What does The Call mean?

Regina Spektor: The Call Meaning

Album cover for The Call album cover

The Call Lyrics

It started out as a feeling
Which then grew into a hope
Which then turned into a quiet thought
Which then turned into a quiet word

And then that word grew louder and louder
'Til it was a battle cry

I'll come back
When you call me
No...

  1. 1TOP RATED

    #1 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Aug 3rd 2014 !⃝

    I think it's about hope and war. Basically narnia. The verse;
    It started out as a feeling
    Which then grew into a hope
    Which then turned into a quiet thought
    Which then turned into a quiet word
    And then that word grew louder and louder, describe the beginning of Narnia and the wardrobe. Then the lines; 'Til it was a battle cry I'll come back when you call me no need to say goodbye, means whom ever blows Susan's horn help will come. Just because everything's changing
    Doesn't mean it's never been this way before
    All you can do is try to know who your friends are
    As you head off to the war
    Pick a star on the dark horizon and follow the light. You'll come back when it's over
    No need to say goodbye
    You'll come back when it's over
    No need to say goodbye; (first lines)- when they went back from the Narnia the second time it was like the first time when they went back, when they first came back from Narnia and the first and second battle when they didn't know yet who was on their side. The rest describes the ending of 'prince caspian' and 'voyage of the dawn treader' when the original kings and queens are reunited. And even though the originals can't go back (yet) doesn't mean that they should forget. And it could also mean (SPOILER ALERT!) when aslan destroyed the old Narnia and leads the to the 'Begining' if the new.

  2. 2TOP RATED

    #2 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
    click a star to vote
    May 17th 2017 !⃝

    I'm thinking this song is about losing loved ones and the memories of them.

  3. 3TOP RATED

    #3 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Mar 2nd 2014 !⃝

    I think it talks about the whole meaning
    of Narnia. Susan and Peter are leaving
    Narnia for good but it's not forever if you
    Know what I mean and I'm not just referring
    To the last book. The two of them are leaving
    the physical place but it remains with them where ever
    they go. It started out as a feeling then hope then a
    thought then a quiet then a battle cry of belief.
    It also refers to Lucy & Edmund which being the
    youngest ones believe the most especially Lucy.
    They have to go back the older ones, everything
    is changing but it still feels as before in belief but
    they understand now. Now there all back in there
    world at the beginning, no one else knows what
    really happened to them. They can't go back
    but they don't have to forget everything they saw,
    heard, felt, and learned. It will always be with
    them no matter where they go or what happens
    to them.

  4. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    May 29th 2023 !⃝

    for me, it's about the reckoning that's forced upon us when love comes and we're not yet ready to receive it.

    "It started out as a feeling

    ---(love)

    Which then grew into a hope
    Which then turned into a quiet thought
    Which then turned into a quiet word
    And then that word grew louder and louder
    'Til it was a battle cry

    ---(love is expressed and rejected)

    I'll come back
    When you call me
    No need to say goodbye

    Just because everything's changing
    Doesn't mean it's never been this way before

    ---(this isn't the first failed relationship for the person who can't accept love)

    All you can do is try to know who your friends are
    As you head off to the war

    ---(the battle or inner work they must do)

    Pick a star on the dark horizon
    And follow the light
    You'll come back
    When it's over

    ---(when they've healed and can accept love)

    No need to say goodbye
    You'll come back
    When it's over
    No need to say goodbye...

    Now we're back to the beginning
    It's just a feeling and no one knows yet

    ---(he's healed and has feelings again)

    But just because they can't feel it too

    ---(the other person doesn't yet know)

    Doesn't mean that you have to forget
    Let your memories grow stronger and stronger
    'Til they're before your eyes

    ---(manifesting back,the person whose love they rejected)

    You'll come back
    When they call you
    No need to say goodbye
    You'll come back
    When they call you
    No need to say goodbye

  5. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jul 31st 2019 !⃝

    To me this song describes a Soul that responded to the divine "Call" for volunteers to come to earth at this critical time to perform a mission.

    It's a time when we need those who can help with the shift into the "golden age" or the coming of the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven.

    Or in other words - volunteer Souls who have been called to who play central roles in the unfolding history of the "Narnian world."

    C.S. Lewis, the Author of Chronicles of Narnia wove spiritual themes into the entire series. For example, Aslan is a literary Christ figure who plays a pivotal role in the story of Narnia, just as Jesus Christ is central to the Christian faith.

    Lewis explained in a letter to Arthur Greeves in October 1931, that he set out his story of Aslan as a retelling of the "actual incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection."

