The Pains of Being Pure at Heart were an indie pop band which formed in 200… Read Full Bio ↴The Pains of Being Pure at Heart were an indie pop band which formed in 2007 in New York City, New York, USA. The band consisted of Kip Berman (vocals, guitar), who currently performs live with Christoph (guitar) and Anton (drums) Hochheim (formerly of The Depreciation Guild, currently of Ablebody), Jacob Sloan (bass) (Dream Diary), Jessica Weiss (vocals) (Fear of Men), and Jen Goma (vocals) (A Sunny Day in Glasgow/Roman a Clef).

Past members included Peggy Wang (vocals, keyboards), Alex Naidus (bass), and Kurt Feldman (drums, programming). Feldman currently works as an engineer and producer at Winter Station Studios and leads the synthpop group Ice Choir and the sophisti-pop group Roman a Clef, which also features current Pains member Jen Goma.

On November 4, [yearended]2019[/yearended] they announced they were breaking up.

Beautiful You
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

When we came together, I took it all too far
Barricade the bedroom, let me drown in your arms

Bottles in the window, catch the fading sun
Tell me that we're still so young,
but you're wrong, so wrong

I felt forever in a day, and then I let it slip away

So are you happy where you are?

So far from me, still all I need is you, beautiful you,
with poison in your locket, filthy hand in mind

So lost to me, all I could never be is you, beautiful you,
a martyr in your garters, harder than I'll ever be

Now I see you, sunken-eyed and restless sucking filters,
swollen pride in dresses made for children

You pinned me like a film star on your bedroom wall
I told you all I knew was true, you laughed and said, "that's all?"

I miss you in the morning, holding on to fading dreams
I could never believe

I lost forever in a day, and still I've never felt the same
So are you happy where you are?

Overall Meaning

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart's song Beautiful You seems to be a tale of lost love and longing for someone that the singer is still very much in love with. The song begins with the lines "when we came together, I took it all too far, barricade the bedroom, let me drown in your arms," which suggest that the singer was deeply in love with their partner but perhaps overwhelmed them with their emotions. The following lines about "bottles in the window, catch the fading sun, tell me that we're still so young, but you're wrong, so wrong" suggest that perhaps the singer and their partner were indulging in alcohol and pretending they were still young even though they knew things weren't going to work.

Later in the song, the singer expresses their adoration for their former lover with lines like "so far from me, still all I need is you, beautiful you, with poison in your locket, filthy hand in mind, so lost to me, all I could never be is you, beautiful you, a martyr in your garters, harder than I'll ever be." This suggests that the singer thinks very highly of their ex-partner and feels inferior to them in some way.

The song ends with the lines "now I see you, sunken-eyed and restless sucking filters, swollen pride in dresses made for children, you pinned me like a film star on your bedroom wall, I told you all I knew was true, you laughed and said, 'that's all?' I miss you in the morning, holding on to fading dreams, I could never believe, I lost forever in a day, and still I've never felt the same, so are you happy where you are?" These lines suggest that even though the singer and their ex-partner had a deep connection, they were not meant to be together, and the singer is struggling to move on, even though they know they have to.

Line by Line Meaning

When we came together, I took it all too far
I became too attached to you when we started our relationship.

Barricade the bedroom, let me drown in your arms
I am so in love with you that I want to shut out the rest of the world and just be with you forever.

Bottles in the window, catch the fading sun
We spent too much time together; we should have lived our lives more fully.

Tell me that we're still so young, but you're wrong, so wrong
You thought we had plenty of time to live our lives, but you were mistaken.

I felt forever in a day, and then I let it slip away
I had something wonderful and I let it go.

So are you happy where you are?
I'm curious if you're happy with the way things turned out.

So far from me, still all I need is you, beautiful you, with poison in your locket, filthy hand in mind
Even though you're not with me anymore, I'm still drawn to you and your dangerous charm.

So lost to me, all I could never be is you, beautiful you, a martyr in your garters, harder than I'll ever be
I'm envious of the way you lived your life so freely and fearlessly, something I could never do.

Now I see you, sunken-eyed and restless sucking filters, swollen pride in dresses made for children
I see that you've changed and lost some of your youthful vigor, evidenced by your addiction and wearing of clothes meant for younger people.

You pinned me like a film star on your bedroom wall
You liked me so much that you basically idolized me.

I told you all I knew was true, you laughed and said, 'that's all?'
I thought I had so much to offer you, but you didn't think it was enough.

I miss you in the morning, holding on to fading dreams I could never believe
I still think about you and the wonderful times we had together, even though they may not have been completely real.

I lost forever in a day, and still I've never felt the same
I lost something wonderful in a very short period of time and it has affected me profoundly.

So are you happy where you are?
I'm still curious if you're happy with the way things turned out, even though I know I may never know the answer.

Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: KIP BERMAN, KURT FELDMAN

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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