All At Once by The Fray

Album: How To Save A Life (2005)

License This Song

artistfacts

Songfacts®:

In "All At Once," The Fray frontman Isaac Slade has a revelation, realizing the girl right in front of him is the right one for him. He likens this moment of clarity to being on stage when the crowd starts singing all at once.

At the time, Slade was seeing his girlfriend Anna, whom he married in 2006, a year after the song was released on the band's debut album, How To Save A Life.
"All At Once" was the fourth single from the How To Save A Life album. The band built a following in their home state of Colorado before signing with Epic Records in 2004 and releasing the album in 2005. The band had to do lots of touring press to get their name out, so the first single, "Over My Head (Cable Car)" didn't take off until the summer of 2006. That was followed by "How To Save A Life," which got a bump when it was used in the TV series Grey's Anatomy. Both of those songs are really intense; the third single, "Look After You," is a lighter love song, as is "All At Once." Those two songs weren't released as singles until 2007.
The song was written by lead singer Isaac Slade and guitarist Joe King (the primary songwriters in the band) along with Aaron Johnson, who was also a producer on the track.

Comments: 4

Jessica from Gaithersburg, Mdi have a bf and ive just veen thinking about these two other guys that made a an impression one me. i dont have feelings for these guys but i keep comparing my bf to the charateristics these other guys have that i wish HE had...so this song is perfect for this situation..."Perfection will not come..."
Fariha from Dhaka, BangladeshI agree with most of what Eric wrote.

Maybe you want it, maybe you need it
Maybe it's all you're running from
Perfection will not come

I think this part refers to the fact that if we keep comparing one person to another-in this case, maybe the gf/bf to someone other person we find interesting-we won't ever be happy. We'll always look for 'better' but perfection will not come because no one is perfect.
Eric from Barcelona, Spainhere is what i think of the song..i have a girlfriend but im in love with a colleague who i cant be with. I met her and had the oppurtunity to take her out for a few weeks but now she's gone. So here lyrics and my perception to "all at once" :
There are certain people you just keep coming back to,She is right in front of you.. there are some people you just fall for the moment you see them because they're just so damn elegant looking with a pretty face.
You begin to wonder could you find a better one
Compared to her now she's in question.. You start comparing this beautiful person you just met with the person you have now.

And all at once the crowd begins to sing.. The universe conspires for both of you.
Sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing are the same.. It can go both ways either you stop this foolish "fling" and stop straying from your girlfriend OR you break things off with your GF and take the risk whit your colleague.

Maybe you want her maybe you need her
Maybe you started to compare to someone not there... take it as it is, your heads messed up because your in love with two persons.

Looking for the right one you line up the world to find
Where no questions cross your mind... Even when you have someone already you still are looking for someone better?? or you just never get contended.
But she won't keep on waiting for you without a doubt
Much longer for you to sort it out..... This girl you just met wont do anything or wont ask for your love because she knows you have a gf! your an idiot(well i am!)

And all at once the crowd begins to sing
Sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing are the same

Maybe you want her maybe you need her
Maybe you started to compare to someone not there
Maybe you want it maybe you need it,
Maybe it's all you're running from,
Perfection will not come

And all at once the crowd begins to sing
Sometimes
We'd never know what's wrong without the pain.. without the feeling of pain we never feel what it is we really want. like when something is gone or about to be gone thats when opur feeling arise.
Sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing are the same

Maybe you want her maybe you need her
Maybe you've started to compare to someone not there
Maybe you want it maybe you need it
Maybe it's all you're running from
Perfection will not come..i think this means that you will never be happy

Maybe you want her maybe you need her
Maybe you had her maybe you lost her to another
To another..damn it, its going to die down soon! :(
Hannah from Fargo, NdLove this song! It doesn't get much credit, but it's my fave fray song!

see more comments

More Songfacts:

MMMbopHanson

"MMMbop" by Hanson was so ubiquitous in 1997 that when the band appeared on SNL, they took part in a skit where Helen Hunt and Will Ferrell seek retribution by trapping them in an elevator and playing the song until they crack. "Now, you will suffer like we did," Hunt tells them.

Won't Get Fooled AgainThe Who

"Won't Get Fooled Again" by The Who is about a revolution, but it doesn't have a happy ending, since in the end the new regime becomes just like the old one. Pete Townshend thought that whoever was in power was destined to become corrupt.

Road To NowhereTalking Heads

David Byrne says "Road To Nowhere" is about "how there's no order and no plan and no scheme to life and death and it doesn't mean anything, but it's all right.

Candy GirlNew Edition

In the UK, the first #1 hit with a rap was "Candy Girl" by the American boy band New Edition in 1983.

Come Out And PlayThe Offspring

The line, "Gotta keep 'em separated" in "Come Out And Play" by The Offspring came to lead singer Dexter Holland when he was a medical student and needed to keep bacteria samples away from each other.

My WayFrank Sinatra

According to Frank Sinatra's daughter, he hated "My Way," but had to sing it at every show when it became his signature song.