What does Jar of Hearts mean?

Christina Perri: Jar of Hearts Meaning

Album cover for Jar of Hearts album cover

Song Released: 2010


Jar of Hearts Lyrics

I know I can’t take one more step towards you,
Cause all that's waiting is regret.
Don’t you know I’m not your ghost anymore?
You lost the love I loved the most.

I learned to live, half alive,
And now you want me one more time.

And who...

  1. 1TOP RATED

    #1 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Apr 16th 2011 !⃝

    Basically, the woman is saying that she doesn't wanna get back together with the other guy, because he cheated on her and now he wants her back. She is saying that she won't come back because she's got too many scars from the love that they had. She is also saying that he has a cold soul - bad person ;) and that he shouldn't bother try to come back for her. The guy is kinda like a person who goes around with other girls breaking their hearts as well (Who do you think you are,| Going 'round leaving scars|Collecting your jar of hearts)

    So basics, a guy cheated on her and broke her heart and continued to cheat on her and this time when he asked to get back together, she finally said no because she has finally moved on and she doesn't want him in her life at all anymore.

    At least that's what I got from the song ;) ♥

  2. 2TOP RATED

    #2 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Mar 8th 2011 !⃝

    Make no mistake, this is a song of her breaking away from a man who is a Narcissist--the total, psychological definition of the disorder, not the common use of just a self-centered man.

    If you had personal experience with a narcissist, as I have, you will recognize many lines that resonate in a way applicable to no other relationship.

  3. 3TOP RATED

    #3 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Apr 20th 2014 !⃝

    Completely agree with May 3rd, November 11th and #2. You got it right it's a song about a man with a personality disorder I believe sociopathy. She is that one woman he keeps going back to because he thinks he controls her and she kept on allowing him to come back. Meanwhile, he's running around seducing, charming, using and probably sleeping with anyone who he can. He's an attention seeking narcissistic sociopath who lacks empathy and has no remorse. He does not care if he breaks many hearts his heart and soul is icy " your gonna catch a cold from the ice inside your soul". Finally the female decides she's had it with him. She has realized who he really is and says don't come back. I know a sociopath. Watching him was textbook the eyes, the mirroring, the fake emotions, the fake love and interest, etc.

    Back to the song.... You can't break her spirit so don't try anymore.

  4. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Mar 10th 2021 !⃝

    I think that Jar of Hearts can be about anything that takes away from your happiness or person.

    It could be being in an abusive relationship with someone who is cold and tears your love apart.

    It could be about a friend who’s on and off about liking you. One moment their a friend who loves you and defends you; the next, they’re laughing with your bullies and being two-faced.

    It could be about depression that slowly tears you apart, leaves you broken and scarred, then beckons at you to come back with open arms and a cold smile.

    It could be about losing someone you love, even. It scars everyone who loved them, and some people are even angry with said loved one for leaving them (“you’re gonna catch a cold from the ice inside your soul”), or more literally, their soul is cold because they are no longer living.

    All I’m trying to say is it’s all about perspective and personal experience that effects what music means to different people.

    No one is right or wrong.

  5. Guy
    click a star to vote
    Sep 3rd 2020 !⃝

    I have read and listened to this a hundred times and can tell you that, while ashamed, this represents me.
    I fell in love with a fantastic woman while still married, and stayed married in a loveless relationship for years.
    Eventually, I pushed her away, not because I don't love her, but was sick of hurting her.
    I spent months away changing my life, finding what makes me happy, and started the divorce.
    What makes me happy was my lover and I have tried to get a chance at her heart again, but the walls are up and while she texts a little bit, she says she will never come back.
    The song is her, my lover, talking to me. If you ever have walked in these shoes, you will know daily how much I hurt and aches for having lost the "One".
    Believe me, it took 50 years to find happiness, and I screwed up royally. Each day I only want to start new, show her I have changed, and build a lifetime of happiness. After all everyone, life is really short, especially if you did what I have done.
    If anyone has suggestions on how to get one more chance, please let me know as if I ever get that chance again, I will never hurt her again!

  6. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jan 21st 2020 !⃝

    This is almost like a sequel to human,for me she is in a toxic relationship in human and in the end leaves after trying to be perfect for her partner, and this song is later on after she leaves him where she is telling him that she doesn't love him and he should go away.

  7. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Sep 16th 2019 !⃝

    This is the behavior of a narcissistic person who is incapable of giving love, only taking & you're left with heartbreak & unrequited love. Be very careful as a narcissistic person will cause you suffering on a level so damaging u may never be the same again !! Beware of their live bombing game & run for ur life !!!

  8. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Aug 23rd 2019 !⃝

    This song, to me, describes the relationship between me and a family member. He/she keeps going around, getting new relationships, pushing them on me and then forcing them away.

