Your silver skin
That crawls in rhythm, sweats like spring
Returns me to the deathwish

And all my epiphonies
That branded me and broke my knees
Confirms me into the deathwish

Misfits for free
A gravity pure expression tears and
Pulls them into the deathwish.

And all our accessories
That concentrate the pain and tease
Embrace them, with the deathwish

Are we pretending?
Are we pretending?
Are we pretending?
I like pretending

Are we machines
Obsolete, alone
With symbiotic self indulgence
And if we dig deep
The circuitry burnt out, bends
Into neurotic repetition.

But your silver skin soothes my aching curses
and reminds me
That you're worth it.

The whole world's insanities
The bleeding hearts and tragedies
Won't distract me from the deathwish

Are we pretending?
Are we pretending?
Are we pretending?
I like pretending

Are we pretending?
Are we pretending?
Are we pretending?
'cos I like pretending



Lyrics submitted by plasticwonder

Track duration: 05:16


I Like Pretending song meanings
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15 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:It very well may be glaringly obvious but no one has pointed it out yet so I shall. When Chris says "are we pretending?" he is asking his lover if she is a "misfit" like himself and if she is knows the truth about human isolation. He is also asking her, if she does know the truth and is a "misfit", if they can keep on pretending to not know of their isolation. He doesn't want to know that and wishes it weren't true. He wants to pretend so he can be happy. Also, his lover is singing the chorus with him (and at the end by herself), showing that she is asking the same questions of him as he is her.
    Flag RedRabbiton October 25, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I agree with snowy bear,liebegr, and the alternative. However, what I believe is conceivable if you combine all of their interpretations and add a few things.

    I agree completely with liebegr. His/her interpretation is the basis of my revisions of the others' interpretations.

    I do not think that Chris is talking about religion or faith as the alternative has theorised, although the comment about religion in itself being a "neurotic repetition" was spot-on. We are broken machines that are forever alone but refuse to accept this fact, as liebegr has suggested. If we look closely we can observe how we delude ourselves into believing otherwise. We are broken and therefore rely on others for our gratification. If we were to look within ourselves we would realise this and see our constant surrounding ourselves with others to make us feel good and to make us forget that we will die alone.

    I consider snowy bear's interpretation and extension of liebegr's in that a few are able to realise their isolation because of their "pure expression".

    "The deathwish" is obviously death, but I would like to suggest the possibility that Chris is saying that if one were to express themselves purely, and therefore realise their isolation, they would soon desire death as escape. I would also like to bring focus to "The whole world's insanities The bleeding hearts and tragedies". I believe that Chris is saying that a desire to help others alleviate their pain(and therefore symbiotically alleviating our own), something most people have, could not stop one from wishing for death.
    Flag RedRabbiton October 24, 2011   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:I think its about how when you think too much about life, society and general human nature, it depresses you a bit.

    "And all my epiphonies, That branded me and broke my knees, Confirms me into the deathwish"..

    But even though there really is no point to our existence, we can stilll find things to love and hold onto and "pretend" that we have direction..

    "But your silver skin soothes my aching curses and reminds me, That you're worth it."

    I love this song. Chris is a glorious lyricist.
    Flag snowybear123on May 04, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:...wow.. This song is about me and my daily disappearance. I have a permanent condition of inner fight.
    I feel myself a machine, without vivid feelings, only programs. I've burn all circuitries, but the instinct of self-preservation still keeps me pretending an make "old life", I'm still R O B O T.
    I've los my religion and it's nothing to lose, but I'm still embracing accessories. Masochism?

    I Agree with liebegr��e, the alternative,liplocker123 outright
    And want add that,
    I think this song is about struggle of self destruction and self-preservation , basic instincts.
    Flag ListenerSeon January 05, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:this song seems to be the artists way of questioning how sincere ppl are while performing their evryday ritualistic activities. Humans are simple and selfish robots in a way according to this song and chris deeply describes the heartbeat as circuitry burnt out. Its like hes saying no matter how strongly we may want or love something we only want it for our own gratification. I feel the 'deathwish' is the single darkest thing hidden away in our hearts that most of us don't even kno about. Our society has turned us into robots incapable of feeling a raw and pure emotion without a plan b in case we get hurt. chris corner is amazing at describing the complete desperation,sacrifice,and obsession that true love really is . Love is pain and anguish, and yet the one thing that everyone spanning the world, is looking for. Chris is poetic sultry and cleverly seductive with his words, which leave his songs open to such vivid interpretation. I've met my musical match. good day all!
    Flag liplocker123on October 24, 2008   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:I have to agree slightly with you Entwined. This is my interpretation anyway…

    It seems to me (one of Chis' many more melancholy scribblings) to be a comment on inevitability and perpetual nature of solitude and life's one promise of (or Chris' "wish"/craving for) death, shown through his constant reference to his 'death wish'.

    Unlike the average ‘machine’, he sees himself as one of a few ‘misfits’ whose truthful ‘pure expression’ leaves them susceptible to the ‘death wish’ as they see past the shallow and pointless disposition of life. ‘All our accessorise’ and ‘The whole world's insanities/The bleeding hearts and tragedies’ fail to distract him from the reality of the inevitable.

    The key focus, the question ‘Are we pretending?’ relates to the second to last verse where he acknowledges his escape from this feeling through the subject of 'silver skin' who 'reminds me/That you're worth it.' Implying that the key message to his lover is that he ‘like(s) pretending’ with her momentarily and she gives him a fleeting satisfaction with life.
    Flag liebegrüßeon July 24, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Missile, you are obviously not taking time to analyze the song. You are failing to even summarize the song, much less paraphrase it. Please take time to, again, analyze the lyrics, before you type up some random, unclear summary of the compilation above. Sure, you have your opinion. Sue me. Please make them intellegent.
    Flag Entwinedon May 23, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:actually, i've changed my mind.
    he's talking about someone he's in a relationship with, but he thinks they're pretending to love eachother, and he's happy pretending just so he's with her.
    Flag missileon April 21, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i think this song is about how people do what they're told to do by people who are higher up in the food chain than them.
    the "are we pretending?" bit is basically him asking if they're pretending to believe in what they're told, and he'd rather do that then cause hassel.

    probably not, but that's my attempt.
    i love it anyway. :P
    Flag missileon April 21, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:The Alternative has a point. "Neurotic repetition" - Freud said that religion is just the common neurosis of the human race ('pologies, philosophy nerd =/) And the word "obsolete" suggests he thinks religion is an old idea. And the deathwish could be the fascination religious people have with heaven and hell, like their whole lives are lived purely so they don't go to the latter.
    Flag alltomorrowspartieson April 13, 2008   Link

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