Guitar Hero

okay so my best friend is actually alex palmer, who is amanda's brother, and so i have gone to concerts, met her before, and yeah. so i asked mr. palmer one time what this song meant. Amanda wrote this song because she was on tour with Panic! at the disco, and after their concerts, they would go back and chill and play guitar hero, which she thought was really weird because they are actual rockstars, and guitar hero is a game where you're pretending to be a guitar hero. she just found it very ironic so she wrote a song about it. i hope this helps you guys!

To me this song seems like it's about video games and how people become so obsessed with them. And take veerything tehy see in it literally. Like they see someone in a video game kill somebody so they think it's ok as well. "how are you going to turn this thing off this isn't at all like the ones back at home" ^ they find a real gun and do the same thin, except with real people.

"it's a hit but are you actually sure the targets in the crowd are a blur the people screaming just like they should but you don't even know if you're good"

Another example of that. They take an actual gun and start shooting their school up or something. All the people are screaming, maybe that's how it was in the video game as well. And you don't even know if your good means there's no point system or anything because this is actually real life.

"you shut your eyes and flip the cassette and that's about the time that they hit"

Maybe he was listening to music while doing it, maybe even the music from the video game.

And in all aspects of their life, the video games control them. I took the "You my guitar hero" as being they're way of telling a friend or gf that they love them. They don't know any other way to express themselves becasue they've become so wrapped up in their technology.

In the actual song... the last line sounds like "And I could save you baby but there's a million more in line." But, that's just how it sounds to me. I'm pretty sure the lyrics on this page are a little bit wrong

And if that^ is actually the line then... I think it means there's no point in trying to stop anybody becasue the next generation is just going to do the same thing.

I think this could definitely be about war (in general, although there seems to be a reference to Iraq here). There are a couple of double-meanings here.

The Guitar Hero motif plays on the notion of being a "hero": in the game and in real life (or being a hero of your country at war). It seems the player wanted to go to war ("you wanted to make it and now that you're in") which could also lend itself to trying to get into the top rankings of the game.

The part that makes me think "Iraq" is the seemingly random inclusion of "nigga!" One of the more prevalent derogatory slurs for Iraqis or people of Middle Eastern descent is "sand nigger." This makes me think that the close proximity of the two words used in the song is no random occurrence.

Unfortunately, the player at war finds out that REAL war in no way compares to war games at home, where they can use cheat codes and at least have some sort of control over their settings. He realizes this and asks how he can turn it off, what the fuck is up with this shit, etc. He's scared for his life, but the narrator assures him he's not going to die--even at the cost of his hands and most of his head. Roadside bombs, anyone?

The dilemma is that if he saves one person, he's a hero. He can't save everyone like in video games, though: there's a million more in line that need to be saved.

The "X marks the box" is an obvious hint at an X-Box, but also implies a landmine ("that goes off at a breath") and even further implicates that playing video games and thereby coming up with this controlled idea of war dug a grave for the player in which he must lie now that he's experienced the real thing.

Additionally, you can pause and reset a game but it's not so simple with war.

It sounds just like a school shooting. It's too emotional to be about a video game addict. It's talking through his eyes, justifying his actions, and talking about how he could better channel his energy through art so "that way no one gets hurt."

okay so my best friend is actually alex palmer, who is amanda's brother, and so i have gone to concerts, met her before, and yeah. so i asked mr. palmer one time what this song meant. Amanda wrote this song because she was on tour with Panic! at the disco, and after their concerts, they would go back and chill and play guitar hero, which she thought was really weird because they are actual rockstars, and guitar hero is a game where you're pretending to be a guitar hero. she just found it very ironic so she wrote a song about it. i hope this helps you guys!

Guitar Hero is just one of two songs Amanda Palmer wrote about the Columbine Shootings, (or maybe some other school shooting) Guitar Hero and Strength Through Music are about the same thing, (hear me out!) the first and more obvious song (to me at least) is strength Through Music, the facts are right here songfacts.com/detail.php "she explained: "When Columbine happened I was really affected." Secondly, both music videos have the same, white school background, and Amanda wearing black, and tall boots(both videos had to have been shot in the same day). The end of Strength Through music video is the beginning scene in Guitar Hero (seriously, there's a connection) I could go into the detail of the lyrics but I don’t think anybody would read it. Let me know what you think

I've always thought that this song was about a game addict (specifically Guitar Hero). When the time comes and he's become a famous rockstar he can't fake it anymore, he can't turn it off, it's the real thing. And at the end of the song he loses his mind hence the "His hands are gone and most of his head."

In a sense, it sort of relates to Britney Spears. Way back when she was all the talk on every corner. She used to dream, sing in her bathroom, blah blah blah. Then one day she becomes famous, but everyone finds out she's lipsyncing (OH NO!), and her life just starts spiralling downward from there. Everyone loved her, and just when she was getting so good (fooling everyone into loving her MORE) she loses it. You know, with all the Dr. Phil stuff about her being a schizo.

Although many people say it's about the war in Iraq, Amanda has given clues about it being about war. Not specifically in Iraq, but war fo sho (on the box).

i sort of agree with MrsO426. I can see that.

She said it was inspired by people she toured with who would play guitar on stage all night and then go play guitar hero. And how she thought that was just so magical.

This song could also be about, like zoolah said, the musicians going out on stage every night and playing guitar then coming back and playing MORE guitar.

"how are you going to turn this thing off this isn't at all like the ones back at home"

I also have a feeling that have to drive has a connection with this song... and with Strength though music.