This is such a heartbreakingly beautiful piece. I think just like any song, the meaning behind it’s words really speak differently to different individuals. However, I shall give my own take.

To me, ‘Sign of the Times’ alternates between a narrator speaking to themself and then to another. It’s primarily about coming to accept the end of something or someone you love. Learning to move on from it, and realizing that It is What it is despite how difficult it is to contine on.

“Just stop your crying It’s a sign of the times.”

I believe this repeats as words the narrator tells him/herself, as well as words the narrator speaks to another. Its the frustration of trying to move on even though you can’t. It’s telling yourself, “Suck it up and move on, this is how it has to be and you can’t change it,” but still feeling grief.

“You can’t bribe the door on your way to the sky You look pretty good down here But you ain’t really good.”

Fairly straight forward. You can’t keep putting off the inevitable; things may look fine, but they really aren’t.

“We never learn, we’ve been here before Why are we always stuck and running from The bullets, the bullets?”

We’ve overcome things before, we can push through it. Why are we so afraid of it, and why do we keep trying to escape it?

“Just stop your crying Have the time of your life Breaking through the atmosphere Things look pretty good from here.”

Here the narrator is trying to remind themselves to look at the good things in life. If you instead focused on living your life, you’d realize things aren’t as bad as they appear.

“Remember, everything will be alright We can meet again somewhere Somewhere far away from here.”

This may be the end for now, but maybe someday, somehow, somewhere, we can find eachother again, and be happy together.

“We don’t talk enough We should open up Before it’s all too much.”

Once again, pretty straight forward I’d say. Too many words left unsaid.

Some might think this song primarily is about a romantic relationship, but I don’t believe this is necessarily the case. I see it as more of just an end to any kind of love. Personally, I think of my mother, who is very sickly. It’s taken us both many years to realize there are certain things we cannot change. We need to live our lives and be happy, before its too late.

This is a long one, I apologize. Just my thoughts.

T. x