has the realisation/doubt that maybe it was all in their head, but they still yearn for how they felt at that time and dont want to accept that it couldve all just been in their imagination/perception. The relationship comes to an end, the person starts a new relationship and. its about recognizing that most of the time its how we look at things that determine how we feel about them.Īt the time of the relationship, the way the other person was,how they looked, all that made them attractive and how special the relationship was,was only in the perception of the person, inflated with their imagination and desire to feel love and give love. Its about how people idealize someone they love then look back later and have difficulty reconciling how they felt then to now. Means that Walker's older self has, indeed, faded and he has to find a way to get along as he is now. Which means he is indeed starting to let go and accept that his older self was shallow, but not completely, for he starts calling out to his old self again in the pre-chourus. "these shallow waters were never what I needed
In the chorus, the reference to Atlantis means Walker's other self was pretty much as mythical as the lost city, yet he keeps trying to find it. Walker, in the very first line "you were the shadow to my light," is talking about how who he was was always keeping him from being who he was meant to be yet he keeps trying to him. He is apparently looking for his lost self, hence the iconic line "Where are you now?" Walker is talking about having been someone different than who he is now, and the song being as nostalgic as it is, probably misses who he was. Though most people interpreted it as a song about a lost love, I would say it is about self discovery.