Oleander - Where Were You Then? - Lyrics Meaning

Oleander is a band from the state of California. The name is from the flower oleander (and is very toxic to most species). The band consists of Thomas Flowers, Doug Eldridge, Ric Ivanisevich, Steve Brown and Rich Mouser. The most notable album was their (2001) hit, Unwind - released March 6th. 'Where Were You Then?' was a big time hit. The song came from the band's earliest album.

'Where Were You Then?' and its lyrics are about karma. Let's go over a few lines to pick up on the karma-related situation. "Sooner or later everyone. Catches up to the things they've done. Sooner or later everyone. Get down as we kick it. - Sooner or later things you do. They hurt only me, hey." The overall statement though on what the song is trying to convey is 'what you say will eventually come back to you and kick you in the butt'.

There is a relationship in the lyrics that where a person doesn't want to get hurt. The lead singer Thomas Flowers wanted people to understand what it means to hurt someone and eventually you'd know what their hurt was. Flowers believes in karma and wanted everyone to understand what it might feel like to hurt for someone else.