Barenaked Ladies - Old Apartment Lyrics Meaning

Literally, this song is about a man and his wife breaking into an apartment where they used to live.

More deeply, it's about the feelings of nostalgia of past points of your life. For this couple, it represents the early part of their relationship, primarily when they were still on shaky grounds (Broken glass, broke and hungry, broken hearts). While the conditions of the run-down apartment were once perceived as miserable and unbearable, they are now quaint memories that are being appreciated as some of the highlights of their life.

The couple decides to break into the apartment instead of asking for an invitation because they want to see and experience the apartment as if it was truly theirs, and not just guests in someone else's home. When they get there though, they see that the apartment is no longer theirs. The memory of their home is now just that: a memory. They see the apartment no longer belongs to them, but to the new owner who has made the apartment his own (why did you paint the walls? Why did you clean the floor? Why did you plaster over the hole I punched in the door?) Salt is further rubbed into the wound by seeing familiarities (why did you keep the dishrack?) that are no longer theirs.

The couple realizes that this is a part of their life that has ended, and are happy that they have moved on to better things (I know we don't live here anymore, we bought an old house on the Danforth), but simply wish for just one more day of their old life.

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