Mating Ritual is the solo dance-rock outfit of Ryan Marshall Lawhon. Based … Read Full Bio ↴Mating Ritual is the solo dance-rock outfit of Ryan Marshall Lawhon. Based in Los Angeles, Lawhon was one-part of Pacific Air, a synth-rock duo with his brother Taylor. In 2014, the siblings put their group on hold so that Taylor could go back to school. Ryan forged ahead with his new project, a bouncy blend of hand-clap arena rock and synth melodies inspired by the '90s electronic and new age inspirations from his childhood, like Laurie Anderson, Ray Lynch, and Enya. Balancing those atmospheric sonics with the spirit of his emo and post-punk influences, Lawhon released his debut single in 2015. "Toxins" unveiled a hook-heavy sound reminiscent of the Naked & Famous, Miike Snow, and Passion Pit. He went on to release a string of other singles that year ("Game," "Moonlight" and "Hum Hum"). For his debut EP, he collaborated with his brother Taylor once again, as well as drummer Rob Humphries and singer Lizzy Land. The four-song self-titled Mating Ritual was released in early 2016. Building upon existing shimmery electronic layers, Lawhon bolstered the songs with some glam rock muscle on "I Can't Dance" and '80s new wave on "Don't Know Your Name." Early 2017 saw Lawhon issue a trio of singles -- "Thief," "Second Hand," and "Drunk" -- in anticipation of the release of his debut full-length How You Gonna Stop It?, which dropped later that June.

Second Chance
Mating Ritual Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I wrote this song
A thousand times
Cause all the messes that I make are getting difficult to hide
I take my life
I box it up
I light a match and take a breath and watch the flames do what they want
When I was really young
My father taught me that a fire cleanses everything

A fresh set of your dreams
But now the smoke is filling up my lungs and I'm, I'm suffocating

I know what you did
I can't believe you right now
You had a second chance you fucked it up again, oh no
I love what we had
But I don't need another friend
I got a second chance to make it
I'm jumping off the ledge

I wish I knew
What people felt
I wish that I could hear what you do when I open up my mouth
I thought by now
I'd know who I am
But maybe growing up is realizing you'll never understand

When I was 21I'd waste my nights getting drunk in a Tustin living room
My mattress on the floor
But now I need something stronger just to get me there
And I'm disintegrating

I know what you did
I can't believe you right now
You had a second chance you fucked it up again oh no
I love what we had
But I don't need another friend
I got a second chance to make it
I'm jumping off the ledge

This is my
This my last
This is my
This my chance
This is my last second chance to prove

This is my
This my last
This is my last second chance
This is my last second chance to prove

That I'm not you
That I'm not you
That I'm not you
Last second chance to prove
Last second chance to prove

That I'm not you
I know what you did
I can't believe you right now
You had a second chance you fucked it up again, oh no

I love what we had
But I don't need another friend

I got a second chance, to make it, I'm jumping off the ledge
I'm jumping off the ledge

Overall Meaning

The song "Second Chance" by Mating Ritual is about the struggle and frustration of trying to move on from past mistakes, as well as the challenge of trying to figure out one's own identity. The lyrics suggest that the singer has struggled with past issues that they are trying to move past, yet they feel trapped by their past and unable to escape their destructive behavior. The repetition of the phrase "second chance" underscores the idea that the singer is constantly seeking redemption, but is repeatedly disappointed by their own actions.

The lyrics also suggest a sense of frustration with people in the singer's life. The line "I know what you did, I can't believe you right now" implies that someone close to the singer has betrayed them in some way, and the line "I love what we had, but I don't need another friend" suggests that the singer may be at a point where they are ready to move on from certain relationships.

Overall, the song is a reflection on the pains of growing up, the difficulty of changing oneself, and the struggle of finding meaning in one's life.

Line by Line Meaning

I wrote this song
I have written this song about a thousand times, mainly because I am struggling to conceal the mistakes that I keep making

Cause all the messes that I make are getting difficult to hide
I am having a hard time covering up the multiple mistakes that I keep making

I take my life
I take everything that I know about myself, my experiences, and my relationships with other people

I box it up
I put all my knowledge and experiences into a box, trying to get rid of them

I light a match and take a breath and watch the flames do what they want
I ignite a flame, symbolizing that I am trying to let go of everything by burning them down, hoping to move on

When I was really young My father taught me that a fire cleanses everything
I was taught back then that burning everything cleanses away the old and makes room for the new

But now the smoke is filling up my lungs and I'm, I'm suffocating
However, now that I have begun to start letting everything go through the flames, I realize that the smoke that it produces is overwhelming me, and I feel like I am suffocating

I know what you did
I am aware of what you did, and it is making it hard for me to trust you right now

I can't believe you right now
It is now hard for me to believe you after what you did

You had a second chance you fucked it up again, oh no
You had the chance to rectify things, but you made the same mistake once again, which is unfortunate

I love what we had
I value the relationship that we had and the feelings that we shared

But I don't need another friend
However, I do not view you as just a friend, and due to your actions, it may be hard for us to go back to what we had

I got a second chance to make it
Despite everything, I believe that I am still capable of making things work with you

I'm jumping off the ledge
I am taking a risk by trying to make things work with you again, yet still unsure about the outcome

I wish I knew
I wish I understood what other people were feeling, especially when it comes to me

What people felt
I want to be able to understand what other people feel about me

I wish that I could hear what you do when I open up my mouth
I wish that I could hear what you hear when I speak, to understand your perception of me better

I thought by now I'd know who I am
I had the idea that figuring out who I am would be easier as I grew older

But maybe growing up is realizing you'll never understand
However, it seems that the more that I grow up, the more difficult it has become for me to understand and know who I truly am

When I was 21 I'd waste my nights getting drunk in a Tustin living room My mattress on the floor
Back when I was younger, I would spend most of my nights drinking and hanging out in a living room of a house in Tustin while sleeping on a mattress on the floor

But now I need something stronger just to get me there
However, that is not enough now, and I have to resort to even stronger substances to get me through the day

And I'm disintegrating
As I continue to rely on substances to get me going, I am slowly falling apart

This is my This my last This is my This my chance
This may be my last chance to make things right

This is my last second chance to prove
I consider this my final opportunity to prove myself

That I'm not you
I need to show that I am different from you and what you did

Last second chance to prove
I see this as my last chance to demonstrate that I am not like you

Contributed by Hunter J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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