Cigarettes After Sex - Anna Karenina Lyrics (2025) | Song Meaning

Anna Karenina Lyrics


[Spoken Word]
I never told you where I was going
I never told you what I was doing
I never told you any of my secrets, really
I never told you who I was out with sometimes
I never told you who came by
I never told you
Walking in the suicide dreams
You knew that I was all yours
You got me now, I'm, I'm all yours
But I got you and you won't get free
You'll never get free
There's no place left for you to go

[Chorus]
I cried at the end of Anna Karenina
When she threw herself undеr the train
I cried at the еnd of Anna Karenina
When she threw herself under the train

[Spoken Word]
Laughing as you take your shirt off
And you take your skirt off
And you jump
Into the swimming pool
I feel the world is on fire
As you come in on top of me
And the lights are off
Inside the house
It was a deep and painful love I felt for you
It was a deep and painful love that I felt for you
And I'll never get free
I'll never be free

[Chorus]
I cried at the end of Anna Karenina
When she threw herself under the train
I cried at the end of Anna Karenina
When she threw herself under the train

[Instrumental Outro]
________________ End _______________

Anna Karenina Song Meaning (Cigarettes After Sex)

The new single by "Cigarettes After Sex" titled "Anna Karenina" is a hushed, haunting confession that drapes its emotional core around the tragic arc of the titular character from Anna Karenina, even though the song is not a literal retelling of the novel. Released on October 21, 2025, via Partisan Records, the track finds Greg Gonzalez revisiting the signature dream-pop atmosphere of the band while adding a new spoken-word dimension to its lyrical landscape.

Opening Interpretation

The song begins with softly spoken lines—“I never told you where I was going… who I was out with sometimes”—immediately setting the premise of unshared secrets, hidden selves, and the weight of what remains unsaid. In the dream-pop lull between these murmured confessions and the chorus, this narrative tension builds. When the chorus arrives—“I cried at the end of Anna Karenina / When she threw herself under the train”—it evokes the collision of romantic ideal and fatal disillusionment. The novel’s tragic conclusion here functions as metaphor: emotional self-destruction, the abandonment of escape, and the finality of shame or regret.

Background and Inspiration

Greg Gonzalez’s inspiration for the song remains somewhat private, with no direct interview revealing a specific personal story behind these lyrics. However, the band’s official description calls the track sensual, slow-burning, and emotionally oversized, with lyrics so confessional they verge on too much. This suggests that Gonzalez projects his own internal terrain—regret, intimacy, longing, and emotional surrender—onto a larger literary backdrop. The introduction of spoken-word verses marks new creative ground for Cigarettes After Sex, expanding their minimalist instrumentation and hushed vocal approach.

Emotional Imagery

The interplay of imagery is rich throughout the track: the dancer undressing, jumping into a pool, the world on fire, the lights off in the house. These snapshots craft a vivid midnight portrait of reckless abandon and emotional consequence. The repeated lines “you won’t get free” and “there’s no place left for you to go” echo the sense of emotional entrapment and inevitability. In this sense, the song becomes less about Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina and more about the self-sabotage of love bound in secrecy and obsession. It questions what remains when love consumes identity and truth.

Meaning and Representation

For listeners, Anna Karenina captures the essence of Cigarettes After Sex’s melancholic romanticism—raw desire, whispered admissions, and quiet devastation. In referencing Tolstoy’s doomed heroine, the song acknowledges the universal myth of the lover who gives too much, hides too much, and ultimately loses themselves in the process.

Conclusion

"Anna Karenina" stands as an elegy to the vanished self in love, to the secrets we carry that erode freedom, and to the quiet collapse of love unspoken. While no explicit personal connection from Greg Gonzalez has been confirmed, the song continues his long tradition of turning intimacy and heartbreak into something timeless, cinematic, and deeply human.
__________ __________ ___________

Cigarettes After Sex latest song

  1. The Crystal Ship
  2. Anna Karenina
FAQ Section
Who sung the song "Anna Karenina" by Cigarettes After Sex?
The song "Anna Karenina" was sung by Cigarettes After Sex.
Who wrote the song "Anna Karenina" by Cigarettes After Sex?
Greg Gonzalez.
Who produced the song "Anna Karenina" by Cigarettes After Sex?
Greg Gonzalez.

Music Video


Song Details

Album: Anna Karenina
Genre: Rock, Pop
Language: English
Released: October 21, 2025