  9. anonymous
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    Mar 27th 2019 !⃝

    I broke the song down to make it easier.

    [Verse 1]
    Verse I tells that she's trying to stay away from him, because she knows that she can still fall back for him if he does. But she would really regret it if it would happen, because he has changed, he wasn't the man she used to love, and she's not going to chase for his love and attention any more (not your ghost anymore).
    [Verse 2]
    Verse II means that she once almost died when they parted, and now he's coming back.
    [Verse 3]
    (Lines 1-4) She's telling that he should stop being a playboy/womanizer, because all he's doing is hurting people. He has already hurt a lot of hearts (girls).

    (Line 5,6) A hyperbolic statement that emphasizes on his coldness, or inability to feel for people(empathy or sympathy).
    [Verse 4]
    (Line 1,2) It took her so long to move on and to remind herself of the things that she has to be thankful of and to look forward to.

    (Line 3,4) She regrets having experienced their relationship, because it only gave her false hopes.

    (Line 5,6) And now he's back (possibly asking for her forgiveness), but she refuses to let him fool her again, because she now knows his ways.

  10. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jan 1st 2019 !⃝

    To me, this song could have one of two meanings. The first one, and most obvious, is that she is describing a classic love drama, in which a desperate or vulnerable someone falls in love with a greedy, narcissist. The narcissist is always using the vulnerable one and the two are not meant to be. Then the vulnerable one realizes their mistake and breaks off the relationship, though still scarred and hurt from the whole situation. The second meaning is something that most people wouldn’t think of. I feel that the song could mean that the girl is fighting an internal battle and is always hurting herself with her own words. She describes herself as the person who collects a jar of hearts (the dark side of her thoughts that always destroys the feelings and stuff), the hearts of which are her own thoughts and feelings. This is not the most accurate interpretation, but I thought of it because it reminded me a bit of myself when I was younger.

    (NEITHER OF THESE INTERPRETATIONS ARE INTERPRETED OFF OF THE MUSIC VIDEO, AND AREN’T REALLY MEANT TO BE EITHER)

  11. PrincessKaycee
    click a star to vote
    Aug 21st 2018 !⃝

    Social Services I had my little boys taken from me after a long court battle as social services didn’t feel that my sons disability needs could be met with me but we’re adoment they wanted my other 3 children too, so this song for me has a different interpretation mine is,

    You know I can’t take one more step towards you: meaning how can I come to you when your promises and help offered we’re supposed to help me but instead just hindered me, therefore I regret opening up and asking for advise and information because all it led to was regret, you know I’m not your ghost anymore: meaning to me I’m not going to be or want to be a ghost in there lives or even someone I want them to remember because they lost me the love I loved the most that being my little baby boy who when take was only 3yrs old and it was 4 days before Christmas and he was looking forward to opening his present that family and I had placed under the tree for him, and now I live half a life with a big part of me missing and empty without my baby, but now social services started coming at me again thank try and take my other children and place them with there violent and manipulative father, so therefore I say who do you think you are (outraged), running round leaving scars,collecting your jar of hearts meaning running around breaking up loving families tearing love apart, just to collect the bonus pay check (the jar of hearts collected) for each child taken, your gonna catch a cold from the ice inside your soul: meaning one day you’ll catch the cold of the feeling of broken hearted and loss when karma bites you on the backside, so don’t come back to me for sympathy or expect it cos when you need sympathy or even help and support it’s not there in the way you thought it would be it just becomes a weapon for people to hurt you emotionally, took so long just to feel alright: meaning it took a long time and although your not fully over what happened and will always feel broken you find a way to go on and that one little thing will help you feel like your not in the dark no more and that there is a light a hope and a reason to fight back a hidden energy you didn’t know was there and to miss the first kiss is to me missing the first letter (in my mind my kids of life some offered help and support to get my son the help and specialist equipment he needed that I couldn’t afford to purchase alone), but the social service broke all the promises and used everything against me, and now your back you want me back again meaning your trying. To get back in my life to destroy me again by ripping my heart to shreds again by trying to take my other 3 children away from a loving mother and place them with a abusive father in order to find it easier to remove them permanently, so who do you think you are(social services) running round leaving scars(leaving families heartbroken) collecting your jar of hearts (collecting you bonus pay checks)tearing love apart(destroying loving families) your gonna catch a cold (karmas going to catch up with you one day)from the ice inside your soul( so cold hearted and emotionless) so don’t back for more (leave us alone we will not let you break our family again) who do you think you are.
    This song has a very emotion effect on me and I’ve been told I have a amazing singing voice but I cannot make it to the end of the song without breaking into tears and becoming emotionally unhinged with those thoughts or meaning in my head and this is the first time for me to interpreted these lyrics that are so emotion and meaningful for me

  12. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jul 31st 2018 !⃝

    Jar of hearts is a love song, obvi. Although it is not about a cheating ex boyfriend but a boyfriend she loved dearly that passed away. She is addressing the song to the diener(morgue worker) that she is feeling rage and despair towards. There are many literal phrases used. Unlike many metaphorical meanings that other usesers have incorrectly identified. A literal phrase includes "Running 'round leaving scars", this is showing the morgue worker is slicing open carcasses to complete an autopsy. "collecting your jar of hearts" is also a literal reference to morgue workers as the worker is collecting hearts to determine the cause of death. Morgues are always kept in chilly conditions between 2-4 degrees c so the bodies are preserved this is shown through the lyric " you're gonna catch a cold, from the ice inside your soul. In conclusion Christinia Perri fooled you all and her boyfriend died. R.I.P

  13. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Mar 7th 2018 !⃝

    A woman has been in love with a cold hearted man ( ... ice inside ur soul ), he cheats and breaks hearts all around ( ... collecting your jar of hearts ) he broke her heart, shoved her love in her face , he loved the smile in her tears (... tearing love apart ) but then she finally decided to let go of the toxic relationship ( ... i learned to live half alive) but the guy didnt want to let go of her but then she doesnt want to stay with him ( ... cause all thats waiting is regret ) she picks up her broken pieces and leaves him and somehow it made her stronger.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  14. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Mar 7th 2018 !⃝

    A woman has been in love with a cold hearted man ( ... ice inside ur soul ), he cheats and breaks hearts all around ( ... collecting your jar of hearts ) he broke her heart, shoved her love in her face , he loved the smile in her tears (... tearing love apart ) but then she finally decided to let go of the toxic relationship ( ... i learned to live half alive) but the guy didnt want to let go of her but then she doesnt want to stay with him ( ... cause all thats waiting is regret ) she picks up her broken pieces and left him and somehow it made her stronger.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  15. anonymous
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    Nov 9th 2017 !⃝

    Its about an anorexia nervosa survivor. "Who do you think you are running round leaving scars, collecting your jar of hearts" refers to all the people that have been changed for the worse by their anorexia. Anorexics can feel like their anorexia is a person, and I've seen a AN survivor compare their anorexia nervosa to an abusive partner.

  16. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Aug 5th 2017 !⃝

    This song speaks to me as it describes how I feel about an ex. This song can apply to women as well. For over a year we were together. I was in a very vulnerable place when I met her. And she toyed with me over that time, every time she walked away (literally), just leaving me sitting in a bar, I would always just take her back. It was odd behavior on both of our parts, but I was in love. When you're in love you do some pretty stupid things. Then she convinced me to leave my life behind in Atlanta and follow her to Florida. I took a teaching job in Camden County 3 miles North of the Florida border because she said she wanted to marry me, and was making all of these references to getting married, and the need to get a bigger house. 2 weeks after arriving in St. Mary's GA, she decided to say that she didn't love me anymore. I was left in a small town not knowing anyone and having to start from scratch. I've never suffered from mental illness, but I fell into a deep deep depression, and had to be admitted to a mental hospital or lose my job. As I fought through the depression I met some friends, and lovers but was never whole. I even put a .38 in my mouth one night. A few weeks later over Thanksgiving I visited Atlanta for a wedding, and resolved to return as soon as possible. I fought a lot of demons in South Georgia/North Florida but I fought and fought, returned home to a immediate need teaching job in the middle of the school year. If she ever tries to enter my life again, this is the song I with which I would answer her. I swam in a lot of bottles in Camden County, but I survived. During my healing I discovered her Narcissist and Sociopathic personality disorder. She was a "Reputation Defending Sociopath". After talking with a mutual friend who had spoken to her about what went down that August 5th 2016, he said that she was disturbingly cold about the whole situation. I shared the discussion with my Therapist, and he pulled out the ICD 10 WHO book on mental illness. She hit 5 of the 6 markers for Antisocial Personality Disorder, Sociopathy. Her subtype was Reputation Defending. I truly spent 5 months learning to live half alive. Now a year later I have a new job, a new girlfriend, and a new life. But the stain of my time in Camden County is still there.

  17. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Dec 9th 2016 !⃝

    It's about me, but I'm misunderstood, quite shy around a new guy. And yes, he is the one that doesn't see the error in his ways.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  18. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Aug 17th 2016 !⃝

    This is a song about a woman who kept going back to a man who kept hurting her and she decided she can't move forward in their relationship. She learned to get over him and he promised to never hurt her again. She's moved on from him. He's cold hearted and she doesn't need that. Though she's moved on a first heartbreak always hurts and remains as a scar. She likens her ex to a serial killer killing all of the girls he's dated and keeping a collection of their hearts in a jar. Of course one could argue that she is talking about depression. Though I feel it also includes a hint of overcoming depression.

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