Lyrics for The Pretender as interpreted by intothegrinder2

The Pretender Lyrics
Keep you in the dark
You know they all pretend
Keep you in the dark
And so it all began

Send in your skeletons
Sing as their bones come marching in...again
They need you buried deep
The secrets that you keep are at the ready
Are you ready?
I'm finished making sense
Done pleading ignorance
That whole...defense

Spinning infinity, boy
The wheel is spinning me
It's never-ending, never-ending
Same old story

What if I say I'm not like the others?
What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays
You're the pretender
What if I say I will never surrender?

What if I say I'm not like the others?
What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays
You're the pretender
What if I say that I'll never surrender?

In time our soul untold
I'm just another soul for sale... oh, well
The page is out of print
We are not permanent
We're temporary, temporary
Same old story

What if I say I'm not like the others?
What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays
You're the pretender
What if I say that I'll never surrender?

What if I say I'm not like the others?
What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays
You're the pretender
What if I say I will never surrender?

I'm the voice inside your head
You refuse to hear
I'm the face that you have to face
Mirrored in your stare
I'm what's left, I'm what's right
I'm the enemy
I'm the hand that will take you down
Bring you to your knees

So who are you?
Yeah, who are you?
Yeah, who are you?
Yeah, who are you?

Keep you in the dark
You know they all pretend

What if I say I'm not like the others?
What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays
You're the pretender
What if I say that I'll never surrender?

What if I say I'm not like the others?
What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays
You're the pretender
What if I say that I'll never surrender?

What if I say I'm not like the others?
(Keep you in the dark)
What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays
(You know they all... pretend)
You're the pretender
What if I say I will never surrender?

What if I say I'm not like the others?
(Keep you in the dark)
What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays
(You know they all... pretend)
You're the pretender
What if I say I will never surrender?

So who are you?
Yeah, who are you?
Yeah, who are you?

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xaiver_888
09-26-2007

Rated 0 
incubus man, you are wrong..anyways, this is a great song by the foo, it seems to mix the bull of there lst album with the pop of the old foo. David grohl is a good song writer.

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himselfe
10-01-2007

Rated 0 
Another awesome song by Foo Fighters. While I can't say I know the meaning of the lyrics, I'd make a fair bet that it isn't political. I've never known the Foo Fighters to carry the political torch. You pop-culture chumps can barely maintain continence when the opportunity comes to parrot your anti-bush/war tripe. Some of you seem almost desperate for the song to have a hidden meaning that echoes your own inability for independent thought. I could be wrong, but it would be a bit sad if the Foo Fighters had sold out like Greenday. It'd be a pity to see them tarnish such a great reputation. Music is about love and passion, not politics. I don't listen to music to be mentally violated by some sap with a political agenda.

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lrntoswim
10-04-2007

Rated 0 
David already said it was political. I question anyone calling people pop culture chumps just because they believe in real things like political issues. Everyone has an agenda and no one cares why you do something like listen to their music as long as they make money. If you feel violated because someone has a brain and a social conscience then you need to grow up and see maybe you are the sap. Music whether it is straight up about love or passion is always political. It can move MANY PEOPLE. Politics is all about the movement of life...whether you like it or not. Who can't have an independent thought? just because someone you don't agree with has someone else to agree with him/her? Someone is sounding like a hypocrite mr politics. I guess you think being independent means being a passive citizen. Fine. Good luck with that. lol. You are but a house of cards. All your words have been used before...in exactly the same stupid way. So get over yourself.

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himselfe
10-05-2007

Rated 0 
"David already said it was political."

Care to cite that? I did try searching for citation of him defining what the song is about before posting here.

"I question anyone calling people pop culture chumps just because they believe in real things like political issues."

It isn't that they believe in real things like political issues, it's why they believe it.

"Everyone has an agenda and no one cares why you do something like listen to their music as long as they make money."

Indeed everybody has an agenda, but contrary to your assertion there are people who make music for the love of music, not the money.

"If you feel violated because someone has a brain and a social conscience then you need to grow up and see maybe you are the sap."

I don't feel violated by somebody who has a brain or a social conscience, I feel violated by people who believe they can embed an agenda I disagree with into something I enjoy. People have the right to free speech, and people are free to make music about whatever they want, I'm simply stating that I dislike people who use music as a vehicle to push the latest craze, and I'm stating my reasons for disliking them.

"I guess you think being independent means being a passive citizen."

Nope, people who believe something after independently forming their own conclusions have independent thought. Fact is in my experience most people who are anti-war/bush aren't so because they've come to their own independent conclusion, they are so because that is what's popular at the moment. Granted there are people who do think independently, but unfortunately they are the minority, on both sides of the argument.

You know what's really funny about the anti-war/bush crowd? Nobody every seems to have an alternative solution. Instead of uselessly bitching and moaning why don't people come up with an alternative solution that works for everybody? All people ever seem to care about is their own little local environment and to hell with everybody else, if you ask me that's a little selfish. It's really easy to be an armchair general wannabe, it's a whole different story to actually do something about it.

I don't like or support Bush, I think he's a religious idiot, but I do support the war. Why? Because I look at the bigger picture, I look at the future, and I see the adversity humanity has to face as a species if it wishes to survive. The only way humanity can make real progress is if the whole world is on par, and unfortunately that requires wars. There are people who won't simply step down or buckle to economic pressure, people who won't give up without a fight. War is a horrible thing, but unfortunately at humanity's current stage it is a necessary evil.

