Opening Summary: “All We Know,” the 2016 hit by the American duo The Chainsmokers with vocals from singer-songwriter Phoebe Ryan, is not a straightforward love song. It is a “breakup ballad disguised as a love song.” The track, from their Collage EP, captures the painful, bittersweet limbo of a relationship that is actively “falling apart” but that both people are too afraid to leave. It is a song about co-dependence, where the familiar, comfortable pain of a failing relationship is the only “feeling” the couple knows.
1. The Great Misconception: A Ride-or-Die Anthem
On the surface, “All We Know” has the soaring, euphoric chorus of a classic “ride or die” anthem. The melody is upbeat, and the central promise—”I’ll go everywhere you go / From Chicago to the coast”—sounds like the ultimate declaration of loyalty. It is easy to hear this song as a story of two lovers against the world.
However, this bright chorus is a deliberate misdirection. The verses tell a much darker and more realistic story. The song’s true meaning lies in the tension between the joyful, defiant sound of the chorus and the bleak, painful lyrics of the verses. The Chainsmokers themselves confirmed this, stating the song is about “the hardships of relationships but never giving up on your ride or die.” It is a song about loyalty, but it is a loyalty born from a fear of the unknown.
2. Verse 1: “Fighting Flames With Fire”
The song opens with an immediate and powerful image of a relationship in crisis. The vocals, a duet between Andrew Taggart and Phoebe Ryan, establish that this is a shared, mutual feeling. They are “fighting flames with fire,” a perfect metaphor for a couple trying to solve their problems using the same toxic behaviors that created them. Every argument is an escalation, and every attempt to fix things only makes the fire bigger.
They “hang onto burning wires,” an image of self-destruction. They know they are holding onto something that is actively hurting them, but they cannot let go. This leads them to a state of emotional numbness: “We don’t care anymore.”
The next lines are a clinical, sad diagnosis of their love. “Are we fading lovers? / We keep wasting colors.” This is a beautiful metaphor. Their relationship, once vibrant and colorful, is now fading to gray. Every day they stay together, they are “wasting” the potential for a new, colorful life, either together or apart.
The verse ends with the logical conclusion that both of them know is true: “Maybe we should let this go.” This single line reframes the entire song. It is not a story of “how much we’re in love,” but a story of “why we can’t break up.”
3. Verse 2: “One Bed, Different Covers”
The second verse moves from the abstract “fire” to a cold, domestic reality. It paints a heartbreaking picture of the moment a relationship dies, even when the people are still in it. “Never face each other” is a literal description. They are in the same space but are emotionally and physically turned away from one another.
The line “One bed, different covers” is a powerful and universally understood image of this disconnect. They share a life (the “bed”) but are emotionally separated, wrapped up in their own “different covers.” They are together, but completely alone.
The verse then explains why they are disconnected. They are “Two hearts still beating / On with different rhythms.” They are still two living, feeling people, but they are no longer in sync. They want different things, they are on different paths, and their hearts no longer beat as one.
Just like in the first verse, they arrive at the same, sad conclusion: “Maybe we should let this go.” The repetition confirms that this is not a new thought. It is a constant, looping conversation they have with themselves and each other, a debate they can never win.
4. The Pre-Chorus: The Paradox of the “End”
If the verses are the “problem,” the pre-chorus is the “paradox.” It is the song’s entire thesis, explaining why they do not “let this go,” even though they know they should.
“We’re falling apart, still we hold together.” This is the central conflict. They can feel the relationship disintegrating, but their grip on each other only tightens.
“We’ve passed the end, so we chase forever.” This is the song’s most brilliant and tragic line. They both know, logically, that the relationship is over. The “end” has already happened. But instead of accepting it, this knowledge makes them panic. They “chase forever” because they know it’s impossible. It is a desperate, futile sprint away from the finish line they have already crossed.
And then, the song provides the reason: “‘Cause this is all we know / This feeling’s all we know.” This is the answer. It is not love that is keeping them together. It is familiarity. This dysfunctional, “falling apart” feeling, this sad comfort, this “fighting flames with fire,” is the only life they know. The idea of a new life, a new feeling, or being alone, is far more terrifying than the pain they are used to. They are addicted to their own sadness.
5. The Chorus: The Fantasy of the “Ride”
After the dark, confessional pre-chorus, the bright, airy chorus crashes in. This shift is intentional. The chorus is not reality; it is their escape from reality. It is the fantasy they tell themselves to justify staying together.
“I’ll ride my bike up to the road / Down the streets right through the city / I’ll go everywhere you go / From Chicago to the coast.” This is the “ride or die” promise. It is grand, romantic, and cinematic. It evokes a feeling of youthful, rebellious freedom.
The next lines reveal the “drug” that fuels this fantasy: “You tell me, ‘Hit this and let’s go / Blow the smoke right through the window’.” This is a literal and metaphorical escape. They are getting high, numbing the pain from the verses, and creating a temporary, smoke-filled bubble where their problems cannot reach them.
In this moment of escape, they can justify their relationship. They can ignore the “burning wires” and the “different covers” and focus on this one, simple feeling of loyalty. The chorus ends by repeating the pre-chorus’s sad conclusion, but this time it sounds triumphant: “‘Cause this is all we know.”
In the verses, “this is all we know” is a prison. In the chorus, it is a flag. They have successfully transformed their co-dependent trap into a rebellious, romantic mission.
6. The Sound: The “Sequel to Closer”
Musically, “All We Know” was released just after The Chainsmokers’ monster hit “Closer” and was seen by many critics as a “sequel.” Both songs share a similar tempo, a male/female duet structure, and a deep-seated theme of nostalgia.
But where “Closer” is about the bittersweet temptation of revisiting a past love, “All We Know” is about the tragic inability to leave a present one.
The production perfectly captures this “happy-sad” feeling. The guitars are bright and wistful. The snap-track beat is light and propulsive. The melody of the chorus soars. It is a song that sounds like hope, even as the lyrics describe hopelessness. This is the sound of the fantasy. It is the sound of the couple “blowing smoke right through the window,” trying to convince themselves that the ride is all that matters, even if they are driving off a cliff.
7. The Final Meaning: A Love Song for a Doomed Relationship
“All We Know” is a masterpiece of pop songwriting because it is so emotionally complex. It is a sad song that you can shout-sing in your car. It perfectly captures the cognitive dissonance of being in a relationship that you know is wrong, but that you are not strong enough to leave.
It is a love song, but it is not a song about love. It is a song about addiction—an addiction to a person, to a feeling, and to a shared history. The couple is not “holding on” to each other out of strength; they are “hanging on” out of weakness, because this broken, burning, and familiar world is the only one they know.