Lyrics for My Body Is A Cage as interpreted by mad_world87

My Body Is A Cage Lyrics
My body is a cage
That keeps me from dancing with the one I love
But my mind holds the key

My body is a cage
That keeps me from dancing with the one I love
But my mind holds the key

I'm standing on the stage
Of fear and self-doubt
It's a hollow play
But they'll clap anyway

My body is a cage
That keeps me from dancing with the one I love
But my mind holds the key

Standing next to me
My mind holds the key

I'm living in an age
That calls darkness light
Though my language is dead
Still the shapes fill my head

I'm living in an age
Whose name I don't know
Though the fear keeps me moving
Still my heart beats so slow

My body is a cage
That keeps me from dancing with the one I love
But my mind holds the key

Standing next to me
My mind holds the key

My body is a . . .

My body is a cage
We take what we're given
Just because you've forgotten, that don't mean you're forgiven

I'm living in an age
Still turning in the night
But when I get to the doorway
There's no one in sight

I'm living in an age
Realizing I'm dancing
With the one I love
But my mind holds the key

You're still next to me
My mind holds the key
Set my spirit free
Set my spirit free
Set my body free
Set my body free
Woo!
Set my spirit free
Set my body free
Oh, oh
Oh, oh

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sean1058
01-29-2007

Rated 0 
this is one of my favorite songs off of the upcoming album. hes afraid of having a relationship for some reason.

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King of Some Island
01-30-2007

Rated 0 
I think its that he likes a girl and either she doesnt like him and he thinks its his fault or he just thinks that hes not good enough for her.

I love this song so much though I can really relate so much, Neon Bible really is amazing, as good as Funeral and maybe better

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Specialist0438
01-31-2007

Rated 0 
I think it could possibly be about a crippled person ala Christopher Reeves?

Set my spirit free.
Set my body free.

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2 Replies
CaitlinLikeWhoa
02-04-2007

Rated 0 
I agree with Specialist0438, the song could well be about someone in a wheelchair, or possibly a stroke victim?

Think about that, and then listen to the song again, it makes a lot of sense.

Neon Bible is phenomenal, listened to it the whole way through the other day and was reduced to tears. Amazing.

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lutti
02-04-2007

Rated 0 
or not even a crippled person just someone who's embarassed with the body.

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Mechs
02-08-2007

Rated 0 
It sounds like a crippled person but maybe notso literally(Christopher Reeves).
I think this person has crippled himself with the way that he feels about his body,life,etc. he isn't able to do what he wants because of this but he knows that it is all in his mind and he can change. it is so beautiful and powerful. At least that is how I see it because I can kind of relate(who hasn't felt that way at one point in their life)

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J___P
02-10-2007

Rated 0 
i think this song is about knowing there is life after death and feeling like your trapped with what your given here on earth (life and body). but after reading the comment about the crippled person that totally made sense too.

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SyroVision
02-13-2007

Rated 0 
i think its simply about some one who is very un-sure about themselfs, it dosent matter weather his body CAN do what he wants to do, mentaly he cant... it covers all the examples given (physicaly, mentaly, emotinaly crippled)

it is all these songs... a true song of personal tragedy... perfect.

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back_seat
02-20-2007

Rated 0 
this song is so good.

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back_seat
02-20-2007

Rated 0 
Mental setbacks regarding one's body physically or from a viewpoint (openmindedness)...


From a religious viewpoint, this song also makes sense. I really like to take Arcade Fire songs straight from their surface meaning but if you wannnnt to analyze this, the cage could be one's religion.

"Just because you've forgotten, that don't mean you're forgiven."
(In reference to sins). If one frees themself from sin, they would be able to "dance with the one they love" or basically to do things they want to. The only barrier is their own mind.

"I'm living in an age
That calls darkness light"

Religious priorities are so out of wack that people are killing others in God's name (suicide bombers?), etc, etc doing things under a religious pretense that really don't make sense.


Oh and the set my spirit free part. Embrace religion?

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wtfyourface
02-23-2007

Rated 0 
i'm not getting the crippled vibe from this song. i feel that perhaps it's about insecurities, insecure with one's self and their physical display, yet i do agree with back_seat on this, it could easily be interpreted as a religious song.

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TheSurgeonGeneral
02-27-2007

Rated 0 
I get a really vibe from this song. Or at least, thats how I relate to it.

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1 Reply
_ellie
02-27-2007

Rated 0 
it's really bluesy, hymnal.. to me, that refrain is about not being satisfied with this current life.. and then the song develops for a little love of the world.. I have been hearing it all day.

