First off let me say you look so tired
Rest your head and shut your eyes
Empty ambition blankets the sky
I'm thinking 'bout another world tonight
So drop the gown the game's over
Just push your face into the fight
And it breaks my heart like dancing up all night
Ride so high we both start thinking
'Bout another world tonight
And it feels so wrong
Like nothing we've ever felt before
The stranger's candy takes you where
You ought to be
In broken alleys
In the back of every street
Close your eyes tonight, baby
You can have it, ooh baby
Gnaw me down to the bone
Soon you'll find I'm never
Gonna take you back home
Well there's so much you never told me
And there's not much I want to know
Cause your pretty face will do just fine
You'll be the star of my every last show
Let's go for a long ride
I'll show you places you won't ever want to leave The stranger's candy takes you where
You ought to be
In broken alleys
In the back of every street
Tonight we could bring it all down
We could bring it all down
They think this body's a dead note
Dancing to the beat but they'll never see
This corpse coming 'til it kills them


Lyrics submitted by Dominick, edited by johnsinger

Setting Fire to Sleeping Giants Lyrics as written by Greg Puciato Benjamin Allen Weinman

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

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Setting Fire To Sleeping Giants song meanings
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34 Comments

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  • +5
    My Interpretation

    The song is about drug abuse and prostitution. In many foreign countries women are given heroin from who they think are a friend. They then get hooked on the junk and have to visit their pusher over and over for their fix. Often times they are forced into prostitution to support the habit. Heroin addiction is one of the most serious forms of addiction and is nearly impossible with out hospital intervention. In these third world countries hospitals are anything but free, and only the well-to-do get the opportunity to go into a treatment center. Setting fire to sleeping giants means to do something you know dawn well that you should not do. An educated person knows that they had better not hang out or do heroin, but often they do anyhow due to peer pressure and other factors.

    "I'm think bout another world tonight." Could mean the narrator of the song is high himself.

    "and it breaks my heart like dancing up all night ride so high we both start thinking 'bout another world tonight and it feels so wrong like nothing we've ever felt before " Could represent the remorse and wonderment the narrator and the woman both feel for trying the drug out, and possibly the man feeling bad about turning another person into a slave to a chemical.
    "Strangers candy" The old advice adults give children about candy from strangers stems from fears in the early 60's that candy could be laced with drugs; specifically with LDS.

    "let's go for a long ride" Obviously another drug reference. Possibly the act of kidnapping as well. "I'll show you places you won't ever want to leave." The chains of addiction.

    "they think this body's a dead note dancing to the beat but they'll never see this corpse coming 'till it kills them" People making the mistake of underestimating the addictive qualities of narcotics. Most people that start drug habits do it thinking they can stop at any time they want.

    @burningmelon Your loss. I do not mind that a band is able to make more money then before by releasing a single. They are able to reach a broader audience by not sounding as caustic as they used to. The mathcore is still there, irregular tempos and swift time signature changes aplenty.

    artcrimeon December 16, 2009   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    typical emoboy interpretation:

    "I think it's about a bad relationship"

    No, but seriously, I see the rape. But I also see that he might commit suicide after he rapes her. Ex:

    "'cause your pretty face will do just fine you'll be the star of my very last show"

    He also makes a reference to himself being the walking dead:

    "dancing to the beat but they'll never see this corpse coming 'till it kills them"

    Just something I wanted to point out since nobody that I saw picked up on it.

    Furious Angelon October 29, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    whatever it's about music videos don't mean anything

    they're just what the director makes them into

    if you really take videos as song meanings, then I guess this song is about a guy picking a girl up in a bar and being creapy in a car while a band is playing music

    Jake Featherstonon October 16, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    oh my god, this is the catchiest song i have heard all year, and i never thought i would bestow that title upon a song written by THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN. well, miss machine still kicks ass, and a lot of it.

    MizunoPunkon September 22, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    This song seems to be about the singer getting a girl to have sex with him.

    Dominickon September 23, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    this song is fucking awesome, what you guys said makes sense, but there could be another meaning...

    donniedarko28on October 22, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    After seeing the video for this I doubt it is about child rape. Probably rape, but not child rape.

    dead2selfon January 02, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Its about rape alright, that besides it one hell of a song. The catchiness adds to that fact, the live performance of it is even better.

    Molon_ukon January 05, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    yeah it does make sense but i dont really think its about it mainly because of the line "Baby you can have it" umm i dont know but that does not sound like raping someone that sounds like the girl (or whatever) is willing.. i do NOT really know, thats just my opinion..

    andrew_makeyourselfon June 30, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    yeah it does make sense but i dont really think its about it mainly because of the line "Baby you can have it" umm i dont know but that does not sound like raping someone that sounds like the girl (or whatever) is willing.. i do NOT really know, thats just my opinion..

    andrew_makeyourselfon June 30, 2005   Link

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