<… Read Full Bio ↴Rag'n'Bone Man is London-based, Brighton-raised musician Rory Graham.
After a stint as personal assistant carer, looking after people with Aspergers' and Down's syndrome, Rory released the Bluestown EP in 2012. Rapper Gi3mo, shipped Graham's vocal talents into his hip-hop crew, Rum Committee. Next came a meeting with the prolific beatmaker Leaf Dog, resulting in the six track Dog 'n' Bone EP released through High Focus records in 2013, followed by Put that soul on me the following year.
The 2014 Sony Music debut album, Wolves, was produced by friend Mark Crew and it features Kate Tempest on Rain; Vince Staples on Hell yeah and Stig Of The Dump on Wolves. The Disfigured EP was launched in 2015 via Best Laid Plan Records, including Perfume and Bitter End.
2016 saw the release of the Cadenza produced Healed and the lead single of his first long play of the same name Human. It was announce at the end of the year that Rag'n'Bone Man would the BRITs 2017 Critics' Choice Award as well as included in the longest of BBC Sound Of Poll 2016.
After being nominated for a second Brit award, the single Skin was released as an advance of the album Human, released on 10 February 2017 via Columbia Records / Best Laid Plans. The album counts with three different producers; long time collaborator Mark Crew (Wolves EP, Disfigured EP), Jonny Coffer (Beyoncé) and Two Inch Punch.
http://www.ragnbonemanmusic.com
Skin
Rag'n'Bone Man Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
When the walls came down
I was thinking about you
About you
When my skin grows old
When my breath runs cold
I'll be thinking about you
About you
Seconds from my heart
A bullet from the dark
Helpless, I surrender
Shackled by your love
Holding me like this
With poison on your lips
Only when it's over
The silence hits so hard
'Cause it was almost love, it was almost love
It was almost love, it was almost love
When I heard that sound
When the walls came down
I was thinking about you
About you
When my skin grows old
When my breath runs cold
I'll be thinking about you
About you
When I run out of air to breathe
It's your ghost I see
I'll be thinking about you, about you
It was almost love, it was almost
We bleed ourselves in vain
How tragic is this game?
Turn around, I'm holding on to someone
But the love is gone
Carrying the load, with wings that feel like stone
Knowing that we nearly fell so far now
It's hard to tell
Yeah we came so close, it was almost love
It was almost love, it was almost love
When I heard that sound
When the walls came down
I was thinking about you
About you
When my skin grows old
When my breath runs cold
I'll be thinking about you
About you
When I run out of air to breathe
It's your ghost I see
I'll be thinking about you, about you
While I reached out for your hand
When the walls were caving in
When I see you on the other side
We can try all over again
When I heard that sound
When the walls came down
I was thinking about you
About you
When my skin grows old
When my breath runs cold
I'll be thinking about you
About you
When I run out of air to breathe
It's your ghost I see
I'll be thinking about you, about you
'Cause it was almost love, it was almost love
It was almost love, it was almost love
The lyrics of Rag'n'Bone Man's song "Skin" tell a story of a love that almost was, a relationship that was so close to being realized but ultimately fell short. The song starts with a verse describing a moment when the singer hears a sound, which could be interpreted as a metaphor for the walls coming down and the world changing. In that moment, he can't help but think about the one he almost loved.
The chorus repeats the idea that it was almost love but never quite got there. The next verse describes a moment of surrender to that love, feeling shackled by it but also overwhelmed by the power of the other person. The silence that follows the end of the relationship is described as hard and hits the singer like a ton of bricks.
The bridge of the song presents a metaphor of bleeding themselves in vain, playing a tragic game where love is lost. The singer reflects on how the relationship nearly fell so far and how difficult it is to tell what went wrong. The song ends with a hopeful verse, suggesting that they could try all over again and reach out for each other's hands.
Overall, the lyrics of "Skin" explore the complexities of love and relationships, capturing the heartbreak of coming so close to something special but not quite getting there.
Line by Line Meaning
When I heard that sound
When I heard the sound of something breaking down, it made me think of you.
When the walls came down
When everything I thought was stable and secure fell apart, I thought of you.
I was thinking about you
You're always on my mind, no matter what happens.
About you
Every thought I have is focused on you.
When my skin grows old
As I age, I know that my memories of you will still be with me.
When my breath runs cold
Even if I reach the end of my life, I'll still be thinking of you.
Seconds from my heart
My heart is racing, and I know that something bad is about to happen.
A bullet from the dark
I'm blindsided by something that I never saw coming.
Helpless, I surrender
I'm powerless to stop what's happening, so I just give in.
Shackled by your love
Your love has trapped me, and I can't escape it no matter how hard I try.
Holding me like this
You're holding me so tightly that I can't move or breathe.
With poison on your lips
Your love is toxic, and it's slowly killing me from the inside out.
Only when it's over
The pain doesn't hit me until it's too late and there's nothing left to be done.
The silence hits so hard
When the chaos is over, the silence is deafening and it's almost unbearable.
'Cause it was almost love, it was almost love
Our relationship was almost something amazing, but it wasn't quite there.
When I run out of air to breathe
Even as I'm dying, I'll still be thinking of you.
It's your ghost I see
You haunt me, even as you're no longer in my life.
We bleed ourselves in vain
We hurt ourselves over and over again, even though it's pointless.
How tragic is this game?
Our relationship is like a game that neither of us can win, and it's a tragedy.
Turn around, I'm holding on to someone
I'm clinging to someone else, but it's not the same as holding on to you.
But the love is gone
Our love has died, and it's not coming back no matter how much we try.
Carrying the load, with wings that feel like stone
I'm struggling to keep going, even though I feel like I'm weighed down by a heavy burden.
Knowing that we nearly fell so far now
We came so close to making it work, but we're now so far apart that it doesn't seem possible.
It's hard to tell
I'm not sure what the future holds for us, or how we can move forward from here.
While I reached out for your hand
In my moment of need, I thought you would be there for me.
When the walls were caving in
As everything around me fell apart, I thought you would be the one to hold me up.
When I see you on the other side
When I think about the afterlife, I hope that I'll be reunited with you.
We can try all over again
Maybe in another life, we'll have a chance to make things work between us.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Spirit Music Group, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Jamie Scott, Jonny Coffer, Daniel John D. Bryer, Jerome Williams, Michael David Needle, Rory Charles Graham
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Liam
Not normally a fan of remixes but this is awesome
Ce **
Liam damnit you stole my comment
Vivi S.
My favorite remix ever! 😍 love it
Bayan Shaheen
He's soooo damn good
Harry Pratt
I love the original but damn this is on another level
great remix
Daniel De Nadai
People talkin about the original like this is supposed to be better... It's a remix and it's interesting to hear what another human thinks this should sound like.
Plus this has a great funky vibe.
teamconfi64 Team
It's beautiful ♡ 😍
Finch
It is fantastic, hello with love from Russia, u are the best music-man 😊
aharon59
You can't improve perfection and , for me , the original is just perfect.
Kingboss224
Rag'n'Bones Man 24/7 brotha