It's a song about all the things you lose when you know you shouldn't lose them. It's about falling in love, knowing you love someone, and knowing you're going to leave them, all at the same time. I sat in an airport terminal on the southeast tip of America, waiting for my girlfriend to arrive. I hadn't seen her in months. Her plane was late. I sat at the gate and watched the planes come down on the tarmac. I watched the sun come down on the ocean. And I thought: God, I love her so much. And: I'm going to leave her so soon. Sometimes, you just know it all at once. It's the best and the worst feeling ever. I guess you should have moments that feel beautiful. And you're going to have moments where you lose everything. And I suppose it's better to have something. So this is a song about winning and losing. And it's called Edge of the Atlantic I met her in September She had a laugh like open windows And I was already breaking But I didn’t want her to know We drove down to the coastline Talking dreams and cigarettes She said, "Don't fall in love with me" And I said, "Too late for that" Come on baby, don't wait for me I’m the kind of man who leaves I’m the kind of man who watches The sun fall into the sea I kissed her at the airport gate I could hear the engines hum And somewhere between the baggage claim I knew I’d come undone Come on baby, hold onto me We’ve got this moment, then it's gone You don’t get to keep the ocean You just get to lean against the dawn She cried out by the window Of a hotel off Collins Ave She said, "You keep disappearing" I said, "That’s just how I am" I don't mean to be a landslide I don't mean to be a song That you only ever half-remember When the radio comes on Come on baby, it's just the truth You can feel it in your spine Some people are meant to hold you Some are meant to pass through time And maybe that's what I was, just a stranger passing through her life. But it felt like home for a second. It always does, doesn't it? I wrote her name in the window frost Flying north to God-knows-where And every mile I put behind me Felt like a prayer I couldn't share Come on baby, don't wait for me The night comes soft and then it's loud You can't hold onto a ghost You just learn to walk around Come on baby, I’m unraveling Like thread from your favorite dress Like a postcard sent too late That never made it through the mess Come on baby, I was lightning But I burned out in your hands I was a map with all the borders But none of the promised lands Come on baby, I still hear you In the hush between the waves In the rustle of the jet stream In the silence that misbehaves Come on baby, just forgive me For the tide I couldn’t fight I was reaching for the daylight But I lived beneath the flight Come on baby, one last time now Whisper me back from the static I was never meant to stay long Just linger at the edge of the Atlantic "Thanks a lot, you guys... I wrote that back when I didn’t know what the hell I was doing. I mean, I still don’t, but at least now I’ve got these guys to make it sound better. Give it up for the band... Goodnight."
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