“Payphone” is about wanting to get back together with your ex but knowing that you have to go home.
A Space Between Spaces
Maroon 5 took a slightly different choice in form for this song. Instead of kicking off with a verse, “Payphone” opens right up with the chorus:
“I’m at a payphone, tryin’ to call home / All of my change I spent on you / Where have the times gone? Baby, it’s all wrong / Where are the plans we made for two?”
The literal interpretation of these lines can’t be overlooked: that he is stuck somewhere after the end of a relationship and has to go back home.
While some may be too young to remember what a payphone is, what the payphone means in this song is likely less literal and more symbolic. The payhone is meant to represent a transient space that’s neither here nor there. This creates a sense of longing for somewhere else which, when mixed with a confined space like a phone booth, makes one feel anything but free.
The lyrics are characterized by discomfort as the narrator recounts all the time he spent reconfiguring his lifestyle to fit into the relationship he was in. Now, he has to find a way to return to square one in his attempt to get back to the life he was once used to.
Spare Change
Maroon 5 artfully deploys the double meaning of “change”: It’s not just the coins you use to pay for a phone call. Change may also refer to alterations in one’s life. But the singer here has nothing more left to give, having been pushed to his limits, and so he won’t change anymore.
He looks back on happy memories and wonders how it all came to this, finding himself reflecting on things they meant to do but never did. Then in the first verse, the lyrics go deeper:
“Yeah, I, I know it’s hard to remember / The people we used to be / It’s even harder to picture / That you’re not here next to me / You say it’s too late to make it / But is it too late to try? / And in our time that you wasted / All of our bridges burned down”
The narrator feels miles away and worlds apart from the person he once loved. They feel like completely different people now, and yet he still can’t believe that she’s gone. She doesn’t think it would work if they tried to rekindle their old flame, but he is hopeful. At the same time, he feels that she squandered their time apart, and any connection they once had has deteriorated beyond repair.
Bitter Feelings
In the pre-chorus, we hear:
“I’ve wasted my nights / You turned out the lights / Now I’m paralyzed /
Still stuck in that time / When we called it “Love” / But even the sun / Sets in paradise”
The idea of a sunset in paradise is a play on the fact of life that all things must pass. In retrospect, he considers the nights he spent with her a waste. When she ended things, the light left the room, and he feels like he can’t move on, being mentally still stuck in that place.
Then, in the post-chorus:
“If happy-ever-afters did exist / I would still be holdin’ you like this / And all these fairytales are full of shit / One more fuckin’ love song, I’ll be sick / Yeah, now, I’m at a payphone”
By this point, the narrator is fully jaded as he renounces fairy tales and love songs. He seems to place his current situation at the payphone in direct contrast to these happy endings.
When rapper Wiz Khalifa breaks in on the third verse, the lyrics focus on his financial success as he revels in his good life. Three lines in a row carry a notable series of basketball analogies:
“Don’t need my name on my shirt, you can tell that I’m ballin’ / Swish, what a shame, coulda got picked / Had a really good game, but you missed your last shot”
Lyrics
I’m at a payphone, trying to call home
All of my change I spent on you
Where have the times gone? Baby, it’s all wrong
Where are the plans we made for two?
Yeah, I, I know it’s hard to remember
The people we used to be
It’s even harder to picture
That you’re not here next to me
You say it’s too late to make it
But is it too late to try?
And in our time that you wasted
All of our bridges burned down
I’ve wasted my nights
You turned out the lights
Now, I’m paralyzed
Still stuck in that time
When we called it love
But even the sun sets in paradise
I’m at a payphone, trying to call home
All of my change I spent on you
Where have the times gone? Baby, it’s all wrong
Where are the plans we made for two?
If “Happy Ever After” did exist
I would still be holding you like this
All those fairy tales are full of shit
One more fucking love song, I’ll be sick (oh)
You turned your back on tomorrow
‘Cause you forgot yesterday
I gave you my love to borrow
But you just gave it away
You can’t expect me to be fine
I don’t expect you to care
I know I’ve said it before
But all of our bridges burned down
I’ve wasted my nights
You turned out the lights
Now, I’m paralyzed
Still stuck in that time
When we called it love
But even the sun sets in paradise
I’m at a payphone, trying to call home
All of my change I spent on you (oh, oh)
Where have the times gone? Baby, it’s all wrong
Where are the plans we made for two? (Yeah)
If “Happy Ever After” did exist
I would still be holding you like this
And all those fairy tales are full of shit
One more fucking love song, I’ll be sick (uh)
Now, I’m at a payphone
Man, fuck that shit
I’ll be out spending all this money while you sitting ’round
Wondering why it wasn’t you who came up from nothing
Made it from the bottom, now, when you see me, I’m stunning
And all of my cars start with a push of a button
Telling me had chances I blew up or whatever you call it
Switch the number to my phone, so you never could call it
Don’t need my name on my show, you can tell that I’m balling
Swish, what a shame could have got picked
Had a really good game, but you missed your last shot
So you talk about who you see at the top
Or what you could’ve saw, but sad to say, it’s over for
Phantom pulled up, valet open doors
Wished I’d go away, got what you was looking for
Now, it’s me who they want, so you can go
And take that little piece of shit with you
I’m at a payphone, trying to call home
All of my change I spent on you (woo)
Where have the times gone? Baby, it’s all wrong
Where are the plans we made for two? (Yeah, yeah)
If “Happy Ever After” did exist (oh, yeah)
I would still be holding you like this
All these fairy tales are full of shit
Yeah, one more fucking love song, I’ll be sick (yeah)
Now, I’m at a payphone
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Cameron Jibril Thomaz / Jason Martin / Mcnair Branden
Payphone lyrics © Warner-tamerlane Publishing Corp., Universal Music – Careers, Bmg Gold Songs, Matza Ball Music, Bmg Ruby Songs, Sudgee Music, Robopop Musik, Ear Entertainment, Wiz Khalifa Publishing, Problem Makin Publishing, Mike And Keys
