☝️ Key Points
- The song lyrics express regret and longing, focusing on missed opportunities and the thought of how things could have been different.
- The line 'I waited 'til I saw the sun / I don't know why I didn't come' shows Norah's regret for not being brave enough to pursue her love.
- The lines 'When I saw the break of day / I wished that I could fly away / 'stead of kneelin in the sand / Catching teardrops in my hand' illustrate her feeling of desperation and the desire to escape from reality and emotional pain.
- In 'My heart is drenched in wine / But you'll be on my mind / Forever', Norah shows that she is trying to numb her emotional pain while the memory of love is still present.
- Ultimately, in 'Something has to make you run / I don't know why I didn't come / I feel as empty as a drum', she indicates that an unspecified event has driven her apart and leaves her with emptiness and confusion.
Interpretation
The lyrics of 'Don't Know Why' by
Norah Jones are an expression of regret and longing, combined with a sense of loss. The text is not explicit, leaving open the actual situation or the relationship between the singer and the person she sings about. It's a kind of love song, but more of a song about missed opportunities and the question of what could have been.
In the lines 'I waited 'til I saw the sun / I don't know why I didn't come', the singer expresses her regret for not going to the person she loves. She doesn't know why she didn't come and she can't understand why she made such a decision.
In 'When I saw the break of day / I wished that I could fly away / 'stead of kneelin in the sand / Catching teardrops in my hand', she describes her feeling of despair and longing. She wishes she could fly away instead of staying in reality, where she is confronted with her grief and pain.
'My heart is drenched in wine / But you'll be on my mind / Forever' shows that she's trying to numb her pain, but the memory of the person she loves always remains.
'Something has to make you run / I don't know why I didn't come / I feel as empty as a drum' suggests that something happened between them that drove them apart. Nevertheless, she can't understand why she didn't go to the person she loves and she feels empty without them.