What does Colours mean?

Grouplove: Colours Meaning

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Album cover for Colours album cover

Song Released: 2011


Colours Lyrics

I am a man, man, man, man
Up, up in the air
And I run around, round, round, round this down town and act like I don't care.
So when you see me flying by the planet's moon,
You don't need to explain if everything's changed
Just know I'm...

  1. 1TOP RATED

    #1 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Oct 7th 2013 !⃝

    "I am a man, man, man, man
    Up, up in the air
    And I run around, round, round, round this down town and act like I don't care.
    So when you see me flying by the planet's moon,
    You don't need to explain if everything's changed
    Just know I'm just like you."

    The first part of the song is clearly about everyone being equal. You can notice my the wordings of this passage that the one singing has somethings either going on mentally or he's describing himself being free and without regrets.


    "So I pull the switch, the switch, the switch inside my head.
    And I see black, black, green,and brown, brown, brown and blue, yellow, violets, red.
    And suddenly a light appears inside my brain
    And I think of my ways, I think of my days and know that I have changed."

    in this verse, the lyrics are talking about him returning to his younger age. when he says "turn the switch inside my head" he's talking about going back to imagination, back to his younger years where everything was wonderful and colorful. by going back and recalling youthful life, he says that, compared to now, he's changed.


    "It's the colors you have
    No need to be sad.
    It really ain't that bad.

    It's the colors you have
    No need to be sad.
    You've still got your health."

    this part of the song i think, is using metaphors to get his explanation across. "its the colors you have, no need to be sad."
    meaning- its who you are don't complain. "you still got your health."
    meaning, things could be worse.

    "So mistress, mistress have you been up to the roof?
    He shot himself, self
    There's blood on the wall
    'cause he couldn't face the truth."

    in this verse i know for a fact that he's still talking to the listener. Someone has committed suicide, a tragedy, because he couldn't face being himself. the roof, meaning him being lost, and high up in the clouds.

    "Oh, knock that down, leave the ground and find some space
    And tell your friends, friends,
    You'll be back again, gain
    Before it's too late."

    hes telling all who are troubled and struggling with life to not focus on what the man did (suicide) but to "find some space."
    "leave the ground." meaning, dont get caught up in society and dont get caught up in you being stupid, worthless and not worth it.
    "and tell your friends you'll be back again, before its too late."
    this speaks for itself= tell your friends (those on the "ground") you'll be back to a happy child, to someone free from society and suicidal thoughts. tell them you'll be back to yourself before its too late. meaning, before you commit suicide.

    {chorus}


    "So I am a man, man, man, man
    Up, up in the air
    And I float around, 'round, 'round this downtown
    And know I shouldn't care."


    Recapping, he's still suffering... he's still "lost and in the air."
    he says that he will continue to be lost in this "downtown" meaning a dirty cruel world. and he says that he shouldnt worry about it.


    "So when you see us there out in the open road
    You don't need to explain
    If everything's changed
    Just know that you don't know."

    maybe he's saying that there are many people who are going through similar things but no one really knows because the change was so drastic?
    im not so sure about this one...

    "We call it life
    Oh yeah, that's what we call it.
    We can't call it at all.
    We call it life
    Oh yeah, that's what we call it.
    When you can't call it at all.
    Yeah, we call it
    Oh yeah that's what we call it.
    (oooooooooohhhhh)


    Basically, unfairness, suicidal people, depressed people, tragedies, suffering, its all just life.
    "when you cant call it at all." means, when you dont know what the hell is going on, it means that life has found you.


    "we do it for love, sweet love."

    this little lyric holds a big meaning.
    its saying that the root of everything is love. i agree in a way, turn on the radio what are they talking about? go find a movie, whats going to be in it? love.

    why is she crying?
    no one is loving her

    why did he kill that man?
    the love of money.

    its all just love.





    thats all,
    the music video is still a mystery to me....
    i hope this made the beautiful song sensible. this was all my meaning to the song because it made sense to me. this song helps me get through the day, it helps me stop crying, stop cutting, stop starving. ext.

    byebye

  2. 2TOP RATED

    #2 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jun 1st 2012 !⃝

    the colours we have refer to soundwaves(google it)..the switch inside my head refers to enlightenment..its believed that we are truly supernatural beings but our minds cant comprehend the truth of our universe, which is the blood on the wall reference. the songs is telling us not to be afraid of our spirtual awakening.

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

    I think colors would be a fear of dying or the afterlife itself. The narrator is a dead man speaking on the listeners pondering afterlife and the dead.

    Maybe.

  4. anonymous
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    Jan 17th 2023 !⃝

    This song symbolizes addiction. It explains how living in that world could feel so black n White & shallow. Its up to you to make a change & see the world in a different spectrum to find the beauty in it seeing the colors it offers. Or else you'll get lost in a illusion or confusion and it could lead to suicidal tendencies.In short it's saying to appreciate life in a colorful way so u won't feel trapped in a bubble.

  5. anonymous
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    Jan 29th 2021 !⃝

    Does Anyone notice the musical similarity to Modest Mouse's Float On? Different lyrical themes but far too similar musically too ignore the possible inspiration from that earlier song.

  6. anonymous
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    Nov 4th 2020 !⃝

    I dunno, I saw if differently than some more egocentric interpretations. Over the course of the whole song it seems more like a snapshot from the process of facing the daunting decision that 'its time to grow up',to voluntarily leave your childhood behind,symbolically the colors that you feel define you,and enter mainstream society. You "flip the switch" and see the colors you lose, the ones you keep, and the ones that are switched out and gained as you almost grudgingly accept that you have to be more like everyone else than you feel you want to be in order to 'survive' in a world you can no longer function in as a naive adolescent,currently free of the rigors of day to day life. A friend killed themself because he could stand the thought of having to do this. Hey,it ain't so bad, you still have your health, usually said when conditions aren't as you'd prefer. Their lives now seem to bear this out.

