Quarter Past Midnight

‘Quarter Past Midnight’ is about trying to capture that moment of a night out,” frontman Dan Smith says in a press release. “Some people are gonna go home; for some this is just the beginning. It became about being in someone's car, driving through the city. I wanted to try and capture that sense of excitement, and that rush.” “It’s way easier to escape in the night time,” Smith adds. “Places that aren’t normally open are open to the world, and the places that you associate with reality and work are all shut down. There’s a parallel universe that exists, and this other set of people who are out and about.”

[Verse 1] It's a quarter past midnight As we cut through the city Yeah, yeah, yeah, the streets are getting restless Good times, bad decisions Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's a quarter past midnight And the sirens are mending some hearts But we're the losers on the back seats Singing "Love Will Tear Us Apart" [Pre-Chorus] It's a quarter past midnight Still avoiding tomorrow It's a quarter past midnight But we're just getting going [Chorus] We keep on running Running through a red light Like we're trying to burn the night away Away-way, oh, away-way, oh [Post-Chorus] This is my favourite part, oh Help me piece it all together, darling Before it falls apart, oh Help me piece it all together [Verse 2] It's a quarter past midnight And the speakers are blowing Yeah, yeah, we want the bodies on the billboards Not the lives underneath them Yeah, yeah, yeah, and now we're crawling up the walls again And it's a quarter past twelve And you said we'd leave this place in dust And fall from heaven straight through hell We never know what we have We never knew what we had [Chorus] We keep on running Running through a red light Like we're trying to burn the night away Away-way, oh, away-way, oh Why are we always chasing after something Like we're trying to throw our lives away? Away-way, oh, away-way, oh [Post-Chorus] This is my favourite part, oh Help me piece it all together, darling Before it falls apart, oh Help me piece it all together [Bridge] (I can't remember, I can't remember I can't remember, I can't remember) It's a quarter past midnight And the secrets are flowing Our lips are getting looser I don't know what I'm saying We never knew what we had I never know what I've had [Chorus] We keep on running Running through a red light Like we're trying to burn the night away Away-way, oh, away-way, oh Why are we always chasing after something Like we're trying to throw our lives away? Away-way, oh, away-way, oh [Post-Chorus] This is my favourite part so Help me piece it all together, darling Before it falls apart Help me piece it all together