Avicii – Wake Me Up

Learn English with Wake Me Up by Avicii. Fill in the blanks in the lyrics as you listen to the song.

Lyrics

Sing-Along

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Song Meaning

Meaning 1

I think this song is about going through life as a young inexperienced individual.

“Feeling my way through the darkness
Guided by a beating heart
I can’t tell where the journey will end
But I know where to start”
— The inexperienced person is going through life and knows that what is ahead is unknown. He is guided by his spirit. He doesn’t know where he will end up, but he knows where he can start now.

They tell me I’m too young to understand
They say I’m caught up in a dream
Well life will pass me by if I don’t open up my eyes
Well that’s fine by me
— I think by “they” he means the older generation, those who have been through some of life’s experiences and are well into their journey. They see the carefree nature of someone so young and naive about life and basically are telling him that he is living life like it’s a dream (he has yet to really experience or understand it). They warn that if he does not open his eyes and take it all seriously and stop living guided by his spirit, it is all just going to pass him by, and he will look back and wonder where the time went. However, he is loving the way he is living and if that is what happens, he is fine with it.

“So wake me up when it’s all over
When I’m wiser and I’m older
All this time I was finding myself, and I
Didn’t know I was lost”
— He is living life and enjoying it. “They” are telling him he is living in a dream. It is a dream/life he loves, therefore he is asking to be woken up from it when everything is over, when he is older, or when he is now the “they” generation he is referring to. He knows that “they” probably associate his lifestyle with a person that is just finding themselves, but according to him, he never even knew he was lost.

“I tried carrying the weight of the world
But I only have two hands.”
— I love this line. He tried worrying about all of life’s troubles just like everyone else does. However, he stopped b/c there was no point in it, so he stopped worrying.

“Hope I get the chance to travel the world
But I don’t have any plans”
— He does have wishes to do some things, but at the moment he is carefree and has no plans to do so.

“Wish that I could stay forever this young
Not afraid to close my eyes
Life’s a game made for everyone
And love is a prize”
— He is wishing to live young and free forever. He enjoys how he lives his life. He is not afraid to close his eyes and as mentioned above get “caught up in a dream”. He sees life as a game, something fun and something that can be played, enjoyed, and won. Love, be it love for someone else, love for oneself, love of life, etc is one of the prizes.

Meaning 2

I think this song is about finding where you belong in society.