Maroon 5: Payphone Meaning

Song Released: 2012
Payphone Lyrics
All of my change i've spent on you
Where Have the times gone baby
It's all wrong, where are the plans we made for two
Yeah, I, I know it's hard to remember
The people we used to be
It's even harder to...
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1TOP RATED
#1 top rated interpretation:This song is trying to convey the message that no matter how hard he tried to make this relationship work, it failed because his girl didn't care about him. He's at a payphone trying to remember the good times he had in the relationship but as it has gotten worse and worse he gets increasingly frustrated. He can never reach her on the payphone because he can't remember the good times, only the bad.
Despite being miserable, he can't seem to end the relationship because he still loves her in little ways and he's afraid of being alone.
He wishes to be back in the past when the relationship was good and he was happy, but he knows this will never happen. -
2TOP RATED
#2 top rated interpretation:He did everything, in fact risk his life for a girl who played him. He took a crime which involved his girlfriend upon himself just to show how much he cares about her, in return his girlfriend showed no care nor empathy while he was on the run for the crime he didn't commit all in the name of love.
While on the run he called her regularly and tried making her remember all the good times they had. In spite of his moon and green light she cares less to see how great his love was for her. -
3TOP RATED
#3 top rated interpretation:The Payphone is a metaphor.
In the first chorus, it is saying that he is calling home all the change he spent on that girl- the change is his time, and he has spent and valued all of his time with her,but now those times were gone, and he wants them back home, with him. He misses their valued time together and wants to bring it back. Hes asking the rhetorical question, "where are those times and plans that they made?".
"
Yeah, I, I know it’s hard to remember
The people we used to be...
It’s even harder to picture
That you’re not here next to me"
This stanza is basically explaining the fact that they are not together or with each other anymore, and it feels like now that everything is different it's almost impossible to go back.
"You say it’s too late to make it
But is it too late to try?
And in our time that you wasted
All of our bridges burned down"
They keep pushing off their time, and while that was happening, they were drifting apart and the bridges burnt down, and they fell away.
"I’ve wasted my nights
You turned out the lights
Now I’m paralyzed
Still stuck in that time when we called it love
But even the sun sets in paradise..."
All good things come to an end, and the sun is setting in their own paradise, meaning there is going to be a new daylight, a new times, (just likek the song daylight), and they feel like the time has been wasted. -
Payphone is all about a failed relationship. It tries to imply that even if he persevered for their relationship of his girl, it just wasn't enough thus making their relationship into a failure. I obviously would not want to explain the whole lyrics of the song, but here's an explantion about its chorus:
1. "I'm at a payphone trying to call home"
-This line explains that a man is at a payphone trying to recall the beautiful memories he had with his partner. But instead of it being beautiful, it was rather miserable and that what makes him sad.
2. "All of my change I spent on you"
-This line implies about the man's efforts in keeping their relationship afloat but unfortunately failed due to an unexpected circumstance (such as an argument, insecurities, etc.)
3. "Where have the times gone? Baby, it's all wrong"
-This line shows the man's "frustration" about why their relationship still couldn't keep up despite all his efforts. At this point, he feels miserable already.
4. "Where are the plans we made for two?"
-This line contemplates the man questioning their plans that they made during their relationship such as marriage, having kids, or enjoying life with him/her.
5. "If 'happy ever after' did exist, I would still be holding you like this"
-This line explains the man's thinking of a fantasy of their relationship being successful and thus leading it to their best quality of life. I think that this is his way of coping his heartache after their relationship failed, or maybe I'm just dumb at understanding it. Who knows?
6. "All those fairytales are full of sh*t"
-This is the part that I'm not sure about. Maybe he doesn't care of other people's interpretation of their relationship and only cares of his own? I'm not really sure...
7. "One more f**king love song I'll be sick"
-This line shows that the man just had enough of it and anything that is related to love (such as a love song) just wouldn't help him to move on and just makes him to remember his girl miserably.
Note: This is just my understanding about this song so take this with a grain of salt. We all have other interpretations of this song and that what makes this song meaningful. <3
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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It about a guy who fantasies a girl. he is too coward to talk to her, and the vid proceed to show how them vs the world, it was all a fantasy.
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This song is about shrek and his tough time building a relationship with fionas father. Shrek tries his best to get along with fionas father but feels as though he is being judged and discriminated because he is an ogre, fionas father has already built an assumption on shrek just because he is an ogre and let other peoples opionions infiltrate his judgement of shrek.
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It means thats his heart is really broken because of a girl he loved dearly.
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He did what it takes to make this relationship work but it was only a sound gong... lol
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He loved her. And she loved him. But it was wrong the whole time.
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"I’ve wasted my nights
You turned out the lights
Now I’m paralyzed
Still stuck in that time when we called it love
But even the sun sets in paradise..."
Basically, he wasted his time sleeping with her, and having a relationship or whatever it was. He's sort of shocked; paralyzed. He can't get over what they had. -
This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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He's trying to call his baby to make sure she's okay. Now he's lost and about leave his girlfriend/wife with the plan.
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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he was with this girl he loved and everything was going well. She then decided to cheat on him unleashing unbelievable carnage in both their lives and none of it made any sense. The metaphor is the ridiculous developments caused by her self indulgent thoughtless actions. He steals a gun from hard core criminals to try to escape from the horror and loneliness he is experiencing and then the cops are after him. everything is out of control all caused by the person whom he gave his heart and soul to selling out for some sex.
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I still Don't Understand Because people have been saying that he is trying to call her and she isnt picking up but she did thats how the song started and why is he blaming her because she didnt do anything he told her to stay back
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