OneRepublic - Stop and Stare - Lyrics Meaning

American pop rock band OneRepublic released "Stop and Stare" as the second single from their debut album, "Dreaming Out Loud" in November of 2007. The song reached #12 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart and #9 on their Pop 100 chart. It peaked at #2 on the US Airplay chart.

In the song, the narrator comes to realize that he's languishing in a place of inertia. For all this time he thought he had been moving steadily toward his dreams, but he'd really been at a total standstill.

On their MySpace page, band member Ryan Tedder noted that the song describes the frustration that occurs when you find yourself stuck in a proverbial rut in life - where you're left wondering how you got there, to this place where you'd rather not be, and how it is that you're watching everything you ever wanted in life pass you by?

Stop and stare

I think I'm moving but I go nowhere

Yeah, I know that everyone gets scared

But I've become what I can't be, ohhh

The band added: "The lyrics have shades of melancholy, and there is a definite emotional undercurrent running through them. If you can't tap into emotion, you're just selling catchy tunes."