In a way, this is kind of like "walking on eggshells", but it's all out of love. While Sierra is trying to "pick herself up piece by piece", Alex is being patient with her and trying to avoid making any more mistakes that would upset her. "Little do you know I'm trying to make it better piece by piece" (In my interpretation, "Sierra" blames herself for the state of the relationship too because of how sensitive she feels to everything.
He's worried that he keeps disappointing her, keeps hurting her, and thinks he isn't enough because of the constant hurt. He admits he made mistakes, no matter how small, and he feels bad about it. "Little do you know all my mistakes are slowly drowning me" He wants her to know that he knows, and just like the lines before this one, his love is there to stay, and she can still lean on him when she's hurting. He knows she's hurting, but he also knows she's not ready to talk about it. "Little do you know I know you're hurting while I'm sound asleep" He won't do what she fears the most he'll stay, and he'll help work out what needs to be done in order for the relationship to move forward. He knows that she's afraid to talk about it, but he wants her to know that he's willing to talk about it, and he won't walk away. "I promise you don't have to be afraid, I'll wait" Dealing with someone who's emotionally hurt will be hard for him too, but right now all he wants is to show that he loves her, and he'll be patient. "Alex" still loves her, and he's willing to show that, and treat her the same loving way as he did in the beginning of the relationship. "I'll wait, I'll wait, I love you like you've never felt the pain, I'll wait" She feels that she needs more time to sort out her emotions before being comfortable with moving on. It's a battle between wanting to improve and confronting past emotions. Forgetting is harder, because sometimes the memories come up unwanted, and you're reminded of the hurt you felt. "I'm ready to forgive you but forgetting is a harder fight Little do you know, I need a little more time"įorgiveness is easy when you want to trust the person and grow in the relationship.
That's the last thing she wants she wants to grow from it and mend the relationship together, but she's not sure where to start. This is why she bottles things up- she's afraid that addressing her hurt would make him feel bad about what he's done, and it would end the relationship. This is the line that hits home for the rest of the song. "I've been holding back, for the fear that you might change our mind"
#The song little do you know how to#
She doesn't know how to handle them just as yet, so she feels trapped. The hurt she felt and the amount of doubt in her mind is keeping her hostage to her own emotions. "Underneath it all I'm held captive by the hole inside" Some of us are like that we overthink about something so much to the point where we worry that overthinking about it isn't necessary and we should just "get over it." She doubts the validity in her hurt, that's why she's hesitating. "Little do you know, I need a little more time" Maybe she feels bad that she gets upset over the things that happened and is worried that bringing it up would make things worse? She's broken, and she doesn't know how to address it with others so she's depending on herself to feel better. "Little do you know I'm trying to pick myself up piece by piece" Regardless, there were things that happened that made her upset, and they still come up as thoughts in the present, and you can tell that she hates that they return to her. Either she's been hurt the same way in past relationships and that trauma is affecting how she sees this one, or the small things that happened between the current relationship were previously discussed but they still bother her because of how hurt she felt. "Little do you know I'm still haunted by the memories" Why? she addresses it further on but she's afraid of drilling a nail into the relationship because what he did maybe wasn't that big of an issue and she just tells herself it's overthinking. She chooses to deal with her emotions on her own, rather than going to her partner about it. "Little do you know how I'm breaking while you fall asleep"
The lyrics aren't a conversation, they're isolated thoughts from two different people in the same relationship who just happen to be thinking of the same thing. Meanwhile, "Alex" is completely aware of it and is trying to do better to mend the relationship through his actions. An old(ish) song, I know, but I've always loved it and can relate to it now more than ever, and I just want to share my thoughts on it.Įssentially, I view the lyrics just as is: the girl (Sierra) is emotionally hurt by something the boy (Alex) did, but chooses to conceal it because she's afraid of conflict, thinking it would ruin the relationship.