I think I know the answer
I stumbled on and all the world fell down
And all the sky went silent
Cracked like glass and slowly
Tumbled to the ground
They all say if you look hard
You'll find your way back home
Born without a friend
And bound to die alone

I'm thinking of your highness
And crying long upon the loss
I've found
And on the plus and minus
zero chance of ever
Turning this around

Why doesn't anyone believe
In loneliness
Stand up and everyone will see
Your holiness

They say if you look hard
You'll find your way back home
Born without a friend
And bound to die alone


Lyrics submitted by jt

Zero Chance Lyrics as written by Shepherd Cornell

Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing, Hipgnosis Songs Group

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Zero Chance song meanings
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30 Comments

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  • +9
    General Comment

    This song gives me goosebumps. Know that feeling when you're just not present? I like to listen to it in the train or bus. It's that kind of song I listen to when I feel alone. The funny thing is, that I'm not really alone. Even though there are many people around me I feel just alone. Cornell knows how to write authentic songs. But well, it's not only him. Soundgarden as a band is the thing I should talk about. They are just awesome and I can't anything add to it. The only thing I can do is to be grateful. Grateful for such meaningful and beautiful songs.

    lost_oneon May 22, 2008   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    It's funny, I came to know and like this song at a time in my childhood when I used to play Doom a lot. It seem to blend well with the feeling of despair in the game, that you (as a character) know that there's nothing waiting for you besides pain and death. Zero chance of making out of it alive. I've always imagined a video for this song featuring scenes from the game.

    In the real world though, it takes similar meaning for me - It talks about the futile race for sane, happy, healthy life in this corrupt world full of violence and apathy. At that time of my life, I looked around me and all I could see was narrow minded, violent, selfish people. So what's the point of growing up in such a world...

    loneSolderon March 27, 2013   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    I really love this song. I thimk is the most beutiful and powerfull songs about loneliness of the history of the rock.So sad..

    oresteson April 29, 2003   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    This is one of the saddest songs. And I can connect to it.

    mmbson February 20, 2005   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    This is one of the saddest songs. And I can connect to it.

    mmbson February 20, 2005   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    very depressing song, but often the great ones are. it has a very... ok, anyone heard of the composer eric whitacre? Maybe I'm crazy, but the songwriting is very whitacre-esque. it's very beautiful, mainly because it has this kind of struggle-release feel to it that comes from the suspensions that fill the chorus, pre-verse and bridge.

    AllMyRivalson February 15, 2008   Link
  • +1
    My Interpretation

    For me, this song serves as a cautionary tale for how the majority of society contends with the emotional and mental suffering of other individuals. Especially in western culture, we are taught to “pull ourselves up by our bootstraps”, or “look hard [and] find our way back home” as the lyrics state. This insinuates that there is a one-size-fits-all remedy to any type of suffering - to just try harder ourselves - and that we are expected to find & have all of answers ourselves. However, that token piece of advice often does little to return a person from despair. The ineffective nature of that advice is shown in this line: “born without a friend, and bound to die alone”. ‘Zero Chance’ does a remarkable job of conveying despair & isolation. When examined, it shows us the importance of sincerity when checking up on our friends. Check up on someone you love today, not to fulfill the status quo, but from the most sincere place in your heart. We all know what it is like to suffer, so let us do what we can to help someone find their way home once again.

    EternalTearsOfSorrowon August 24, 2022   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    This song is so ace, it's soo depressing - in a good way! I listen to this song and I feel like, The world is a mess, I am a mess, the end is nigh and that OK by me! So peacefull, yet it has a hidden dynamism that surges through it like deep currents of a river. acetox.

    Oh Peaon July 02, 2003   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Favorite lyric: "Why doesn't anyone believe In loneliness/Stand up and everyone will see Your holiness"

    mmbson February 20, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Favorite lyric: "Why doesn't anyone believe In loneliness/Stand up and everyone will see Your holiness"

    mmbson February 20, 2005   Link

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