The meaning of the lyrics of the song "Sunset" by the artist "xx, The"

In the text "Sunset" by author xx, a melancholic experience of separation and estrangement between two once close people is depicted. The lyrical hero, addressing a former lover, conveys their pain and incomprehension of what happened.

Upon meeting again, they act like strangers, as if there was nothing between them. The hero feels that something has irrevocably changed: "It was like the sun went out in your eyes and would never return." They wonder: "What have you done with the one I love?", thereby expressing their confusion and pain from the indifference of their former lover.

The hero reminisces about their past, emphasizing the contrast between how it was before and how it is now: "We act like strangers to each other / After all that we had. / We act as if we had never met." The public pretense, pretending that they do not know each other, causes suffering to the hero. They confess that the feelings are still alive, and it is hard to see their former lover.

The hero is ashamed of this forced game, because they used to think they knew each other for real. Now, however, they feel insignificant to their former lover.

In the final lines, the hero tries to accept reality and prepare for a future without expectations and hopes. They realize that the next time they meet, everything will be formal and detached: "You'll nod to me like a friend." This is a bitter realization that the relationship is over, and they have no choice but to come to terms with it.