Don't look back
Fiddler's Green Lyrics

I met him in an bar,
The singer encountered the man at a drinking establishment.

he was screaming out my name
The man was trying to get the singer's attention by loudly calling out their name.

I turned around an took a seat
The singer acknowledged the man's call and sat down beside him.

just right next to him
The artist sat in close proximity to the man.

We talked a while 'bout good old times
The artist and the man reminisced about past experiences.

an how it all got lost
During their conversation, they discussed how those past experiences were no longer present in their lives.

We filled our glasses,
The two men drank together.

drank straight up,
They drank their drinks without any chaser or mixer.

the drinks were at my cost
The artist paid for the drinks.

I kind of saw it in his eyes
The artist noticed something troubling in the man's eyes.

empty, grey and pale
The man's eyes lacked emotion and appeared unhealthy.

there must be something wrong with him,
The artist assumed the man was in a bad state.

was in a real bad shape
The man appeared to be physically and emotionally worn out.

He spoke with a bleating voice,
The man spoke with a weak and trembling voice.

tears were in his eyes
The man was visibly emotional and crying.

No need to hide out anyway,
The man was open and honest about his feelings.

saw pain through the disguise
The artist saw past any attempts by the man to conceal his true emotions and realized he was in pain.

One, for the failure of my dreams
The man was remorseful about not achieving his aspirations.

'Cause I'm weaker than it seem
He believed he lacked the strength to succeed.

I've never been that strong
The man didn't consider himself to be a strong person.

What 'bout the writing on the wall?
The man wondered why he had ignored warning signs or signals.

How come I've never seen it all?
He questioned why he had failed to perceive the full scope of his troubles.

I was blind but-
The man realized that he had been unaware of his problems.

Don't look back
The song's refrain is telling the listener to focus on the present and not dwell on the past.

It started when my woman died,
The man recounts how his troubles began when his significant other passed away.

back in '89
The year 1989 was when the man's partner died.

I can't remember countless days
The man had spent so many days grieving that he couldn't recall them all.

that I just sat and cried
The man had been overwhelmed by his emotions and often cried.

Desperately began to drink,
The man began to drink heavily as a way to cope with his grief.

there was no end in sight.
The man felt like his drinking problem would never go away.

And so I thought to myself,
The man had an internal realization.

I'm gonna lose this fight
The man resigned himself to losing the battle with alcoholism and the pain of his partner's death.