Matthew Sheridan Cardle (born 15 April 1983) is an English singer-songwrite… Read Full Bio ↴Matthew Sheridan Cardle (born 15 April 1983) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist who rose to fame after winning the seventh series of The X Factor in 2010. He received a £1 million recording contract with Syco Music by winning and his debut single When We Collide was released immediately after he won. It sold 439,000 copies in its first week to become the UK Christmas number one.

Before applying to The X Factor, he was the frontman, lead vocalist and acoustic guitar player of the band Seven Summers and also Darwyn. Seven Summers released a self-titled debut rock album Seven Summers on 22 January 2010. The band performed live on Sue Merchant's BBC radio program on 8 December 2009. Darwyn released two albums entitled When You Wake, and Little Sunlight between 2005 and 2009 as well as playing Sue Marchants BBC radio programme. He also still plays the occasional acoustic gig with former Darwyn band mate Ali McMillan.

He auditioned for The X Factor with "You Know I'm No Good". After Cardle made it through the bootcamp stages, he was sent to Australia and was put into Dannii Minogue's group (in the Boys category). There he began to form a bromance with fellow contestant Aiden Grimshaw. Minogue mentored Cardle throughout the whole show until he won the final on December 12, 2010. After coming second in week one (Final 16 round) of public voting, Matt Cardle consistently came first from week 2 onwards until week 10, the competition final held on 11-12 December 2010.

On week 1 he sang When Love Takes Over by David Guetta & Kelly Rowland, on week 2 he sang Just the Way You Are by Bruno Mars, on week 3 he sang ...Baby One More Time by Britney Spears, on week 4 he sang Bleeding Love by Leona Lewis, on week 5 he sang The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face by Roberta Flack, on week 6 he sang Goodbye Yellow Brick Road by Elton John, on week 7 he sang Come Together by The Beatles, on week 8 he sang I Love Rock N' Roll by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts & Nights in White Satin by The Moody Blues, on week 9 he sang You've Got The Love by Florence + The Machine & She's Always a Woman by Billy Joel and on week 10 (the final) he sang Here With Me by Dido, Unfaithful (duet with Rihanna) by Rihanna, Firework by Katy Perry & When We Collide by Biffy Clyro.

Cardle is a former painter and decorator living in Little Maplestead in Essex. Born to parents David and Jennifer Cardle, he was diagnosed with Wilms' tumour, a form of cancer when he was a toddler. He recovered after one of his kidneys was removed at age 2. He is now in a serious bromance with Aiden Grimshaw and together they have a massive fanbase supporting them every step of the way.

Reflections
Matt Cardle Lyrics

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Flickin’ channels in my hotel room
On a trip I always thought I’d take with you
My heart was lifted by a telephone ring
I thought you’d changed your mind
And say it's true

If only, if only
I’d seized the moment when you loved me

You’d be here with me

Reflections of a wasted love
You don’t know what you’ve lost until she’s given up
I had to lose you to learn
You don’t know what you’ve lost until she’s gone

Never thought that you’d have gone this far
Guessed I’d always have just one more chance
I never thought that you could break my heart
If only I could change our circumstance

If only, if only
I’d seized the moment when you loved me
You’d be here with me

Reflections of a wasted love
You don’t know what you’ve got until she’s given up
I had to lose you to learn
The clock's been tickin’, the clock's been tickin’
You don’t know what you’ve lost until she’s gone

Maybe it's all too late,
(If you're never gonna tell me why, then I’m never gonna say goodbye)
Maybe it’s all too late,
(If you're never gonna tell me why, then I’m never gonna say goodbye)

Reflections of a wasted love
You don’t know what you’ve lost until she’s given up
I had to lose you to learn
You don’t know what you’ve lost until she’s given up
Reflections of a wasted love

'Cause the clock's been tickin’, the clock's been tickin’
You don’t know what you’ve lost until she’s gone

Overall Meaning

"Reflections" is a song about regrets and looking back at past mistakes. The song opens with the singer flicking through TV channels while in a hotel room on a trip he thought he would take with his love. He then receives a phone call, hoping it's from his love who has changed her mind, but it's not. He realizes that if only he had seized the moment when she loved him, she would still be with him. He reflects on his wasted love and how he didn't realize what he had until he lost it.

The chorus emphasizes that he didn't know what he had until she gave up on him. He had to lose her to learn a valuable lesson. He thought he would always have one more chance, but he was wrong. He never thought she could break his heart, and wishes he could go back and change the circumstances.

The bridge suggests that it may be too late for them to reconcile, questioning why she won't tell him why she left. The song ends with the repeat of the chorus emphasizing that time was ticking and he didn't appreciate her until it was too late.

Line by Line Meaning

Flickin’ channels in my hotel room
I'm aimlessly trying to distract myself from the pain of traveling without you.

On a trip I always thought I’d take with you
I imagined going on this journey with you, but now I'm missing you instead.

My heart was lifted by a telephone ring
I felt hopeful when the phone rang, thinking you might be calling, but it wasn't you.

I thought you’d changed your mind
I believed that maybe you had come to your senses and wanted to be with me again.

And say it's true
Confirm that you want to be with me after all.

If only, if only
I regret not taking an opportunity I had in the past.

I’d seized the moment when you loved me
I wish I had taken the chance to be with you when you still loved me.

You’d be here with me
If I had, then we would still be together.

Reflections of a wasted love
I'm thinking back on our relationship and realizing that it was all for nothing.

You don’t know what you’ve lost until she’s given up
You didn't appreciate me until I was gone.

I had to lose you to learn
I had to experience losing you to understand what I had lost.

Never thought that you’d have gone this far
I didn't expect you to leave me for good.

Guessed I’d always have just one more chance
I naively believed that I would always get another chance to be with you.

I never thought that you could break my heart
I never imagined that you could hurt me this much.

If only I could change our circumstance
I wish there was something I could do to make things right between us.

The clock's been tickin’, the clock's been tickin’
Time has been passing, and I still feel the pain of losing you.

Maybe it's all too late,
It's possible that it's too late to fix what we had.

(If you're never gonna tell me why, then I’m never gonna say goodbye)
If you won't explain why you left me, I'll never be able to let go.

Reflections of a wasted love
I keep thinking about how our love was wasted and what could have been different.

'Cause the clock's been tickin’, the clock's been tickin’
Time keeps moving forward, and I can't stop it or change what's already happened.

You don’t know what you’ve lost until she’s gone
You only realize what you've lost after it's already gone.

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: ELIOT JAMES, JAMES WALSH, MATT CARDLE

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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