Lyrics for Any Other World as interpreted by vickiminx

Any Other World Lyrics
In any other world
You could tell the difference
And let it all unfurl
Into broken remnants
Smile like you mean it
And let yourself let go

Cause it’s all in the hands of a bitter, bitter man
Say goodbye
To the world you thought you lived in
Take a bow
Play the part of a lonely, lonely heart
Say goodbye
To the world you thought you lived in
To the world you thought you lived in


I tried to live alone
But lonely is so lonely you know
So human as I am, I had to give up my defences
So I smiled and tried to mean it
To let myself let go

Cause it’s all in the hands of a bitter, bitter man
Say goodbye
To the world you thought you lived in
Take a bow
Play the part of a lonely, lonely heart
Say goodbye
To the world you thought you lived in
To the world you thought you lived in

Cause it’s all in the hands of a bitter, bitter man
Say goodbye
To the world you thought you lived in
Take a bow
Play the part of a lonely, lonely heart
Say goodbye
To the world you thought you lived in
To the world you thought you lived in

Say goodbye
To the world you thought you lived in
Say goodbye
To the world you thought you lived in
Say goodbye

In any other world
You could tell the difference


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alexandraaird
04-25-2009

Rated 0 
this song is kinda cynical and optomistic at the same time. "all in the hands of a bitter bitter man". I think that kinda of refers to god or some higher power. It means you can't really change the fact that life sux. "smile like you mean is and let yourself let go" That's saying you should accept the fact that life sux. cause once you accept it, you'll be happier. so yeah. cynical cause life is bad but optomistic cause you can still be happy anyway. D= / =D

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bertensgrad
03-06-2009

Rated 0 
This song seems to be about someone trying to let go of some tramautic experience and what their life was like before it happened. At the same time they don't want to let go, they would rather cling to what happened and live a life pondering the what ifs of life. I believe the bitter man refered to in the lyrics is God who the singer blames for the existing circumstances. The other world lyrics would be refering alternate reality that they would had like to had happened with only chance leading to this reality rather to the alternative reality.

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irongnome
12-07-2008

Rated 0 
Smile like you mean it
And let yourself let go
It almost seems like the song's narrator is trying to convince himself to let go, just drift along in life's currents. I could be wrong.

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with eyes to hear
06-22-2008

Rated 0 
I think the woman at the end is saying:
"I never ever I forget my story. My face is no sad, but still inside I am sad."

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amaleesunshine
05-25-2008

Rated 0 
I can't help but think this has something to do with religion. "In Any Other World, you could tell the difference" might mean with any other faith or religion, you might think about things differently.

The "bitter, bitter man" could easily be God. "The world you thought you lived in" could be the religion you previously took part in. Trying to "live alone" could mean living without God. Some lyrics make me question this line of thinking, though :/

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Mini_Hippie
12-23-2007

Rated 0 
To me, this song is less about the struggle without someone and more about coping with the world. I can't reference any lines, since this is more of a feeling: I think that this is about becoming disillusioned with the world, and finding ways to deal with it. I think that the "Bitter bitter man" doesn't refer to a person, but rather a type of person, be it God, a dictator, your boss, or your lover. It seems to me that what it's saying is that life can be cruel and cold, and when you can't fight it, put up walls, put on facades, and grit your teeth, and maybe you'll survive. Such a beautiful, but melancholy song. Ah me...


;P

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factcheckincuz
12-12-2007

Rated 0 
i can't listen to this song anymore. it makes me think of my grandparents who have been married for more than 65 years. my grandfather has developed alzheimer's in the last 5 years, and so i think of them. the last 65+ years of their lives, falling apart.

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raiseyourvoice
10-28-2007

Rated 0 
This is beautiful. I think it's just generally about some important things changing. When you have to face some new facts and the whole world goes upside down. I feel exactly like this at the moment. The "say goodbye to the world you thought you lived in" part nearly kills me.

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EstrangedAngel
09-13-2007

Rated 0 
To me this song is about death.. i know it sounds depressing.. but it just makes so much sense to me.. "So human as i am, i had to give up my defences, so i smile and try to mean it, to let myself let go - cuz its all in the hands of a bitter bitter man, say goodbye to the world you thought you lived in"
But i love this song.. definatly my fave from mika

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VIXXX
09-12-2007

Rated 0 
oops. i especiialy like the violin***

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VIXXX
09-12-2007

Rated 0 
it definitely gives me the same feeling as Mad World.

this is such a beautiful song i especially like the song. its almost impossible to stop playing it over and over again. such a bittersweet song

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RooZ
07-19-2007

Rated 0 
I was walking through Sydney city (downtown for the Americans) today when I first heard this song, (I was listening to the album right through and when this song came on I couldn't stop listening to it all day). Anyway I guess that sort of added extra emotion, seeing thousands of people living their busy lives, like they were the only person there in the whole city.

To me personally, listening to it for the first time it reminds me of politics, war, etc.

"Cause it’s all in the hands of a bitter, bitter man" makes me think of John Howard, Bush, and other world leaders who (in my opinion) are rapidly destroy the world, and changing it for the worse ("Say goodbye, To the world you thought you lived in".)

I was thinking this is similar to Mad World, it's got that feeling of hopelessness and all. Anyone else think that?

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Thanato
07-13-2007

Rated 0 
On a first listen it seemed pretty obvious to me that the "bitter bitter man" was God. I agree that it has something to do with a relationship or something similar, but moreso some semi depressing situation in a life in general. Dealing with the loss of a lover, one way or another.

I think that they were with this person and they were so close (I had to give up my defenses). And then they lost them. I get the impression it wasn't a choice thing either, that is to say, through death or something. Now they're coping with life afterwards.

