Lord Huron is an American Band. The band focuses on indie, rock and roll, and alternate music themes. The band is based out of Los Angeles, and shot to fame with the song “Ends of Earth”. The song was played in numerous scenes on different shows. Another song that gained popularity through the series is the track from their album “The Strange Trails” – the night we met. This song was also played in many tv series, rising to fame through the show “13 reasons why”. The story of Clay and Hannah was connected with the theme of the song.

What Does the Title Mean?

The night we met is a poetic phrase. It is like an opening of a dialogue and it talks of nostalgia. The title is quite apt for the song, as it is a reference to a time in the past. The night we met is the perfect title for the song as the entire premise of the song is based on this particular night when the singer and his lover met. The night ignited their love which eventually turned to flames. So the night plays an important role in the story. The story of love and loss is based on that night.

Verse 1 – What Does It Mean?

I am not the only traveler

Who has not repaid his debt

I’ve been searching for a trail to follow again

Take me back to the night we met

The song starts with a premise that is relatable to all. The first two lines combine the audience and set the theme for the song. Ben talks that he is not the only person who has been on this journey. This is very true as a lot of people have been on this path – the path of loving and losing. As Ben is trying to find a path again, likewise many heartbroken people try to find new journeys. The singer here talks of a night when he wants to go back. The night here is a reference to the time he spent with his loved one. He wants to go back to that time. He enjoyed that time, and, now that the time has passed, he wants to go back to it.

Verse 2 – What Does It Mean?

And then I can tell myself

What the hell I’m supposed to do

And then I can tell myself

Not to ride along with you

Verse 2 moves along with the tone of verse 1. It is nostalgic and heartbroken. The love lost is eating the singer, and he is looking for a way out. He wants to go back to the initial days with his loved one. He says that he wants to revisit those days and warn his younger self to stay away from the loved one. This is not because he did not enjoy the times with the loved one, it is because of the pain that the singer is feeling now. The singer is alone and this heartbreak is too much to bear. So, he wants his younger self to avoid this path in order to escape this heartbreak. This is something that almost all of us – who have been through a break-up – felt deep inside. We wished that we never met the partners who fell apart. It is a natural tendency of humans to try to avoid pain and the feeling of loss. It is the same emotion that the singer is trying to convey here. He says that it all started that night, and he hopes to return to that night to change its course.

What Does the Chorus Mean?

I had all and then most of you

Some and now none of you

Take me back to the night we met

I don’t know what I’m supposed to do

Haunted by the ghost of you

Take me back to the night we met

Straight for the castle

In the chorus, Ben talks of the beautiful yet tragic degression of love. The first two lines of the chorus are deeply felt by people who have slowly separated ways from their loved ones. If you have ever felt pain in the journey of love, you understand the meaning of these lines. Ben is saying how his loved one gradually moved away from him. The night when they met, he had all of his loved one. In the present day, the loved one is not there. He wants to go back to that night, although he is confused by it. He is terribly missing his loved one, as evident from the lyric “haunted by the ghost of you”. He is feeling his loved one around him, but unfortunately, they are not there. The chorus is deeply touching and heart-wrecking. It is picking on the wounds left by loving deeply.

Verse 3 – What Does It Mean?

When the night was full of terrors

And your eyes were filled with tears

When you had not touched me yet

Oh, take me back to the night we met

Here, the singer is playing back the events of the night. He is sweetly reminiscing the actions that unfolded. He calls the night terrorful before he met his loved one, and he recalls tears in their eyes. These tears could have been a bridge for the communication between the two. The singer then recalls the touch of his loved one. Such memories often cause us more pain. We think of times when we were happy and carefree, and we miss those times. We miss our partner – the person who held us, supported us, and understood us. The singer here is also missing that person – he wants to go back to that night. The night, that now he, dislikes because of the heartbreak it caused.

What Does the Chorus Mean?

I had all and then most of you

Some and now none of you

Take me back to the night we met

I don’t know what I’m supposed to do

Haunted by the ghost of you

Take me back to the night we met

The chorus repeats itself. The concluding chorus is more resonating with the people as they understand the agony of the singer now. He is deeply missing his loved one. There is no reason mentioned as to what happened between the two. Were there any fights or issues of right or wrong – such details are not mentioned? The focus is on the night when the singer met that person. The singer wants to re-write the story. He feels so much pain that he wants to erase the good parts as well. He wants to free himself from this cage of memories and love. He wants to go back to the night, and then never let that night happen. It is a bittersweet nature of love. We want to feel the love but sometimes the pain gets too much. The pain compels us to forget the love, the good parts. We feel that it is better to feel nothing, experience nothing than to feel the losing emotions.

Conclusion

The night we met is a powerful song. It perfectly captures the agony of a lover who is grieving his love. The song is also beautifully used in 13 reasons why wherein the song moves through the story of Clay and Hannah. The song focuses on one particular night when Clay fell in love with Hannah. With Hannah gone, Clay revisits that night many times and hopes to forget about it. He wants to change the course of the night but he can not do that. The singer is also on the same lines, and sadly he can not go back to that night – not to feel the emotions again or to change the night.