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bildungsromance
02-27-2007

Rated 0 
'Man is born free and everywhere he is in chains' - Jean-Jacques Rousseau

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brian_b
02-27-2007

Rated 0 
Personally, I think this song is about a dead lover he can no longer 'dance' with. His living body is keeping him caged here on earth. If he were only dead they could dance in an afterlife.

Throughout the song he seems rather dispirited and melancholy, though he seems to understand that she will always be with him, in his head or in his heart, hence, his mind holds the key. He doesn’t feel good about it, though.

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brian_b
02-27-2007

Rated +1 
Personally, I think this song is about a dead lover he can no longer 'dance' with. His living body is keeping him caged here on earth. If he were only dead they could dance in an afterlife.

Throughout the song he seems rather dispirited and melancholy, though he seems to understand that she will always be with him, in his head or in his heart, hence, his mind holds the key. He doesn’t feel good about it, though.

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trite and cheap
03-07-2007

Rated 0 
I think this song is about how people can be chained to their conscience...like despite the world being so backwards in the sense that people fight wars and send people to their deaths so easily, almost as if without any scruples, there is still a social awareness of being physical or sexual...like it's something to be ashamed of.
it's as if society considers dancing/getting involved with a stranger you're attracted to is less natural than killing or hurting others.
that's why his mind holds the key to his body, his conscience and all the social niceties in his head are keeping him from letting loose and going with his impulses.

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chris-n
03-08-2007

Rated 0 
This i defenitly about being fed up with a world that's forgotten about spirituality and is all about materialism and the one's in charge telling you it's the only way to live, hence the
"I'm living in an age
That calls darkness light
Though my language is dead
Still the shapes fill my head"
/Love from Sweden

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aliasakdc
03-12-2007

Rated 0 
Listening to the lyrics of other songs on this Glorious new album, I concur that this song is dealing with the sin that still remains in this earthly vessel. I want to do those things that I should but the sin that remains keeps me from doing so. Oh who can set me free, but the love from Him? chris-n is right on about us being cought up in the material world. We are living in an age that calls evil good and good evil.

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no_quarter51
03-13-2007

Rated 0 
I think, that in reference and relation to the previous Arcade Fire albums, that is about how he is trapped by how others perceive him. He can't get this girl because she won't see him for who he is. It also may have to do with wanting to extend beyond yourself- how as a human being he wants to be so much more than a body, but have thoughts and actions that affect much more.

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MissMary
03-13-2007

Rated 0 
You know, when I first read the lyrics - I thought that his performances and writing abilities are rather old fashioned. Especially when it comes to his writings.

Most artists these days lay out exactly what their feeling but he tends to use images. And that might be holding him back from fully understanding his friends and potential lovers.

I'm probably way off but hey. Variety is the key of life.

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MissMary
03-13-2007

Rated 0 
You know, when I first read the lyrics - I thought that his performances and writing abilities are rather old fashioned. Especially when it comes to his writings.

Most artists these days lay out exactly what their feeling but he tends to use images. And that might be holding him back from fully understanding his friends and potential lovers.

I'm probably way off but hey. Variety is the key of life.

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porcelainStars
03-14-2007

Rated 0 
This song is absolutely phenomenal, as is the entire album. Honestly, to me, this song speaks of a love that cannot be expressed fully because the speaker's body is standing in his way of full emotion.

Sometimes emotions are so far beyond the body's physical understanding.

My body IS a cage...

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Mattzillaman
03-14-2007

Rated 0 
Nobody should quote Rousseau. Ever. He was an asshole. I once went on a night out with this girl I love and her boyfriend and felt excactly like this. I think they should have ended the album with No cars go though. Its the pinacle of music, whereas this is merely a very high ridge.

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Arsh
03-23-2007

Rated 0 
I'm probably way off-base but...

I think I might be the only one in the world that thinks that this song is about Prometheus, the Titan who created Man and gave them fire, and then was condemned by Zeus to be chained down for all of eternity while a monstrous eagle pecked out his liver. Since he can't die, and his liver regenerated, the eagle came every day.

Personally, I think this is just describing how Prometheus views his precious creation, man, from his prison on the side of the mountain he is chained to. His language is dead, but he still understands everything. He brought fire, heat and light to man, but Man uses it for evil purposes, hence darkness is light.

No one remembers him and what he did for mankind. He is just a shadow of his former self viewing his once-proud creation become a shadow of what he'd dreamed they'd be.

As I said, I'm probably way wrong, just reading too much into it, seeing things not there, etc.

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