Wishful Thinking
Still Life Lyrics


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Come around making great impressions. carve your name into the wall. just come and go at your discretion. until you won't come around at all. I wait dazed and wishful thinking, like I ain't got no sense at all. I'm sick of waking up just to fall asleep again. I'm tired of standing just to fall. you don't know me, you don't owe me anything. I'm holding on I'm letting go. Moving on and into anything. I'm holding on I'm letting go. you got the best of me, and this is all that's left of me. explosions and tragedy. wishful thinking, and all apologies. there's nothing here to see. ain't you got someplace to be. you don't know me, you don't owe me anything. it got the best of me, and this is all that's left of me. explosions and tragedy. wishful thinking, and all apologies that won't mean a thing, if on deaf ears they fall. doesn't mean anything, all the wishful thinking if you are there I am hear alone. it's not saying anything, you don't owe me anything at all. I am the stranger you are the distant memory. I am the refugee sailing vast and lonely seas. slowly si




Overall Meaning

The lyrics in "Wishful Thinking" by Still Life speak to the experience of being attracted to someone who comes in and out of your life without warning or explanation. The opening lines depict the person making "great impressions" and carving "your name into the wall," which suggests that they are not just any passing acquaintance but someone who leaves a lasting impression on the singer. However, this person "just come[s] and go[es] at your discretion," meaning that they enter and leave the singer's life without any clear pattern or apparent reason. Despite this, the singer is "holding on" to the hope that the person will return, and is therefore stuck in a state of "wishful thinking" and not able to move on.


The stanza that follows conveys the sense of despair and exhaustion that comes from being caught in this cycle. The singer is "sick of waking up just to fall asleep again" and "tired of standing just to fall." The repetition of the verb "fall" emphasizes the sense of helplessness and futility. The second half of the stanza switches to a more defensive tone, with the singer telling the person that they don't owe them anything but also proclaiming that they are "holding on" and "letting go" at the same time. The final lines of the song introduce a more universal theme of loneliness and isolation, with the singer feeling like a "stranger" to the world and the person who has left them behind.


Line by Line Meaning

Come around making great impressions.
You come and go leaving a lasting feeling of greatness on everything and everyone you touch.


Carve your name into the wall.
You leave your mark wherever you go so that you will always be remembered.


Just come and go at your discretion. Until you won't come around at all.
You have the freedom to come and go as you please, but eventually, you will stop coming around altogether.


I wait dazed and wishful thinking, like I ain't got no sense at all.
I wait for you, lost in my dreams and hopeful thoughts, without any real direction or purpose.


I'm sick of waking up just to fall asleep again. I'm tired of standing just to fall.
I am exhausted from the cycle of hope and disappointment that I go through each day, always falling short of my expectations.


You don't know me, you don't owe me anything.
You have no obligation to me since you don't really know who I am and what I've been through.


I'm holding on I'm letting go. Moving on and into anything.
I am trying to hold on to what I can while also letting go of what is not meant for me, and moving forward towards anything that can bring me happiness.


You got the best of me, and this is all that's left of me. Explosions and tragedy. Wishful thinking, and all apologies.
You took all that you could from me, and now I'm left damaged and broken. It all feels like an explosion of sorrow and regret, and all I can do now is wish for things to be different and ask for forgiveness.


There's nothing here to see. Ain't you got someplace to be.
There's nothing interesting or worth seeing in my life, so why don't you go find something else more worthwhile to do?


It got the best of me, and this is all that's left of me. Explosions and tragedy. Wishful thinking, and all apologies that won't mean a thing, if on deaf ears they fall.
It all became too much for me, and now I am nothing but a shell of who I used to be. All that's left are memories of disaster and disappointment, and my apologies won't make a difference if you refuse to hear them.


Doesn't mean anything, all the wishful thinking if you are there I am here alone.
All my hopeful thoughts and dreams don't mean anything if you're not here with me, leaving me feeling lonely and isolated.


It's not saying anything, you don't owe me anything at all. I am the stranger you are the distant memory.
There's nothing left to say between us, and you don't owe me anything anymore. We are strangers now, and you are just a distant memory.


I am the refugee sailing vast and lonely seas. Slowly si
I am like a refugee adrift on a vast and empty sea, moving slowly towards an uncertain future.




Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS

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Comments from YouTube:

Mike Hoffman

Still amazing. Thank you!

John C

thanks for the upload <3

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