Lyrics for Bad Habit as interpreted by okokayok

Bad Habit Lyrics
biting keeps your words at bay
tending to the sores that stay
happiness is just a gash away
when i open a familiar scar
pain goes shooting like a star
comfort hasn't failed to follow so far...

and you might say it's self-indulgent
you might say its self-destructive
but, you see, it's more productive
than if i were to be healthy

& pens and penknives take the blame
crane my neck & scratch my name
but the ugly marks
are worth the momentary gain...
when i jab a sharpened object in
choirs of angels seem to sing
hymns of hate in memorandum

and you might say it's self-indulgent
and you might say it's self-destructive
but, you see, it's more productive
than if i were to be happy

and sappy songs about sex and cheating
bland accounts of two lovers meeting
make me want to give mankind a beating

and you might say it's self-destructive
but, you see, i'd kick the bucket
sixty times before i'd kick the habit

and as the skin rips off i cherish the revolting thought
that even if i quit
there's not a chance in hell i'd stop
and anyone can see the signs
mittens in the summertime
thank you for your pity, you are too kind

and you might say its self-inflicted
but you see that's contradictive
why on earth would anyone practice self destruction?

and pain opinions are sitcom feeding
they dont know that their minds are teething
makes me want to give mankind a beating

i'm tried bandages and sinking
i've tried gloves and even thinking
i've tried vaseline
i've tried everything
and no-one cares if your back is bleeding
they're concerned with their hair receding
looking back it was all maltreating
every thought that occurred misleading

makes me want to give myself a beating....

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lieutenantmammal
05-13-2004

Rated 0 
WHY DOESN'T ANYONE KNOW ABOUT THE DRESDEN DOLLS!!!

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lieutenantmammal
05-13-2004

Rated 0 
WHY DOESN'T ANYONE KNOW ABOUT THE DRESDEN DOLLS!!! This is the first song I heard by them by absolute luck, because they won a battle of the bands hosted by WBCN. The song was insane I never heard anything like them before and so I had to find out who they were. Anyways I love this if you haven't heard it, by the way the vocalist is a girl, it's different but great.

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anna118k
06-17-2004

Rated +1 
one of the best off of their self titled album

the best line of this song is where so goes "I've tried vaseliiiiiiiine." i love how amanda just belts it out.

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TheDownwardSpiral
10-02-2004

Rated 0 
Why ask why? They are not a huge band. I hope they get bigger though, because I would like to hear new stuff from them. I found out about this band from Mindless Self Indulgence's concerts. They were a band that played with them.

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1 Reply
smashing_me
12-02-2004

Rated 0 
I love this song because my 2 best friends have this 'bad habit' and it lets me understand why and that its not selfish and all that...
I agree dresden dolls are fantastic i found out about them on JJJ with coin operated boy but ive found so many more better songs

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rustytheskatemaker
12-05-2004

Rated 0 
The song reminds me of sex, even if the author (and it's obvious in the music) says it's about self harm. My favorite part:
"and anyone can see the signs
mittens in the summertime
thank you for your pity, you are too kind"

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anatomy
12-22-2004

Rated 0 
and sappy songs about sex and cheating
bland accounts of two lovers meeting
make me want to give mankind a beating

i love those lines.

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gravity_is_not
12-23-2004

Rated +2 
"WHY DOESN'T ANYONE KNOW ABOUT THE DRESDEN DOLLS!!! "
because mainstream music fans are fucking morons.

and the song is about self-mutilation, obviously.

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nat_stewart182
01-05-2005

Rated 0 
i don't have much to say but i heard an interview they had on jjj when they came to aus and they said this song isn't directly talking about slitting their wrists or suicide. instead the lyrics are still broad so many interpretations can be made depending on the listener. but also my memory sucks so i could've got that completely wrong...oh well...

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monstergirl
01-29-2005

Rated -1 
I really think it's about the stupidity of self-destructive people.

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americanmusic
02-15-2005

Rated 0 
"Pain opinions are sitcom feeding,
They don't know that their minds are teething..."

If I ever happen to be in a deserted island, alone, listening to this song, I'd scream those words at the top of my lungs. It's even hard to hold the urge in when this song is stuck in my head during school.

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errky39
02-17-2005

Rated 0 
I sing it at school. And think "FUCK YOU!" to the people looking at me weird.

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thisrainwontlast
02-20-2005

Rated 0 
don't just sing it at school. bring in the music and make your enitre chours class sing it. now that's fun.

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SoakedinMercury
04-10-2005

Rated 0 
My favorite Dresden Dolls song. And of course its not directly about slitting one's wrists or attempting suicide, its a broad, general account of self-mutilation.

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theriteofspring
04-14-2005

Rated 0 
Everything in the world is causing woe to our chanson-bird. Oh woe is Amanda Palmer!

