What does Paper Crown mean?

Alec Benjamin: Paper Crown Meaning

Tagged:   No tags, suggest one.
Album cover for Paper Crown album cover

Song Released: 2014


Paper Crown Lyrics

A paper crown
And a heart made of glass
A tattered gown
And her kingdom of ash
She walks alone
She can never look back
The story of a queen whose castle has fallen to the sea
She'll make it out
But she's never the same
She's lookin'...

  1. 1TOP RATED

    #1 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Oct 24th 2020 !⃝

    A girl who isolated themselves from everyone never letting anyone in, but then a boy tries to get in and save her from the cage she made for herself. In the end, he fails and she continues to isolate herself.

  2. 2TOP RATED

    #2 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jul 17th 2020 !⃝

    What it means by her building her walls too high, it's like her closing out people from her life or distancing herself so she can't get close to others. The boy tried to get through to her, but in the end it didn't work and she crumbled down in what she trapped herself in. Course, I only watched this like once but I think this is how it is.

  3. 3TOP RATED

    #3 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Apr 22nd 2021 !⃝

    I think is about a girl who is insecure and thinks no one will love or like her so she builds a castle or walls around her self and when a boy did like or love her she could not see it. And it broke the boys heart

  4. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jan 21st !⃝

    What I think it means is…a girl who has had her trust broken to many times by people she has truly trusted and loved that she isolates herself from people and she is wanting someone to actually show her that type of love that she needs and wants.she is also very insecure of herself,but she is truly beautiful she just can’t see it yet

  5. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Aug 28th 2023 !⃝

    To me, the song is about a woman who has become a refugee due to a conflict in her home country. She loves her home, but knows she can never go back to her "kingdom in flames." Even though she was able to escape with her life, she will always be scarred and the trauma of "the war that's inside" will stay with her forever.

  6. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Apr 15th 2023 !⃝

    I personally interpreted the song as a boy (king) who is saving a girl that is shattered with trauma and heartbreak but he is also is tired- allow me to explain.

    I first saw "a paper crown and a heart made of glass" as the boy and the girl- king and queen- both fragile and is also kiddish (fits in with the songs theme of fairytales). But a double interpretation may focus on the girl as a fragile mind and heart.

    "Tattered gown and a kingdom of ash" also works like this with traumatic past and loss of self for the girl.
    "but you hold your ground when your kingdom's in flames, 'cause it's the story of a queen whose castles fallen to the sea" suggests the guy has also gone through a rough/traumatic past as well but puts it aside because he cares about her and/or the girl's problems are much worse.

    "cause there's no one to love her when you build your walls to high, and there's no one to love you when you build your walls to high" this may suggest guards up for both but primarily the girl and I interpret it as the boy telling the girl this and feeling sorry and loving towards her.

    "she's looking out from the war that's inside and screaming out cause no one survived, but when you're all alone, you wait and hide, cause it's the..." i feel that this could work for a juxtaposition of the boy and girl and how they work through their problems- and the boy discarding his to aid the girl or it could be the battle and hopelessness that the boy notices in the girl with the switching pronouns from 'she' to 'you' (so viewing the girl and her issues to telling/consoling her about them).

    "there's no one who is strong enough to save your love, there's no fairytale, there's no fairytale" goes with the fairytale/childish theme and may insinuate that the boy is not strong enough to save her or her is on the outside knowing no one can save her unless he does it himself- but he may not be able to- seen in 'no fairytale'.

    "and there is no one to love you when you trap yourself inside" it suggests that the boy wasn't able to help her as he was to frail himself or it may also mean that he is directing the sentence at her with the pronoun switch of 'you'- meaning he is asking her to drop her guard down and warning her of what will happen if she doesn't. there is also a third meaning that is unlikely but still notable that because the boy is ignoring his issues and trapping himself and focusing on her issues (which she got to comfortable with) there is no one left to love or care for him as the girl is very clearly not strong enough to do so herself.

  7. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Apr 11th 2023 !⃝

    I can really relate to this song. I believe that this song is about a girl who has trust issues and has been broken so many times by love, that she is now blind to it. She really wants to find her someone. In the line, "And screaming out 'cause no one survived", I believe that means, she was so on edge, that everyone just gave up on trying to "tear the walls down" and loving her. The line, "'Cause it's the story of a queen whose castle has fallen to the sea", I think it's a metaphor, comparing her heart and a castle that fell to the sea. Her heart just sank into depression and it failed to climb out. The line "there's no fairytale" refers to how a queen always has a king to love her, but she doesn't have one. In the line, "She's looking out from the war that's inside", She feels that there is a war between her heart and mind. For example, her heart says, she wants someone to love, but her mind says, NO!!! They're going to break your heart! That's what I feel it means.

  8. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Dec 29th 2022 !⃝

    My favourite song by Alec :)
    I really love the song and the meaning.the thing I like about it the most is the music video it's different and fun to listen to.its a real sleeper and deserves more recondition

  9. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Dec 24th 2022 !⃝

    This song is about a girl who has insecurities and doesn't think anyone could ever love her for them, so she builds a castle. No one will come to save/love her because she "built her walls too high, " meaning she blocked everyone out. One thing I don't understand though is the part about how her "castle has fallen to the sea" that part is confusing as to why it is in there and it doesn't talk about it very much, but I think it might be that part that it's trying to say no one will save her from the castle that fell.

  10. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Dec 16th 2022 !⃝

    I think the song is about a girl who had her heart broken so she builds her walls up and someone brings them crashing down and her scars are visible to everyone who looks and she feels as if nobody loves her because of them.

  11. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Apr 8th 2021 !⃝

    i always thought this song was about the Statue of Liberty witnessing 9/11. The talk about ash and flames and not being able to do anything, how the Statue survived the attacks and how the towers were very tall and recognisable (like a wall). It would also fit because the Statue of Liberty has the appearance of a queen, and as a symbol of NYC and America, would not be the same after 9/11.

  12. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Apr 8th 2020 !⃝

    This Song represents someone or maybe some girl that made a wall, from everyone so that no one can enter her life, either friendship or even love relationship

  13. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Apr 8th 2020 !⃝

    This song represents someone that you've dreamed of, like a singer or an actor, but they ended up doing bad things you didn't expect them to do, ex: doing drugs.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway

More Alec Benjamin songs »


 


Latest Articles

 


Submit Your Interpretation

[ want a different song? ]




Just Posted

Mad Hatter anonymous
Fire Lake anonymous
I'll Sleep When I'm Dead anonymous
We Gotta Get out of This Place anonymous
Jealous anonymous
Won't Get Fooled Again anonymous
Smokestack Lightning anonymous
True Colors anonymous
Future Love Paradise anonymous
Adios, Adios anonymous
Strangers anonymous
Possibility anonymous
Jailbreak anonymous
Sour Girl anonymous
Cornflake Girl anonymous

(We won't give out your email)