In 2007, musicians Trace Cyrus and Mason Musso agreed to meet on the set of the Hannah Montana TV show, in which Mason's brother, Mitchel Musso, and Trace's half sister, Miley Cyrus, star together. Hitting it off, they soon discussed their love for cheerful pop rock. Sharing musical interests, they decided to form a band. Shortly thereafter, Cyrus recruited Blake Healy from Synthetic Joy as a keyboardist and bassist.
Trace soon dedicated himself to being the lead guitarist as well as a co-vocalist. Mason is the main singer and guitarist, having a nice vocal rapport with Trace. Mason notably sang the track "Seventeen Forever", which Metro Station released on their MySpace page to underground acclaim. The track gained the attention of percussionist Anthony Improgo, who was soon added as the band's drummer.
Their popularity on MySpace Music grew, topping the "MySpace Music Unsigned Bands" chart. An intern in Columbia Records' special 'Walking Eye' program discovered the band while looking through the MySpace charts, and they were signed shortly thereafter. In the July 2007 issue of music magazine 'Alternative Press', Metro Station was notably listed as one of the "22 Best Underground Bands (That Likely Won't Stay Underground for Long)".
The band released their self-titled debut studio album in September 2007. The album had two related singles released, "Kelsey" and "Control", but both failed to chart, although with higher sales of the album later on both became more popular. Though criticized for being overly derivative of previous electropop groups. 'Metro Station' received some positive critical reviews.
The release of the band's third single, "Shake It". in March 2008 proved to be the magic moment. As the weeks passed, the song grabbed the band a significant amount of commercial exposure, hiking up into the top-ten of three U.S. charts. Specifically, "Shake It" peaked at #3 on Hot Digital Songs, #9 in the Pop 100, #10 in the Billboard Hot 100 and also at #20 in the Hot Dance Airplay chart. The success of the song also affected album sales, the album charting nine months later in 2008 at #43 in the Billboard 200, #1 Top Electronic Albums, and #2 in the Top Heatseekers. The song has since been RIAA certified as double-platinum.
Since breaking through commercially, Metro Station has toured with numerous bands such as We The Kings, Boys Like Girls, Valencia, Cobra Starship and Good Charlotte. They toured with Boys Like Girls, Good Charlotte and The Maine for the popular 'Soundtrack of Your Summer Tour 2008' events, which meant opening for bands such as Simple Plan. However, Blake Healy and Anthony Improgo ended up deciding to leave the band.
The group also contributed a song to Tim Burton's 2010 re-imagining of 'Alice In Wonderland', putting into the related soundtrack the tune Where's My Angel". Yet things had come between the band members over the years. In March 2010, they decided to call it quits after many disputes arising.
Metro Station reformed in May 2011, and they released a new song titled "Ain't So High" with plans to release a new album. At that point, the band only consisted of Mason Musso with Blake Healy and Anthony Improgo contributing instruments and production. Over the past several years, the band's future has been very much in flux.
On August 13, 2014, Cyrus returned to the band, four years after previously leaving. Shortly after Cyrus' return, the band released a new single titled "Love & War" and announced the band's inclusion on The Outsiders Tour, which consisted of The Ready Set, The Downtown Fiction, and Against The Current. On October 28, 2014, the band released the music video for a single "She Likes Girls". On October 14, 2014, the group released an EP titled Gold.
On June 30, 2015, the band released a new album, Savior. The album features 18 tracks, including the single "Getting Over You" featuring Ronnie Radke.
Metro Station has announced that the band is in the process of recording an acoustic album.
In 2017, the band announced they were breaking up.
Barcelona
Metro Station Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Hear me call someone’s name
Make up another lie
To draw some of your vein
Pretend that you don’t mind
Pretend that it’s alright
Wake up in the middle of the night
You’re never coming back
Don’t care anyway
What is it that I lack?
And then you heard me say
I left my heart in Barcelona
I fell in love, I shoulda told ya’
I wish that I could say it’s over
I left my heart in Barcelona
Look by with a cold blank stare
Your face is all I see
Sometime’s like nothing’s there
Except your misery
Nothing left to deny
Just tears that never dry
Wake up in the middle of the night
Like a bad dream you say
You’re never coming back
Don’t care anyway
What is it that I lack?
