The Meeting
Place
Alex Turner and Miles
Kane wrote the song “The Meeting Place” from the
perspective of a person looking back on a
relationship with a feeling of nostalgia after a
difficult breakup. For one reason or another, they
two were separated from each other. He tries to move
on with his life by attempting to explore different
directions of the world. He forces his mind to think
about anything but her because he does not want to
create new wounds when he has just finished
re-bandaging the old ones. The speaker says that the
further the year progresses, the further away from
him she becomes. He is beginning to have regrets
about all of the time that they had spent together.
No matter what he tries, he cannot seem to get her
out of his mind. She seeps into his thoughts during
every moment both night and day. He keeps returning
in his mind to the place where they spent so much
time together, which has become both a place of
beauty and a place of anguish for him. He can’t
sleep at night because he fears she will show up in
his dreams to drag him back into his torment. They
were in a relationship for only a couple of weeks,
and they knew that it would have to end sooner or
later. In the end, the girl was the one to break off
the relationship, and the guy was left heartbroken
because he still had strong feelings left for her.
Perhaps the girl ended up passing (which would help
to better explain the line about how time is harsh
and knowing that it would have to end). This would
also help to better explain the meaning behind “The
Time Has Come Again”. He dreams that she comes to
him and tells him that she is sorry that they ever
got together because she sees what it has done to
him and how it has changed him. He also dreams that
she tells him she is sorry she had to leave. He is
sorry for the same reasons; he is sorry that they
ever got together because he does not like how this
relationship has taken over every single moment of
his life. But he is also sorry that she ever left
because he does still have such strong emotions for
her. He is torn between these two feelings. As a
result, he becomes extremely obsessive, continuously
going back and forth between those two mind-sets.
The song begins with higher-pitched sounds from the
orchestra, followed by notes from a brass instrument
and chords from a guitar. The orchestra and guitar
follows throughout the song. While the music alone
could be described as fairly animated, the song’s
lyrics give the melody a more bitter-sweet feel.
“The Meeting Place” concludes with a string of
harmony from the orchestra, creating the upsetting
feeling that a love has recently been lost forever.
