What does "Circles" by Post Malone mean?

“Circles” Lyrics Meaning

Post Malone’s “Circles” is about someone who realizes that the relationship they’re in is stuck in a constant loop of breaking up and getting back together, because though they want to be together, they can’t sustain a long-term relationship with each other.

“Run away, but we’re running in circles” 

Each time they run from the broken relationship, they end up where they started, in the other’s arms. The narrator of “Circles” knows that they can’t keep doing this to themselves, and begs her to see that their relationship can’t be saved.

Verse 1

We couldn't turn around 'til we were upside down

I'll be the bad guy now, but no, I ain't too proud

I  couldn't be there even when I try

You  don't believe it, we do this every time

They weren’t able to “turn around” their relationship until it had nearly collapsed. The narrator feels that he’s “the bad guy” because he “couldn’t be there” for her even when he tried. She doesn’t believe that he is trying to protect her or that they are caught in a vicious cycle, but he knows it.

Chorus

Seasons change and our love went cold

Feed  the flame 'cause we can't let it go

Run away, but we're running in circles

Run away, run away

I dare you to do something

I'm  waiting on you again, so I don't take the blame

Run away, but we're running in circles

Run away, run away, run away

Their love continues to fall apart, but they “can’t let it go” and they continue to get back together. Every time they run from each other, they find themselves in the same place again, because they are “running in circles. He won’t “take the blame” for it if they can’t make being together work, because he’s “waiting on” her, trying to breathe life into the dying romance.

Verse 2

Let go, I got a feeling that it's time to let go

I said so, I knew that this was doomed from the get-go

You thought that it was special, special

But it was just the sex though, the sex though

And I still hear the echoes 

I got a feeling that it's time to let it go, let it go

In the second verse, the narrator begins to change his mind. He thinks they should admit that “this was doomed from the get-go” and let go so they can both move on. His lover wanted to believe that what they had was “special” but now they realize it was only temporary passion, and there was nothing to sustain their connection. Even if he can still feel the echoes of that passion, it’s not worth clinging to the dying relationship. 

Bridge 

Maybe you don't understand what I'm going through

It's only me, what you got to lose?

Make up your mind, tell me, what are you gonna do?

It's only me, let it go

He demands that she “make up [her] mind” about their relationship, because it hurts him to stay in and fight for a relationship he knows is doomed to die. 

Deeper Meaning of “Circles” by Post Malone

“Circles” by Post Malone is about recognizing a pattern that leads to pain and ending it. Though the song is melancholy, it’s a lesson most people can relate to on some level. We can’t always make things work, and when the time comes it’s okay to let some things become memories as we move past them and into the future.