And then you heard me say
I left my heart in Barcelona
I fell in love, I shoulda told ya’
I wish that I could say it’s over
I left my heart in Barcelona
Her face is all I see
Without her I can’t sleep
Her voice is all I hear
I know she’s waiting there
Your face is all I see
Without you I can’t sleep
Your voice is all I hear
I know you’re waiting there
I left my heart in Barcelona
I fell in love, I shoulda told ya’
I wish that I could say it’s over
I left my heart in Barcelona
Wait for me, yeah
I left my heart, I left my heart
I left my heart in Barcelona
I left my heart, I left my heart
I left my heart in Barcelona
I left my heart, I left my heart
I left my heart in Barcelona
I left my heart, I left my heart
I left my heart in Barcelona
I left my heart, I left my heart
I left my heart in Barcelona
I left my heart, I left my heart
I left my heart in Barcelona…
The lyrics of Metro Station’s song “Barcelona” convey a poignant message of heartbreak and longing as the lead singer describes his feelings for a lost love. The song’s narrative is framed as a conversation between two people, with the lead singer revealing his emotions and the other person unresponsive, their face a “cold blank stare”. It appears that the relationship has ended, with the singer left to deal with his unresolved feelings and the persistent memory of his love. He struggles to move on, haunted by the thought that he left his heart in Barcelona, a metaphor for the place where he was happiest with his partner.
The song is rich in imagery and emotion, conveying a sense of loss and the inability to let go of the past. The lead singer’s angst is palpable, as he confesses his love and regrets, asking his partner to “wait for me”. The song’s chorus is particularly poignant, as the lead singer repeats the refrain “I left my heart in Barcelona”, a haunting reminder of his unresolved feelings. The use of repetition, internal rhyme, and vivid imagery all contribute to the song’s emotional resonance, making it a powerful exploration of the complexities of love, heartbreak, and longing.
Line by Line Meaning
Wake up in the middle of the night
Being tormented by thoughts of lost love, the singer wakes up in the middle of the night
Hear me call someone’s name
The singer calls out to their lover in despair and agony
Make up another lie
The singer is so consumed by pain and regret that they are willing to fabricate stories to cope with their loss
To draw some of your vein
Desperate for any semblance of their lost love, the artist attempts to connect with their memories through self-harm
Pretend that you don’t mind
The artist tries to put on a brave face and hide their pain from the rest of the world
Pretend that it’s alright
The singer tries to convince themselves that everything is okay, despite the overwhelming pain they feel
Like a bad dream, you say
The singer's lost love appears to them in their dreams, causing them to relive the pain all over again
You’re never coming back
The artist has accepted that their love is gone forever and they will never be reunited
Don’t care anyway
Despite their despair, the artist struggles to convince themselves that they don't care about their lost love anymore
What is it that I lack?
Unable to understand why their love was lost, the artist questions what they could have done differently
And then you heard me say
Despite their attempts to appear strong, the singer's true feelings slip out
I left my heart in Barcelona
The artist's heart and soul were left behind in the city where they fell in love
I fell in love, I shoulda told ya’
The singer regrets not confessing their love to their partner before it was too late
I wish that I could say it’s over
Despite their pain, the singer wishes they could move on from their lost love
Look by with a cold blank stare
The singer is left feeling empty and numb as they stare into the void left by their lost love
Sometimes like nothing’s there
The artist's memories of their love feel distant and intangible, like they never existed at all
Except your misery
The only thing that remains constant for the artist is their unrelenting sorrow
Nothing left to deny
The singer can no longer deny the truth of their lost love
Just tears that never dry
Despite the passage of time, the singer's tears continue to flow without end
Her face is all I see
The artist is haunted by the memory of their lost love's face
Without her I can't sleep
The thought of their lost love keeps the artist up at night, unable to rest without them by their side
Her voice is all I hear
The memory of their love's voice echoes in the artist's mind, a constant reminder of what they've lost
I know she’s waiting there
Despite the impossibility of it, the singer still clings to the hope that their love is waiting for them somewhere
Wait for me, yeah
The artist begs for their love to wait for them, to give them another chance to make things right
I left my heart
The singer left a piece of themselves behind with their lost love
I left my heart in Barcelona
The city where the singer fell in love took a piece of their heart with it when they left
Contributed by Alex F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.