  6. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Apr 5th 2019 !⃝

    I think it’s talking about Susan and Prince Caspian... “It started out as a feeling” the feeling they liked each other... Also “which then grew into a hope. Which then turned into a quiet thought. Which then turned into a quiet word. And then that word grew louder and louder till it was a battle cry.” The battle cry may have been when Caspian tells Susan that he is in love with her and it’s no longer silent, it’s as obvious as a battle cry... I’ll come back when you call me, no need to say goodbye. Calling may have reference to the horn he blew for help... I don’t know, just a thought

  7. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Aug 30th 2017 !⃝

    In medieval Spain there were Jewish areas which were named "Calls." Originally organized by the Jews, walls were ordered to be built around these areas so that the Jews would not "contaminate" the Christians. Spektor may well be aware, as a Russian Jewish immigrant to the US. About every 100 years in Spain, there were enforced, violent conversions of Jews to Christianity, often followed by expulsions of the Jews. The reference to following a star could have been Biblical as well. In the song, the word "call" is probably a pun - either a call away from home, a call to battle, or enforced leaving from the "call" area.

  8. murdochfangirl21
    click a star to vote
    May 19th 2017 !⃝

    I think it means friends never leave you and friendship lasts a lifetime

  9. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Mar 27th 2017 !⃝

    I think it's about a crush that wasn't suppose to happen.

  10. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    May 19th 2016 !⃝

    I think this is a song about two friends who are going to be parted because of a genuine reason. Pick a star on the dark horizon and follow the light indicates that even though they had a hard time leaving each other, they must look at the bright side, the hopes of seeing each other again. No need to say goodbye also shows that the two hopes to see each other again soon. Hoping for a reunion in the near future.

  11. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jun 18th 2014 !⃝

    It is someone leaving home.

  12. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    May 15th 2014 !⃝

    I'm pretty sure the song is about a solider leaving and not saying goodbye because they know they'll be back and that it's ok to feel the way you do now because it's a sad experience for both of them but it's ok because they come back and everything's ok.

  13. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Mar 2nd 2014 !⃝

    I think it talks about the whole meaning
    of Narnia. Susan and Peter are leaving
    Narnia for good but it's not forever if you
    Know what I mean and I'm not just referring
    To the last book. The two of them are leaving
    the physical place but it remains with them where ever
    they go. It started out as a feeling then hope then a
    thought then a quiet then a battle cry of belief.
    It also refers to Lucy & Edmund which being the
    youngest ones believe the most especially Lucy.
    They have to go back the older ones, everything
    is changing but it still feels as before in belief but
    they understand now. Now there all back in there
    world at the beginning, no one else knows what
    really happened to them. They can't go back
    but they don't have to forget everything they saw,
    heard, felt, and learned. It will always be with
    them no matter where they go or what happens
    to them.

  14. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jul 31st 2013 !⃝

    This is the song that was in the second Narnia Movie at the credits and it basically, to me, describes the entire feeling of Narnia and believing an knowing that it exists.

  15. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Nov 26th 2012 !⃝

    It actually talks about a person leaving his or her hometown or family or girlfriend to pursue or do something. Like, a soldier who went to a war. The verse "I'll come back when you call me, no need to say goodbye" explains that the person is so nervous that he or she might not return to his or her family or hometown or girlfriend or boyfriend but there is a chance that he or she might. The verse "Now were back to the beginning" the person returns safe and the verse "It's just a feeling and no one knows yet" the person is so happy that he returned to his or her family or hometown but no one knows it yet. THAT's my interpretation. :P

  16. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Apr 2nd 2012 !⃝

    Basically, this song talks about a relationship that has its ups and downs. The bittersweet memories uphold a bigger place in her/his heart forever. Its hard to say goodbye to one another though they know it will bring them no where. Kinda listening to Chasing Pavement by Adele, relationship with no end. Thats what i think.

    E.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  17. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jan 26th 2012 !⃝

    Like everyone else said this song is about a relationship, and I agree. Like the song says in the beginning a relationship is blooming. When the relationship is at its strongest he gets the call that he has to leave to fight in a war. He says that there is no need to say goodbye because he will come back when it is over. Now the girls world is changing because he is no longer there. The girl has to have the support of her friends to get through it. The verse "Pick a star on the dark horizon And follow the light" means that when ever they look up in the sky they know that the other person is seeing the exact same thing and they know that are connected by the same light. And light and star can also mean hopes, dreams, good etc.The girl keeps reminding herself that he'll come back when the war over there is no need to say goodbye. Then the guy comes back from the war and they are back to when they first meet. It is their first meeting all over again. They just have to remember what is was like before and everything will be back to what it was. At the same time the girl also knows that he might/could go back to fight a war at anytime, but reassures herself that he'll always come back to her and there is no reason to say goodbye or forget him.

  18. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Aug 9th 2011 !⃝

    It seems to me that this is a song about a relationship. It started out small and grew bigger. Then the boyfriend had to go off somewhere and she told him that he didn't need to say goodbye, because they'd always be together. When he finally came back, he didn't love her any more. They started from the beginning, but the boy didn't want to be with her. She remembers and he doesn't want to. She still loves him, but he doesn't still love her.

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