Skylar Grey – Words lyrics

This song is about someone who was too busy to talk to a loved one (I interpret it to be a parent) and suddenly, that loved one is gone. She had so many things she wanted to say, but she didn't even get the chance to say goodbye.

She goes from saying, "...you can't hear me anymore," to, "So I talk to the shadows, hoping you might be listening."
She's so desperate to tell this person so many things she never said, that a part of her hopes that somehow her loved one CAN hear her.

"I drown in my regrets" is expressing deep sorrow in not talking to this person when she had the chance. She's overwhelmed by everything left unsaid between them, from everyday things like, "show me how to make Grandmother's cobbler," to the BIG stuff: "I love you."

"It's so loud inside my head, with words I never said." She's so upset about losing the chance to tell, and hear back from, the person she's singing to, she can't stop thinking about it. It's like the expression, "the silence was deafening." All the things she wishes she'd said to to loved one when they were still alive, are engulfing her so, they drown out all her other thoughts.

"I can't take back the words I never said." When we say or do something, we can't get back the words or actions - they're out there. She's using that, 'it's out there & can't be undone' analogy with things she DIDN'T say; she can't undo that, like you can't un-ring a bell.

The next part is out of order, but my last paragraph really is a summation of the meaning of the song.

"I haven't been all that you could've hoped for, but if you'd held on a little longer, you'd have had more reasons to be proud."
She feels like she was a disappointment to her loved one while they were alive. Since the person's death, she has succeeded at things that would've made him/her proud, if s/he could see her now.

"Always talking shit, took your advice and did the opposite... so many questions..." This song is not simply telling us just how much she wishes she'd talked - and listened - to this person while they were alive. It's a message to people who have folks they love, but think there's all the time in the world to say and ask things. How many times have you said (or heard), "We'll talk about it later." This song is telling us there may not BE a later.