What does the song "ghost of a good thing" by dashboard confessional mean?

Question

what does the song "ghost of a good thing" by dashboard confessional mean?

it is a nice song but i think there is something in it that i cant see juet yet..

thanks!

Answer 1

I think its sort of about following everyone else.

Like, your following something good, but your missing out on something better in the process.

And how you you try to make yourself fit in, but your just supposed to be in a different place where you can be yourself and not have to worry about fitting in.

Answer 2

yo fellow LGBT peer, it's nice to know I'm not the only LGBT that likes Dashboard!

It's about a person that is chasing another in a broken relationship, what used to be good (ghost of good thing) but it's 'getting nowhere' because the other is reluctant.

[I guess it’s luck, but it’s the same

Hard luck, you’ve been trying to tame

Maybe it’s love, but it’s like you said

“Love is like a role that we play.”]

The person is attempting to rebuild the relationship (hard luck you've been trying to tame). 'Love is like a role that WE play', not one person.

[But, you’re chasin’ the ghost of a good thing

Haunting yourself as the real thing

It’s getting away from you again

While you’re chasin’ ghosts]

The person is getting nowhere and it's haunting themself because they cannot have the relationship they want; it's slowly escaping from their grasp.

[Just bend the pieces ‘till they fit

Like they were made for it

But, they weren’t meant for this

No, they weren’t meant for this]

This is my favourite bit in the whole song!

It is displaying that you cannot force someone into a relationship because 'they weren't meant for this'. People can make their own decisions, society is often trying to force people to be who they are not.

Hope it helped!