This song is very beautiful and could be interpreted in many different ways. I personally believe this song is about a girl having sex to relieve the pain of her tough life, but only to regret that later. LONG POST AHEAD

‘Going out tonight
Changing into something red
Her mother doesn’t like that kind of dress
Everything she’s never had, she’s showing off.’

The daughter grew up in a rough childhood and didn’t have much. But now she finally has the chance to show off the things she has never had before. The mother doesn’t seem to like the red dress as it signifies her daughter growing up.

‘Driving too fast
Moon is breaking through her hair
She said it was something she won’t forget
Having no regrets is all she really wants.’

The daughter decides to drive to a place (probably a party or bar, etc) to try to escape her tragedy and have fun. She doesn’t want to forget the fun she had, but to forget her rough life. She’s traveling to a place that she believes will relieve her of her struggles; to a place where she believes she won’t have any regrets.

‘We’re only getting older baby
And I’ve been thinking about you lately
Does it ever drive you crazy?
Just how fast the night changes.’

In the first part of this verse, the singer is telling the daughter to not waste any time, as they are only going to get older. I don’t think he is just talking about a relationship, but life in general. To enjoy life and party and go crazy, because you are only going to get older. He’s telling her to not waste her life on her tragic past. The second part of the verse, the singer is asking the girl if she notices how fast the night changes. I believe the “night” the singer is singing, is actually life, and he’s asking if she notices how quickly life can change, and how drastically it can change. He’s talking about how the daughter can have fun during the night, but once the sun comes up, your whole life could change.

‘Everything you’ve ever dreamed of
Disappearing when you wake up
But there’s nothing to be afraid of
Even when the night changes
It will never change me and you’

This only furthers my theory. The girl can have the time of her life at night, have everything she’s ever wanted, and be everything she’s always wanted to be, but the moment that sun comes up, when she wakes up in the morning, her whole life could change, sometimes to even more pain and regrets. But the singer is telling her, that there is nothing to be scared of, that even if she has a tough life, even if she has regrets, she can still be happy. The singer is trying to convince that life doesn’t revolve around her regrets, that she should move forward, with her regrets. But the girl still doesn’t listen. She continues to try to have NO regrets.

‘Chasing it tonight
Doubts are running around her head
He’s waiting
Hides behind a cigarette
Heart is beating loud and she doesn’t want it to stop’

This is where it gets tricky. This verse could certainly mean that the girl is planning on losing her virginity as a way to escape the pain. She doesn’t want her heartbeat to stop, because if it did, she would feel the pain. Another explanation is that a boy and a girl are running away, in search of a place where they could be happy, with no pain or regrets. What exactly “it” is, is really tricky. It could be sex or freedom, or even happiness.

‘Moving too fast
Moon is lighting up her skin
She’s falling, doesn’t even know it yet
Having no regret is all that she really wants’

This only backs up the theory about her having sex to forget the pain. The girl and and her “fling” are moving too fast, or having sex too fast. The daughter is falling because she’s relying on sex to provide her relief from the pain, which could come back to bite her later. But she doesn’t know it yet because all she cares about is having NO regrets, so she thinks sex with help her achieve that.

*The chorus plays again*

‘Going out tonight
Changing into something red
Her mother doesn’t like that kind of dress
Reminds her of the missing piece of innocence she’s lost.’

This verse takes places after the daughter has sex with the boy. She is going out to party again wearing the same red dress. And her mother doesn’t like that red dress because now it signifies the innocence, or virginity she lost in a desperate attempt at happiness.

Overall, I believe this song is about a troubled girl, who has sex to relieve her of her struggles, only to later regret her decision. And then grow from that regret and decide for herself to be happy, regardless of the pain she has. The singer tries warning her about how fast her life could change, and he turns out to be correct, as the girl chooses to live on and stop worrying about her pain. The girl decides to find happiness in herself.

Edit: The chorus is really important, so I’m going to do ONE more analysis of the chorus. The theory may vary a bit, I apologize.

‘We are only getting older baby’

Aligning with my theory, the singer is saying that we don’t have time to focus and worry about the pain and regrets we have. We don’t live forever, we are only going to get older, and what’s the point if we just waste our life away thinking about our pain?

‘And I’ve been thinking about it lately
Does it very drive you crazy
Just how fast the night changes?’

The singer is asking the girl if she notices how fast a life can change. Even with the littlest things. I theorize that the singer can sense the girl’s pain, and knows that people do stupid things because of pain. He’s saying it in a warning tone, telling her to be careful, because her life could change in an instant.

‘Everything you’ve ever dreamed of
Disappearing when you wake up’

During her fling with the boy, the girl dreams and hopes that her pain will disappear. That she can finally be happy. But when she wakes up in morning after their fling, she finds that nothing has changed. She still has the pain, and more regrets. Everything she’s ever dreamed of was to have no regrets, but that hope disappeared when she woke up.

‘But there’s nothing to be afraid of’

The singer is telling the girl to not worry about her regrets. To move on and forward. The singer is telling the girl that she shouldn’t be afraid of having regrets.

‘Even when the night changes’
It will never change me or you.’

Even when life changes, (in this case, the girl’s life changes after her fling with the boy, when she realizes she can create her own happiness) for the better or worse, it will not define us as people. And even when we do change as people, our value doesn’t.
(For the you and me part: I don’t believe they are singing about the singer and the girl in a relationship, but them as individuals.)

Edit 2: Last one, I promise!

1. Girl is going out to a party, bar, etc. to try to escape the pain and is VERY dedicated to making sure she has NO regrets.
2. Mother doesn’t approve
3. Singer (who I believe is a person at the party or bar) tells her that she shouldn’t be afraid of having regrets; to move on, even with her regrets. Saying that life isn’t long enough to worry about your pain and regrets, but instead move on.
3. Girl doesn’t listen and decides to have sex to try and find happiness
4. Girl wakes up next morning with more regrets and pain
5. Girl decides to stop chasing happiness, and instead create it.
6. Girl decides to go out again, it reminds her mother of the mistake she made, and the innocence (virginity she lost)