can make it through this together
well this is the life we choose
This is the life we've chosen for ourselves
we play to win, but mostly lose
We try our best, but things don't always work out
and in the end hope it all comes out alright
But we still hope that in the end everything will work out for the best
we spend most our lives to find the answers
We spend most of our lives searching for answers
but in the end all that matters
But in the end what really matters is
is the ones we thought were wrong
Realizing that the people we thought were wrong
were really right
Are the ones who were really right all along
I'm so sick of wondering
I'm tired of constantly wondering
just what we're gonna do
What we're going to do about our situation
i just wish this one time
I just wish, for once,
you would tell me the truth
You would be honest with me
when the world comes crashing down
When everything falls apart
and every things gone wrong
And things aren't going right
why does everything about you
Why does everything about you
feel so right?
i wonder why it took so long
I still can't help but question why it took so long
to hold you in my arms
To finally hold you in my arms
and how bad I wish
And how much I wish
that you were here tonight
That you were here with me right now
so if I ask nice
So if I ask you sweetly
would you stay with me forever?
Will you stay with me forever?
can i hold you in my arms all through the night
Can I hold you close and never let go?
but you say some things, that don't sound very nice
But sometimes you say hurtful things
and i wonder if we could make it through the days
And I start to question if we can make it through together
so if I ask nice
So if I ask sweetly
would you stay, would you stay, would you stay
Will you stay with me, will you stay, will you stay?
so if I ask nice
So if I ask sweetly
would you stay, would you stay, would you stay
Will you stay with me, will you stay, will you stay?
Contributed by Sarah W. Suggest a correction in the comments below.