Tell me, what is your solution? What are your independent conclusions and thoughts in support of the anti-war movement?

"All your words have been used before...in exactly the same stupid way. So get over yourself."

You say that like it doesn't also apply to your own argument.

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Jonesb93
10-17-2007

Rated 0 
mmk...I'm here to set the lyrics straight.

It's not: "Done bleeding ignorance at your defense
Spinning and (?) it deeper"

It's: "Done pleading ignorance, that whole defense
Spinning infinity, boy"

It's not: "The pages that were print
They are not permanent
They're temporary, temporary
Same old story"

It's: "The page is out of print
We are not permanent
We're temporary, temporary
Same old story"

...Aaaand...that's all I could find. Damn, where do you get your lyrics from?!

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goldengramm15
10-25-2007

Rated 0 
great song... cant listen to it enough

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jsdime92
10-27-2007

Rated 0 
ahh, himselfe, someone who shares very similar opinions with me

i get sick of coming on songmeanings and every set of lyrics i see, one of the comments is almost certainly going to be "i think this is about bush, blah blah, he ignores us, whine bitch moan, and it's telling him to stick it up his ass, etc." just kinda gets boring

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hacker9801
10-28-2007

Rated 0 
Wow. I got chills listening to this. :)

"What if I say I'm not like the others?
What if I say I'm not just another one of your plays?
You're the pretender
What if I say that I'll never surrender?"

Awesome.

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colonel cool
10-29-2007

Rated 0 
wow. this song is not that great. its okay, but they kinda took on a "boston" theme. i mean, does anyone else here that?

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Matt Holck
10-29-2007

Rated 0 
So who are you?
Yeah who are you?
Yeah who are you?

just some net ninja afraid to keep a name

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bofrog419
10-30-2007

Rated 0 
Great song my new favorite of modern rock.

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no code88
11-03-2007

Rated 0 
This song sounds soooo... fucking good ! ! !

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mattshaw57
11-05-2007

Rated 0 
I'd go with communism, the attempt to quell it. Especially if you've seen the video. The red, the riot officers. If not Socialism, then the song definately has some sort of political underlaying, or is about some sort of revolution, being retained by said power.

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RHCPzephyr
11-07-2007

Rated 0 
great song, its all i have to say

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oJUSTSKATEo
11-10-2007

Rated 0 
i strongly belive this song is about non conformity to the way society says we should look and act. The band represents the rebels and when they start playing a riot officer stands to challange him and silence these new ideas. When they start gaining momentum more challange them because they are freely speaking. They are afraid they will put into peoples minds new ideas and they will cease to be controlled and conformed. When they charge it is too late and they are wiped out by the red which symbolizes revolution.

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himselfe
11-13-2007

Rated 0 
Just as a note about the video, the video was not conceived by the band, rather it was envisioned by the video's director Sam Brown as can be seen in MTV2's Making The Video. So it is more of an allusion to the themes present in the song rather than a literal representation of the song's meaning.

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TripleFang
11-13-2007

Rated 0 
This song is seems pretty general. It is about a person or group that refuses to listen to the truth and doesn't like hearing it. The person signing the song refuses to give into their pretend world.

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XchelsatthediscoX
11-16-2007

Rated 0 
My dad says the Foo Fighters threw a curveball with this song..he bought the new album yesterday and we were listening to it and he said its more mellow than what he's used to. I agree, but I like it.

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threedaysgraceboy
11-20-2007

Rated 0 
Looking at the music video, I highly doubt it's about a relationship, it seems very political to me.
Check it out for yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKhnmUdmz74

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metalmelissa666
12-06-2007

Rated 0 
This is definitely political. I feel it is about the American audience calling out our government. We aren't going to participate in the lies anymore. We know what is going on.
But honest, it could apply in another similar environment. An environment where a corrupted group and someone decides to stand out and point out the corruption.

Being through with the lies and being smart enough to stand up for the truth.

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metalmelissa666
12-06-2007

Rated 0 
This is definitely political. I feel it is about the American audience calling out our government. We aren't going to participate in the lies anymore. We know what is going on.
But honest, it could apply in another similar environment. An environment where a corrupted group and someone decides to stand out and point out the corruption.

Being through with the lies and being smart enough to stand up for the truth.

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soccerpl1997
12-12-2007

Rated 0 
I think that FooFighter0234 Is correct. just to add to his comment here is an example

"Sind In your skeleton,
Sing as their bones come marching in, Again"

This makes me think of the troops that died in Iraq.

"Keep you in the dark you know they all pretend
Keep you in the dark and so it all began"

This also makes me think of how the President is trying to keep the tragities to himself and how the Press dosent tell about what REALLY happens.

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punkkcore
12-15-2007

Rated 0 
i think this song is actually about how courtney love claimed the rights to nirvana and yeah...

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foo-fighter-man
01-04-2008

Rated 0 
I SWEAR TO GOD THE NEXT PERSON WHO RELATES A FOO FIGHTERS SONG TO COURTNEY LOVE IS GONNA GET A KICK IN THE NUTS FROM ME!!!!!!!!

seriously how many songs can be about one person. he has already vented his anger, and hes not still going on about her... he's moved one

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raprocker007
01-10-2008

Rated 0 
To me, this song is about pretending to be like the other people in a group or someplace so he can fit in.

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