An under rated favourite

Can't say what came over me
I wasn't what i used to be
Hadn't seen how i lost control
And i always thought that i was strong

But one night, one situation,
One sign, one devastation

I could have said no to the walk
Listened instead of just talked
And i dreamed that i had screamed
I could have run, down the stairs to the sun

It's not what you did to me,
It's the fact that i didn't fight you back
And it seems i had lost my voice
The one that always made the right choice

'Cause two nights, two situations,
Two signs, two devastations

I could have said no to the walk
Listened instead of just talked
And i dreamed that i had screamed
I could have run, down the stairs to the sun

But now the cup is no longer cold
As the rain trickles down i feel a bold
And time is calling me to set myself free
Concession is the key and knowing what you don't see

I could have said no to the walk
Listened instead of just talked
And i dreamed that i had screamed
I could have run, down the stairs to the sun...


Written by Katie Melua
Published by Melua Music
From the single 'The Closest Thing To Crazy'

That song is a masterpiece!

Another great song with lyrical depth and emotion wasted as a B-side. I like SOAG better, but this is still very underrated. Simply great!!!

Also one of my favourite. One of that typical brilliant Katie B-Side, only she can do.

On the OTRA DVD also one of the highlights.

I remember, that I heart once, that the lyrics could also be about raping

A wonderful acoustic song It is a pity that it only was a B-side and Katie also even sang it anyomore

A nice song, of course. But it´s not one of my favourite Katie-songs.

Sorry, but those lyrics are the most incomprehensible and least appealing of all her songs... I cannot give any sense to it, already the image of going "downstairs to the sun" is nebulous to me and I cannot make any emotional contact with it. And the rest is not more comprehensible for me.

Understandable. Dreams are bizarre and don't make much sense in reality.

Not to take this topic off-topic: About confusing phrases, some German idioms such as, jemandem die Suppe versalzen and Wo drückt der Schuh? literally translated into English can be confusing to English speakers.

From the first time I saw the OTRA-Dvd, I'm totally in love with this song.... And its guitar accompaniment A nice little acoustic song she should perform more often!

I do like this and it's getting better each time I hear it like so many of Katie's songs. I sometimes wonder whether I like the b-sides better than the a-sides! Must check my rankings.

Is it bizarre?
down the stairs to the sun -> from the dark flat, down the stairs to the sunny street...
Although, the title of the song is a little weird in itself.


But not to Hungarian speakers.

One of her best songs. My favorite non-album track. It's number 5 on my list of favorite songs

I hope she'll sing that song live some day again...

What a magic in this song... I succeeded in forgeting it what a shame... you made me remind that I haven't listenned enough to Katie... I 'll leave a comment about the song after listenning to it for hours... thanks... sounds like a song that will be one of my favourite...

Who says the song has anything to do with a dream? Never heard that before.


Idioms can never be literally translated, no matter if they are German, or English or whatever. Do you speak German?


OK, might be... But she sings about "one night, one situation..." etc., and there is no sun at night. That's why everything does not seem to make sense to me, she sings about nights but the sun plays a prominent role at the same time.

It's in the preceding line...

And i dreamed that i had screamed
I could have run, down the stairs to the sun

Well, for me that does not imply that the whole song is about a dream.

I think some people are being a bit literal about the lyrics. It's a song about rape. Upstairs is a dark and terrible place. Downstairs represents safety and light. She's annoyed at herself for having misread a situation and not put herself in the safer place.

Well, that it's about a rape I also read somewhere, but it's quite a vague interpretation. It could be, but it could be about a lot of things...

"Right this moment I am sitting at home enjoying the boiling weather. Actually I'm not enjoying it at all - its been wayyyyy too hot. No sleep, no fast movements as my brain and everybody's around me gets boiled. No wonder, then, that I've been writing really weird and depressing songs. (murders, suicides. rapes, - note: none of these weird songs will be appearing on the first album as it would probably spook the audience)"
/Katie's Blog, 15.08.2003./

Blame It On The Weather

Well spotted Patreides! I remember reading that now.

Well, but who says that "Downstairs to the sun" is among the songs she mentions here?
That's not what I meant, I read somewhere that in some interview she had been asked if it's about rape and her answer was something like "You can interpret it that way", which makes clear, that it is just one possible interpretation. The lyrics are too unclear to allow for a well-grounded interpretation, if you want, you could see anything in it. In principle, there is nothing wrong about making people think about it, but the overall situation should still be clear and unambiguous, which is not the case here. That's why I don't like the lyrics.

I don't agree that lyrics should always be clear, it is good to be able to interpret songs the way you want. With songs where the lyrics are obviously meant to be interpreted one specific way, you aren't able to make the same connections to the song as you may be able to do with lyrics which are a bit less clear.

Couldn't agree more. In my opinion, these connections are definitely part of the music magic, and part of the magic of art in general. I like to have one possible interpretation in an article, not in the lyrics of a song.

Of course it's nice if there are parts in it which are not obvious and you have to think about them. But the text as a whole should still be understandable and not cause confusion after reading it. That's my opinion at least.

As well as the blog post, a couple of years ago a Melualand member who got to meet Katie after a gig asked her if DTTS was about rape, and she confirmed it.