☝️ Key Points
- The song 'Closing Time' by Semisonic is about the closing of a bar and the end of a night on a surface level.
- The line 'You don't have to go home but you can't stay here' is a typical request indicating that guests should leave the bar.
- The chorus 'I know who I want to take me home' could be a romantic allusion where the singer expresses who they want to leave the bar with and go home.
- Singer Dan Wilson explained that the song also touches on birth and fatherhood, with 'Closing Time' symbolizing birth and leaving the womb.
- The verse 'every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end' represents the idea that every ending also represents a new beginning, applicable to both the end of a night at the bar and the birth of a child.
Interpretation
The lyrics of 'Closing Time' by
Semisonic seemingly revolve around the last round of a bar, when it's time to go home. The bartender says, 'You don't have to go home but you can't stay here', which means that you don't have to go home, but you can't remain here. It's a typical invitation to get the guests to leave.
The chorus 'I know who I want to take me home' could have a romantic connotation, expressing that the singer knows who they want to leave the bar with and go home.
But there is also a deeper meaning in this song. Singer Dan Wilson has explained that the song is actually about birth and fatherhood. 'Closing time' is, in this context, the birth, the moment when the baby has to leave the womb and venture out into the world. 'You don't have to go home but you can't stay here' is an indication that the baby has to leave the womb. And 'I know who I want to take me home' is an expression of Wilson's excitement and readiness to become a father.
Furthermore, the line 'every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end' addresses the general idea that every ending also represents a new beginning, applicable to both the end of a night at the bar and the birth of a child.