That explanation doesn't explain everything though, so it's not head on.

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sum1butno1
07-13-2007

Rated 0 
I agree with a lot of what sunnysenny is saying, and the quote Del Marquis put up first was very interesting. I thought that this song was about a massive life-changing event, but about some very global understandings of the world arising from said event. Listening to the CD, I had wondered if that spoken part was meant to be an end to the previous track or an introduction to this one that just got tagged to the end of the other for pacing.
But yeah, I believe that the "bitter bitter man" is what Sarah-Stagedive feared; I believe he is talking about a god (specifically the traditional western/Christian God). In that context, I feel like this song is much more existential, encouraging people to continue living and enjoying life in the face of a meaningless existence (for if God is bitter instead of loving, the world is very different from what we've believed). The way I see it, it's interesting because he is attributing painful life experience to a bitter God, and encouraging us to bravely continue on as individual human beings.

And RICH2theARD, I really don't think I agree with you there. He's living in London, England right now I believe, and I'm not sure that everyone cares that Bush is taking away American liberties; there are MUCH worse injustices in the world, that aren't directly supported by our own choosings (you determine your own level of involvement in government, just like in Project Mayhem :).

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DeathsRose
07-05-2007

Rated 0 
to me this song is about someone who loses someone they love, and they have to try and get on with their life, because even though their life is falling apart the world isnt going to stop for them, hence...

"In any other world
You could tell the difference
And let it all unfurl
Into broken remnants"

btw, love the violin part. its such a beautiful and heart-breaking song.

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candy21
06-05-2007

Rated 0 
This is what Mika said about it!

"There is a little spoken introduction that many people may miss.

It's a family friend of mine who lost her eye during the war in Lebanon and I realised in everyone's life their comes one point, or several points, where something happens and you have to completely change the way you have lived your life because of one event.

And it really makes you readjust and rethink and rejudge parts of your life all over again.

That happens to some people in a dramatic way like Rafa who lost both her eye and her husband within six months. Or it can be in a much quieter way like when you are 22-years-old and you finally leave university after being in education all your life or when you lose your job.

I wanted to put that in the song, because when you're 68 or 14, it's still the same feeling and it's still just as hard.

I wanted to try to capture that quite difficult period that people have to go through at least once in their life."

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Sarah-Stagedive
05-28-2007

Rated 0 
Ps; I love this song. I think it's one of the most incredible and influencial things I've heard in a long time.

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Sarah-Stagedive
05-28-2007

Rated 0 
I think you guys hit the nail on the head, BUT, does anybody think that maybe the 'bitter, bitter man' part could be about God? I hope not, due to the fact that if it is, it's controversial, and Mika would be going against everything he represents.

Possibly?

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RICH2theARD
05-28-2007

Rated 0 
I'm certainly in the minority here, but I personally interpreted this song to be one of unforeseen, incredible dismay as a result of the realization that being gay (of which Mika has been speculated and refuses to confirm or deny) in a society downcast with rampant oppression and bigotry isn’t the world he “thought [he] lived in” – a world where a “bitter, bitter man” at the helm of a country such as the United States can legally discriminate against you and withhold your rights as a fellow human being just as deserving of love as anyone else. The lines in the stanza beginning with “I tried to live alone. . .” compels me to specifically view this as a coming-out/self-acceptance journey, albeit gloomily disheartened, in which he initially secluded himself from love, feeling undeserving and shameful, ultimately realizing and embracing his equality (“human as I am”) and his subsequent need to “give up [his] defenses” and “let [him]self go.” Overall, it seems like a sort of awakening, but to an unexpected nightmare where the world he naively thought he knew isn’t quite the loving place he once dreamt. “In any other world, you could tell the difference” between love and hate; right and wrong; acceptance and rejection; empathy and apathy; oppression and kindness. . .

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koolzies
05-23-2007

Rated 0 
i always thought it said: “i tried to live alone, but lonely is so lonely alone.”

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blue25000000
05-20-2007

Rated 0 
The woman at the end (I'm guessing perhaps she is Rafa?) sounds like she is saying: "I never ever, I forget my story. My face is no sad, but sometimes, I am sad."

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sunnysenny
04-26-2007

Rated 0 
AMAZING song, my favorite by Mika. Makes me cry every time.

I also think it's a global song, and I love the quote from the interview from Del Marquis, thank you.

I think this song has to do with how sad this world is. There's a moment we all realize this, when everything you knew is torn apart and you feel only pain.

It could have to do with breaking up, but I don't think that's an essential part of this song, just one of the many possibilities.

The "bitter, bitter man" does not refer to a specific person, but to so many people. I love the compassion in that line, instead of being mean to that man, it is quiet sympathetic.

What confuses me is the purpose of the "(any) other world" reference. What truly does it mean?

Lyric corrections:
"But lonely is so lonely alone"
What does the woman say at the end?

Amazing song

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luvme520
04-25-2007

Rated 0 
i thin kthat this song means that u have lost someone or "grown apart" "breaken up" with that very SPECIAL person. when i hear of this song it reminds me of a story of me and my BF which we now happen to hate eachother but i think i have GROWN OVER my FEELINg for HIM!

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luvme520
04-25-2007

Rated 0 
i thin kthat this song means that u have lost someone or "grown apart" "breaken up" with that very SPECIAL person. when i hear of this song it reminds me of a story of me and my BF which we now happen to hate eachother but i think i have GROWN OVER my FEELINg for HIM!

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ghostabc123
04-20-2007

Rated 0 
"I wanted to try to capture that quite difficult period that people have to go through at least once in their life."

and he did it, perfectly.

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