Separate Tables
De Burgh Chris Lyrics
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In separate bedrooms we go to sleep at night,
I only wish you knew how much,
You've been on my mind;
I think about you when the morning comes,
I think about you when all my day is done,
Wondering what you are doing now,
Because I, I miss you here tonight,
And I wish you were by my side,
And I don't want to let go;
At separate tables we sit down to write,
The separate letters that never see the light,
If only we could just agree,
To read between the lines;
I want to see you and I know what I will say,
We must be crazy to throw it all away,
Never knowing what is lost,
Before it's all too late;
And I, I miss you here tonight,
And I wish you were by my side,
And I don't want to let go;
Yes I, I miss you here tonight,
And when I hold you by my side,
Well I'm not going to let go.
The song, Separate Tables by De Burgh Chris, portrays the melancholic, lonely thoughts of a person who is separated from their loved one. The lyrics suggest that despite the physical separation, the person still longs for their partner's presence and reminiscences about them every moment of the day. The phrase "Separate tables we sit down to eat" symbolizes the fact that the couple has drifted apart to the extent that they cannot even share a meal together. They live under the same roof, but emotionally, they are worlds apart. The line "In separate bedrooms we go to sleep at night" is poignant as it suggests that even during the night, the couple is not together. The singer's longing for his partner's presence is further highlighted in the lines "I only wish you knew how much you've been on my mind" and "I think about you when the morning comes, I think about you when all my day is done."
The second verse talks about the couple's inability to communicate effectively. The "separate letters that never see the light" suggest that their correspondence is meaningless as they never convey what they truly feel. The singer wants to see his partner and let her know that they must "read between the lines" and stop throwing away their relationship. He acknowledges that they might end up losing each other before realizing what they had. The chorus represents the singer's yearning for his partner's presence physically and emotionally. The words "I miss you here tonight" emphasize his anguish, and he is not ready to let go of their relationship.
Overall, the song's message is that a relationship takes commitment, communication and a willingness to work through challenges to maintain it. The song challenges couples to not take each other's presence for granted and to communicate effectively to avoid drift and eventually separation.
Line by Line Meaning
At separate tables we sit down to eat,
We sit separately to eat our meals.
In separate bedrooms we go to sleep at night,
We sleep in different rooms at night.
I only wish you knew how much,
I wish you knew how deeply I feel for you.
You've been on my mind;
You have been constantly in my thoughts.
I think about you when the morning comes,
I think about you as soon as I wake up in the morning.
I think about you when all my day is done,
I think about you before I go to bed at night.
Wondering what you are doing now,
I wonder what you are doing at this very moment.
Are you lonely too?
Do you feel lonely like I do?
Because I, I miss you here tonight,
I miss you a lot tonight.
And I wish you were by my side,
I desire to have you by my side.
And I don't want to let go;
I don't want to lose you.
At separate tables we sit down to write,
We sit separately to write letters to each other.
The separate letters that never see the light,
The letters we write but never share with anyone.
If only we could just agree,
If only we could come to an understanding.
To read between the lines;
To understand the hidden meaning behind what we write.
I want to see you and I know what I will say,
I want to see you and I already know what I will tell you.
We must be crazy to throw it all away,
We must be foolish to let go of what we have.
Never knowing what is lost,
We never realize what we have lost until it is too late.
Before it's all too late;
Before it becomes impossible to restore what we had.
Yes I, I miss you here tonight,
Yes, I miss you a lot tonight.
And when I hold you by my side,
And when I have you by my side.
Well I'm not going to let go.
I won't let go of you once I have you with me.
Lyrics © BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
Written by: CHRIS, DE BURGH
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind