What does Pieces mean?

Rob Thomas: Pieces Meaning

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Pieces Lyrics


[Verse 1]
Run away, run away if you can't speak
Turn a page on a world that you don't need
Wide awake and you're scared that you won't come down now

[Pre-Chorus]
Didn't I tell you you were gonna break down
Didn't I warn you, didn't I...

  1. 1TOP RATED

    #1 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
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    Jul 5th 2017 !⃝

    You are right about chronic illness. Rob Thomases wife has Lyme Disease, as do I. The story is about the struggle and fear of not being enough "hold onto me, you're all I have, all I have" Its that fear that she doesn't feel good enough.

    With Lyme you fear the illness will eclipse who you are, that others will not understand, that their sacrifice for your health will not be enough. That resentment will grow and they will leave you. I know this pain because of lyme Disease.

    Rob wrote the song "Unwell" about this too. He speaks at a lyme function about he wife, how at times with Lyme you are to unwell to leave. "Im not crazy I'm just a little unwell;" this is about how the Doctors treat a Lyme Disease patient..

    They act as if you are mentally ill vs have lyme there is a battle going about this in the medical community.

    The struggle of "pieces" is of falling apart and both fearing the loss of relationship and of life. Many people with Lyme die because of it. It changes you.

  2. 2TOP RATED

    #2 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
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    May 18th 2017 !⃝

    I think it's saying that you're the only one who can help yourself. The didn't I tell you that you were gonna break down refers to someone telling themself that things are hard but you should always believe in yourself. In the end, the most important thing is finally loving yourself and who you are. You are the one who builds up your self esteem and then tear it back down with what surrounds us. It shows you have to keep holding on though.

  3. 3TOP RATED

    #3 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
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    Jun 21st 2018 !⃝

    I think this is about personal struggle. As someone who has had a past of dissociation during traumatic events, it very much feels like a dark "protector" and a white "exile." In the video, many times he is wearing a white shirt in the dark, and a dark suit in the light. It signifies that dark protector in all of us, who has to shelter and take care of the vulnerable exile. But the protector is resentful of this, as we can often be with ourselves. The protector sings, "Didn't I tell you, you were going to break down. Didn't I warn you? ... Better take it easy, try to find a way out. Better start believing in yourself."

    Then the exile sees, "Now and then, there's a light in the darkness. Feel around 'til you find where your heart went," only to have the protector say, "Didn't I tell you, you were going to break down? ... Tell me what you're needing. Give into your bleeding. Never any feeling for yourself." The exile cannot function without the shelter of the protector.

    The pivotal moment is when they both realize, "We are lost and we're falling. Hold on to me, you're all I have...all I have." One cannot exist without the other. They need each other. At the end of the video he is seen then in a white shirt, with a dark "protector" jacket. It is the eternal struggle of being strong enough, but feeling weak and vulnerable, and the self-abuse that comes with all of it.

  4. anonymous
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    Oct 27th 2021 !⃝

    The genius of this song is that it is anything and you fill in the blanks. It is about addiction, disease, suicide, dealing with death, etc. It is written from the perspective of a loved one but could be your inner self. People read their specifics or guess on Rob Thomas' motivation but the truth is that the lyrics are specifically generic. It is OK to check out for a while if you can't speak, shut down the things that you cannot deal with. Everyone has advice for you on taking care of yourself but the truth is you just hold on until you can figure it out. Whatever you do hold on to me because I got you and I need you. We do what we can and then we pick up the pieces or maybe sometimes we just leave them there and move on. Break down, feel, hurt, bleed and tell me what I can do to help you. Simple as that

  5. anonymous
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    Feb 25th 2021 !⃝

    Pieces..my interpretation is a broken relationship with no repair.

    One messages the other,
    Beleive in yourself and they reciprocate.

    A break up, places blame--after time, so with saying believe in yourself helps the hurt one--heal.
    The problem is they both will hurt and walk away.

    It could have many meanings to different scenarios.

    This actually happened to me...and I no longer know this person. Could of ended a lot better, cut the ties unrepaired, pieces.

  6. anonymous
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    Oct 19th 2020 !⃝

    I thought this song was inspired by Rob Thomas's wife. As she suffers with her health. In the line "didn't I warn you, better take it easy..." We see how Rob takes care of her and looks out for her health. Also, I love the line "hold on to me you're all I have, all I have". As he didn't have a great childhood, his wife is the most important thing in his life and he is happy for her to depend and rely on him.

  7. anonymous
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    May 6th 2020 !⃝

    This in my opinion is legos from a minifigure's prespective. Didn't I tell you you were gonna break down Didn't I warn you, didn't I warn you means when you take something apart. You build them up, you tear them down, (at least I) leave the pieces on the ground.

  8. anonymous
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    Feb 4th 2020 !⃝

    Any song can mean whatever you need it to at that moment in your life. To me personally right now it is about a struggling relationship. "Run away if you can't speak" could mean if a spouse is having difficult time in the relationship. All relationships have ups and downs and you have to pick up the pieces from the ground to put it back together. All you have is each other so hold on your all I have. The light in the darkness could be the spark that is still there then looking for your heart to remember that spark. Music is all in how you feel at the time.

  9. anonymous
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    Jan 8th 2019 !⃝

    People it’s fighting against your manic self. Parts of the verses are is his “true self” which is a wounded soul. Then suddenly in other parts you can hear his tone of voice change into an almost cocky, less softly spoken, more urgent voice. Which is his manic self. “You’re all I have” is his soul pleading to his wounded true self to hold on to his precious soul

  10. anonymous
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    Jul 14th 2018 !⃝

    I believe this song is about staying strong for each other. There are always deep struggles for each person in a relationship and it can either tear you apart or bring you closer. You need to respect the things that tear you apart (such as a parent being sick) and you have to help take care of them and when they are gone you need to break down and the other person in your relationship is there for you. Even though you do your best the person you love most is always there, holding you up and helping you put the pieces back together.

  11. anonymous
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    Mar 15th 2018 !⃝

    This song can be many things to different people, depending on what's going on in your life... Addiction, mental illness, chronic disease, impending divorce, teenage angst, to name a few...
    In the end it's about learning to have faith in yourself that you are strong enough, loving enough, and worthy of an amazing life... sometimes it can be one life changing event or person that can make all the difference in believing in yourself and realizing how strong you really are...~~T

  12. anonymous
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    Dec 31st 2017 !⃝

    To me the meaning of runaway runaway if you can’t speak is for your inner self so deep that you can’t express your pain so it’s a place we go while we wait to digest the problems that we face with the loss of someone so loved . The portion that says didn’t I tell you were going to break down didn’t I warn you is also a feeling for your inner self telling yourself that you will be OK and you will get beyond the depth of your pain . The we build it up we tear it downs in our minds in how we thought was going to be the best thing in our world for that so loved person then we tear it down with what we conceive as our faults that we feel plays our part in the loss that can pull your heart in to guilt & pain. We leave our pieces on the ground ,that feels like that person that we have lost or may loose left there stuff some of it phiscal that could just disappear, the most important part and the rest they leave is pieces of their soul that are attached to our hearts and memory. We are lost and we are falling hold on to me you’re all I have ,to me that is for God I want him to hold on to me and never let me go in the end is all I have and in the end the light in the darkness is God and he will help you find where your heart is ,the weight in the air but we can’t see is the soles of all those we love ,and all those who have gone before us ,that is truly the weight in the air ! Run away , run away if you can’t speak . I so get that ,the depth of the love is so strong but the loss of a loved ones life can truly leave you speechless !

  13. Donovansquirrelly1414
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    Nov 9th 2017 !⃝

    Imagine this song is about an addicted man. Addicted to drugs.And the spouse is struggling with his addiction for she has never been addicted to substances before and she does not understand. She believes she should hold on to her man at all costs. But it has weighed in on her and taken a toll her. But I say, there is light in the darkness! Feel around and find out where your heart went. There is hope. Hold on to me, your all I have is the message I got from this. And hold on is what I will do. I will hold on as she did for me in those tough times. I will hold on. I will get better as the song indicates.

  14. anonymous
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    May 4th 2017 !⃝

    It reminds me of my mom.. she would tell me to always believe in myself and to never give up. She would always build me up, but I would always find a way to tear myself down.. but she has always been there to pick up the pieces. Now that I'm older I see that she has always been there for me and has always believed in me. She's all I have.

  15. anonymous
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    Apr 7th 2017 !⃝

    This is a look into a relationship where one has a chronic illness. Having a illness that keeps you from doing or being the person you want to be;especially who you want to be for the ones you love the most.It is nearly impossible​ to keep believing in yourself. Rob shows an expressed desire for the one he loves to feel whole again. That he wants to be enough to heal what is broken.

  16. anonymous
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    Mar 15th 2017 !⃝

    To me, it's about someone talking to their self and going back and forth fighting to learn how to self-love but struggle, refusing to give up, they are all they have.

  17. anonymous
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    Mar 14th 2017 !⃝

    A relationship where the one of them suffers from a mental illness...trauma. like fear of abandonment, that they're undeserving of the other person and the one trying to keep that person together to believe they are loved by u causes a Rollercoaster of trying to keep that person with you and to believe in how important they are and needed by you.

  18. anonymous
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    Mar 12th 2017 !⃝

    Loving someone in the battle of their life with addiction.. you can't save them but sometimes you can buy them a day to give them another chance.. that's my hope anyway..

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