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[Chorus:Repeat x2]
Shout
Shout
Let it all out
These are the things I can do without
Come on
I'm talking to you
Come on
In violent times
You shouldn't have to sell your soul
In black and white
They really really ought to know
Those one track minds
That took you for a working boy
Kiss them goodbye
You shouldn't have to jump for joy
You shouldn't have to shout for joy
[Chorus]
They gave you life
And in return you gave them hell
As cold as ice
I hope we live to tell the tale
I hope we live to tell the tale
[Chorus:Repeat x2]
And when you've taken down your guard
If I could change your mind
I'd really love to break your heart
I'd really love to break your heart
[Chorus]
Shout
Shout
Let it all out
These are the things I can do without
Come on
I'm talking to you
Come on
In violent times
You shouldn't have to sell your soul
In black and white
They really really ought to know
Those one track minds
That took you for a working boy
Kiss them goodbye
You shouldn't have to jump for joy
You shouldn't have to shout for joy
[Chorus]
They gave you life
And in return you gave them hell
As cold as ice
I hope we live to tell the tale
I hope we live to tell the tale
[Chorus:Repeat x2]
And when you've taken down your guard
If I could change your mind
I'd really love to break your heart
I'd really love to break your heart
[Chorus]
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I actually love this song and stand by my interpretation. Not the temper tantrum bit, that was just me being silly, but the general idea yeah.
IMO - i think this song is a 'shout' to the world to Stand up and do something....Fight for what you believe in...In an ideal world, people would come together in a non violent way with this kind of Passion in their souls.
"Shout, shout, let it all out
These are the things I can do without
Come on, I'm talking to you, come on"
Basically saying that the wrongs 'you' do i don't want to be apart of....So i won't, who's with me. Rallying the people into action.
"In violent times
You shouldn't have to sell your soul
In black and white
They really, really ought to know
Those one track minds
That took you for a working boy
Kiss them goodbye
You shouldn't have to jump for joy"
Basically saying how we change as people in violent times...We hate cause we're told to....cause we think it's the right and necessary thing to do....A decent man/woman picks a gun up and is able to kill someone in the name of their government/country all because the Government/Country orders it....
We become just another blank face in War...Bitter...selfish....hateful, and willing to do anything..Also saying how '2 wrongs don't make a right'....why should i be pleased with your decisions and actions when i clearly know you only see in black & white...No room for anything else.
"They gave you life
And in return you gave them hell
As cold as ice
I hope we live to tell the tale
I hope we live to tell the tale"
This seems to mean that 'we' should fight back...In what context i don't really know..."As cold as ice" feels like emotionless...empty....Maybe it means 'screw you I'm gonna do what i want...You've ruled me for far too long...No more'
"And when you've taken down your guard
If I could change your mind
I'd really love to break your heart
I'd really love to break your heart"
This screams 'Hate' to me...You hate 'THE MAN'...and when 'THE MAN' is defenseless, still you'll show No mercy cause they didn't and won't......But maybe it means that you'd love 'THE MAN' to wake up and feel Shame for what they've done...You want to see that...It's a consolation for all the S**t.
Yeah..so i think it's an political/anti government/anti corruption song!!
They (his wives) gave you life (i.e. his daughters)
And in return you gave them hell (and took their royal heads)
As cold as ice (he was not the most sensitive of proper gentlemen in his day)
I hope we live to tell the tale (hey, defame him if powerless to kick his fat ass)
I hope we live to tell the tale (agan, he earned a good badmouthing)
songs power never lets up and never looses speed. I think it had an anthem-like quality for my generation, at d
least where I grew up (San Diego.
A lot of people think that 'Shout' is just another song about primal scream theory, continuing the themes of the first album. It is actually more concerned with political protest. It came out in 1984 when a lot of people were still worried about the aftermath of The Cold War and it was basically an encouragement to protest.
—Roland Orzabal
It concerns protest inasmuch as it encourages people not to do things without actually questioning them. People act without thinking because that's just the way things go in society. So it's a general song, about the way the public accepts any old grief which is thrown at them.
—Curt Smith
"If i could change your mind
i'd really love to break your heart"
that part--i think--means that the person hurting him--he cared for them before, but now they just hurt him and they hate him and the feeling's perfectly mutual. so he'd like to change their mind, have them love him again, so that he could break their heart like they did to him.
"these are things i could do without"
that part is so beautiful, i don't really understadn it, but i think he's saying, all the things he'll lose the in the process of "shouting", saying what he thinks, speaking his mind, are all things he can do without; after all, if someone was really important to him, they'd love him enough not to turn their back on him.
"in violent times
you shouldn't have to sell your soul"
maybe an abusive parent?
viloent times, but he shouldn't have to be someone he's not because of it.
"in black.... ought to know"
in simple terms, they should know how you feel, or at least try to understand.
"those one...working boy"
thoose simple minded people who think gay kids all become rent boys, cuz 'society' won't accept them or something.
"kiss them goodbye"
you shouldn't have to put up with that crap.
"they gave...to tell the tale"
i think this is from parents' point of view, or at least quoteing it, like they're always saying, "I GAVE BIRHT TO YOU" and like, "YOU OWE ME EVERYTHING" sort of arguement. ad in return they're gving them hell, making them decide what to do with you.
that's my take.
"they gave you life".. promise of eternal life. "and in return you gave them hell"
maybe i'm just reading into it that way bc of my realizations of late that religion is b.s. I still believe in God tho. but i think they are speaking against the mind control that is religion.
The source? I dont know, but the ending lyrics say a lot:
And when you've taken down your guard
If I could change your mind
I'd really love to break your heart
I'd really love to break your heart