  7. anonymous
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    Sep 23rd 2020 !⃝

    TW: suicide mentions (but you probably already knew that)
    I’m sure this is completely wrong, but hey what not share my two cents.
    This song is such a comfort for me, especially after founding out i most likely have BPD. i listen to this song when i question my worth and this song really helps me cope.

    I feel like this song is coming from the perspective of a man who’s struggling with his mental health and loses the battle. i am a boy myself and i feel weak when i have bpd episodes bc of how SOME men force the patriarchy of men don’t show emotion. (i said some men so incels don’t attack please)

    but the lyrics “it’s the colours you have, no need to be sad, it really ain’t that bad” makes me think of how people often compare the struggles of mentally ill people to people who have its worse. It’s the mentality of “other people have it worse so you can’t be sad.” The “colours” i feel is a reference to the phrase “you used to be happy” and such aka colorful. that’s why the lyrics “ And I see black, black, green,and brown, brown, brown and blue, yellow, violets, red.
    And suddenly a light appears inside my brain
    And I think of my ways, I think of my days and know that I have changed” make sense. the colors he sees are more on the muted and dark side (besides yellow and violet) and the brighter colors mentioned may be his sign of hope. the light appears inside his brain may be an idea, but unlike what i’ve seen, maybe not a happy one. maybe the phrase “i know that i have changed” is more pessimistic. maybe he’s changed from his old happy self to what he is now, and the idea he had was suicide. that’s why there’s a part “he shot him self, there’s blood on the wall cuz he couldn’t face the truth.” as in it was a reference to him losing the battle. A lot of people say suicidal people can’t handle the real world, and “can’t face the truth” which is what i think this lyric refers to. when in reality suicidal people have faced too much of the truth.


    apologies for not covering the whole song, but this is my interpretation. pessimistic and morbid, but it’s the way i see thing. I hope anyone who is struggling knows their worth, and i may not know you, but i love you.

  8. anonymous
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    May 18th 2016 !⃝

    my opinion about the song is that no matter what you feel like you are going to have all these feelings and emotions that you want to say to someone but you are afraid and don't know what to do.

  9. anonymous
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    Dec 10th 2014 !⃝

    This song is about being yourself. Shed your own colours, not someone else's. You have to get through the rough times because there's always better times ahead. And the last thing, love is the answer, and the reason we fight for things and do stupid things. And on a side note, one day I WILL marry Christian Zuconni because I just love him so much and this song has been a big part of my life this past year as I listen to it (literally) every day. I'm obsessed.. <333

  10. alex.galvez.10
    click a star to vote
    Apr 18th 2013 !⃝

    This is only my interpretation and my personal connection to the song.... When I was diagnosed with depression and schizophrenia, I would constantly play this song over and over for the comfort it provided.... I think it's about people with mental illness.... Colours you have to me is saying that's just the way you are...its about reflection and acceptance and the reassurance that your human and there's always hope....and that your not alone in the struggle and there's people out there with the same issues as you.... And to see the light at the end of the tunnel... Lifes precious and sometimes things are just the way they are for reasons unknown but live it to the best you can.... Lifes a ride.... Some make it others dont but in the end just make it your best and if you lose that's fine you took a good fight

  11. anonymous
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    Mar 15th 2013 !⃝

    The colours refer to your orur the feelings inside your mind that u don't take time to think about in our busy lives its saying we're all okay except your self we all have crappy feeling it will past get over it no need to be sad and you don't need drugs to tell u that by the way that's my bit x

  12. anonymous
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    Sep 14th 2012 !⃝

    This song is about gangs.

  13. anonymous
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    Feb 28th 2012 !⃝

    I think it's about what may happen at the end of this year, good or bad. "leaving ground to find space" leaving towns or citys to go out to the woods or country. " telling friends that i'll be back before it's to late" the end. " if you run into me on the open roads, no need to explain i'm just the same" they are look for answer too, food, water, what ever. just watch the video it makes more since...

  14. anonymous
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    Feb 22nd 2012 !⃝

    I think it has to do with an artist, the love for color and the preciousness of one's hands to create art. As an artist it has definitley saved my life, to have the unexplianable bliss you experience when you are creating and connecting with yourself, I feel like maybe the artist is definitley going through a rough relationship change, I don't want to be another person who interprets this personally, but the song caugt me so swiftly in the chest because everything in it was so potent it made me cry, first time hearing it.

  15. anonymous
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    Feb 17th 2012 !⃝

    I don't think its strictly race, or orientation or anything. Its just saying to be who you are no matter what. It doesn't matter what other people think. Sometimes the need for acceptance can be tragic ("He shot himself, self
    There's blood on the wall, 'cause he couldn't face the truth") but this song lets you know you're not alone because everyone faces similar issues ("Just know I'm just like you"). Its saying that this is life, and the best thing to do is keep moving forward.

  16. anonymous
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    Feb 17th 2012 !⃝

    I think this song means we all have different colours (eg race) and that everybody is different (eg different colour skin and different personality) and that we should all not care if somebody is a different race, colour skin. "Its the colours you wear, no need to be scared" meaning that we all wear different colours and to where them proud. If you are a different colour to other people, then why are you scared, there is no need to be scared, its who you are.

  17. anonymous
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    Nov 30th 2011 !⃝

    I think it's about accepting ourselves as we are and with what we have been given in life. It's also about taking those cards we've been dealt and still being brave enough to look inside ourselves and gain a better understanding of who we are. sometimes we are afraid of what we will find, but in the song this introspection creates change and sometimes when we change we disconnect from people and form new bonds, but in the end we are all the same if we keep looking deep enough.

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