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throaty_silver
04-16-2005

Rated 0 
the name pretty much descrides the while song. but to be more specific "cutting"

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throaty_silver
04-16-2005

Rated 0 
the name pretty much descrides the while song. but to be more specific "cutting"

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throaty_silver
04-16-2005

Rated 0 
the name pretty much descrides the while song. but to be more specific "cutting"

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SideshowJill
04-16-2005

Rated 0 
When I saw them in Seattle, Amanda said "we werent going to play this but..." Im not sure if she meant just in Seattle (what with the strokes of woe and dispair that many seem to paint us with) or on the tour as a whole.
At any rate, shes said "its not about what you think" with the obvious assumption being self mutilation.

I have no idea what its really about, but I've often wondered if its about what/how she feels when she's writing. It likely often brings up sadness and anger, something like tearing open old scars.

"and sappy songs about sex and cheating
bland accounts of two lovers meeting"

Maybe she hates that kind of stuff, thinks its old and worthless.

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aFistfulOfTruth
04-30-2005

Rated 0 
Whatever gets you through: Cutting, Heroin, shopping at a mall, video games, sex.

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Madkal
05-04-2005

Rated 0 
best song on the album!!!!!
for me, this song is definitely about cutting. i could go line by line analysis for this song. in fact....
it starts off with an attempt to escape from reality.
"biting keeps your words away..." this stanza shows that the protagonist of the song is using pain to escape reality, and he/she finds comfort in the pain.
the protoganist believes that the self-mutilation is actually helping her. she needs to cut to be able to function.
in the third stanza, she describes the experience of cutting as an euphoric experience. "when i jab a sharpened object in
choirs of angels seem to sing
hymns of hate in memorandum" (also the best line in the song. it becomes a religious routine.
she then begins to complain about the mundane of every day life. "bland accounts of two lovers meeting..." and so on. this re-enforcers her need to escape reality, by doing something outside the norm.
the pain becomes more important then anything to her life. "that even if i quit
there's not a chance in hell i'd stop". she admits that she can quit anytime, but she will keep on coming back to her pain. she has tried to stop, with bandages, vaseline and so on. however, by the end of the song, she realises it was all for nothing. this makes her fall into self-loathing and makes her want to hurt herself more. it becomes a cycle
the song starts off as the protagonist tries to explain to people why she does what she does. but by the end of the song it becomes a plea.
this song reminds my a lot of the smiths (adding to my love to it more) and is just downright brilliant. amandas power to mix poignant lyrics to poppy songs is amazing.

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ultimatesparanza
05-15-2005

Rated 0 
I at first thought it was about cutting, but a recent hate-mail entry on the Dresden Dolls' website prompted Amanda Palmer to elaborate on her intentions with this song:

"You may find it enlightening and amusing to know that this song was actually not inspired by the idea of cutting oneself. I have this terrible habit of picking off the skin around my fingernails...with my teeth, with my nails, and occasionally with a sharp object lying around. I can see how you would interpret the lyrics that way, and I'm glad the song provoked you enough to write to us. There are plenty of people out there, many of
them children, practicing real self harm that may actually find comfort in an artist expressing the anguish that accompanies any sort of self-destructive bad habit, and knowing that I may provide that comfort means that I sleep very well at night, indeed."

Its interesting how so many people assume it is about cutting, and I think that may be part of the song's intentions, to show how our Nation is almost fixated on it. Those who experience it have trouble elaborating their feelings, and those who don't experience it have trouble understanding it. The upbeat music and themes of self-indulgance also hint that part of this song is about those who do cut, or hurt themselves, for attention, and how people who really do use self-mutilation as a form of therapy aren't explicably looking for attention. I know I have trouble sympathizing with classmates who openly discuss their cutting habits, and show off recent cuts for attention. Just some random thoughts.....

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irdevonk
08-16-2005

Rated 0 
well she said it was about biting the skin around her nails. "mittens in the summer time," "vaceline...(for the taste" "as the skin ripps off..." it all fits, its in the hate mail part of the website. er, and i have the same habit, lol

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metalrocker8806
08-16-2005

Rated 0 
wow, biting your nails............now there's a great song, when u can write an awesome ass song like that and make it sound like it could be either self-mutilation or biting your nails....that's fuckin' talent right there!

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vanitywh0re
08-19-2005

Rated 0 
but if its about biting nails, what does the
"and sappy songs about sex and cheating
bland accounts of two lovers meeting
make me want to give mankind a beating"
part have to do with anything?
If it was about cutting, then at least it would be like, things that make her upset, thus, leading to cutting. If she said its about her nails, then of course theres no doubt, i just dont get what that part could mean.... unless they're things that frustrate her, and she does this with her nails when shes frustrated, which would still the self injury, just not cutting.

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