Failure is angular, it isn't circle shaped
And every fucked mistake's unmade
When I abandoned her and with my wand-like sex I cast a horrid hex
I laid a curse on her, another wasted verse on her, gave birth to her

Oh God, forgive me Moses, Jesus, Allah
I have made such an awful regret of today
I have made such an awesome regret

I could be more than this
With all the time I have I am an insult to the dead
You should be over this, the infidelities are on account of me
And so I cheat on you, I beat on you with words and with actions
I will never tell the truth, in debt, aloof
Without you I'm a fraction

Oh God I have made such an awful regret of today
I have made such an awesome regret

Too bad this won't come easy where I stay
Where I lay in my bead of needles, where I play
Like I'm a bad child on a baby's birthday

I'll take a permanent vacation, I've got two months to live
And all the mental masturbation is just too much to give
So I'll go down to where the river flows into the sea
And you can bathe me in your body fluids, You can rescue me



Lyrics submitted by sheslikeohsoemo

Track duration: 04:10

"An Insult to the Dead" as written by Max Bemis

Lyrics © EMI Music Publishing

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


An Insult to the Dead song meanings
Add your thoughts

19 Comments

sort form View by:
  • 0
    My Interpretation:I could be totally wrong but to me this song is about Max staying in a relationship he knows will eventually fail. He feels bad for wasting this girls time. After cheating on her he ruins her life.

    "Failure is angular, it isn't circle shaped
    And every fucked mistake's unmade"

    Failure is angular because a successful relationship usually leads to an engagement ring or a circle shape.

    "When I abandoned her and with my wand-like sex I cast a horrid hex
    I laid a curse on her, a curse on her another wasted verse on her, gave birth to her"

    He leaves her. His wand-like sex is the male population he has helped create a bad reputation for. The curse he lays on her is sadness and depression. He gave birth to a girl who is now gonna hate love.

    'Oh God, forgive me Moses, Jesus, Allah
    I have made such an awful regret of today
    I have made such an awesome regret"

    He doesn't like the way he feels about what he put this girl through. He just wants to be forgiven.

    "I could be more than this
    With all the time I have I am an insult to the dead"

    He wasted so much of her time and his time when he knows there are people who could have done greater things with the time he has wasted.

    "You should be over this, the infidelities are on account of me
    And so I cheat on you, I beat on you with words and with actions
    I will never tell the truth, in debt, aloof
    Without you I'm a fraction"

    He wants her to be ok. She didn't do anything. He was the one who cheated and verbally abused her. He won't ever say what exactly he did. He just wants her to be ok because this guilt doesn't make him feel whole.

    "Where I stay (Too bad this won't come easy)
    Where I lay in my bead of needles, where I play
    (Too bad this won't come easy)
    Like I'm a bad child on a baby's birthday"

    He finally confesses to her exactly what he did like a little kid who knows they did something bad. He confesses on baby's birthday, the day he gives birth to this sad girl.

    "I'll take a permanent vacation, I've got two months to live
    And all the mental masturbation is just too much to give
    So I'll go down to where the river flows into the sea
    And you can bathe me in your body fluids, you can rescue me"

    Max being bipolar goes into a deep depression and decides he is gonna kill himself if he doesn't feel better in two months. The mental masturbation is him doing anything to make his thoughts more positive or pleasurable. The body fluid part is symbolic for her blood or her love. He thinks her forgiveness is the only thing that can save him from death.

    And since people say that IDOTG is a concept album and tells a story. I would think that Sorry dudes. My bad would be about his band helping him through this depression. He is sorry for his bipolar lows and highs messing with the bands future.
    Flag Jeantedon April 25, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think that this album is mostly about Max sort of converting from Judaism to Christianity.
    And the body fluids part is about a baptism, I believe. GOD's body fluids. ;D
    Flag kyleasleepon June 27, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:well considering he said annie hall is his favorite movie, i would think "metal masterbation" is most definitely a reference :)
    Flag bemisisgodon September 20, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:it could also be about molley connely like some of his previous work
    Flag jwhadon June 29, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:When I abandoned her
    And with my wand-like sex
    I cast a horried hex

    I laid a curse on her, a curse on her



    i could be wrong but sounds like hes having thoughts about leaving a girl because shes pregnant or that he doesnt want a child.
    Flag Likeagianton March 27, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:oh, and i think the "mental masturbation" line is just an expression he's using to convey a feeling of futility. maybe he's saying that he's tried to live up to his potential and tried to do great things but he feels that it never worked out; that his efforts were all futile.
    Flag 1021on September 18, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i'd have to agree with allchokedup. certain lines, statements, and images in this song always stick out to me, and the line that contains the title of the song is one of them. i can't escape that line, "with all the time i have, i am insult to the dead". another thing that always comes to the forefront of my mind is that, for some reason, when i hear the line "like a bad child on a baby's birthday" i imagine it being christmas [the baby being jesus, and therefore his birthday being christmas]. so i think his regret in having done nothing with his life [at least, that's what he thinks.. i beg to differ] is rooted in something more spiritual. that maybe he thinks he was given the chance to do something great and he's wasted that opportunity.

    of course, i gathered this meaning from the two lines i mentioned and from a general sense of the song. so i'm definitely open to being corrected.
    Flag 1021on September 18, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i think he's just saying he's just a complete waste of life, because he's not making the most out of anything and he's making all these horrid mistakes and whatnot. and he feels bad because all these people who would probably be out contributing to the world and such are dead, while he's alive and not doing anything.
    Flag AllChokedUpon July 15, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think he was in a really bad relationship where he cheated and was verbally abusive and didn't love his girlfriend. But, then she got pregnant and got an abortion because either she knew how bad he was to her and didn't want a child with him or he told her that he didn't want it. Idk, that is basically what I get from reading&listening to the song. But I could be completely wrong[and prob am] and it's about something totally deeper. Idk watevs [:
    Flag ahdeenahon April 08, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I've done a little bit of thinking on the mental masturbation line, and I think it has something to do with Max trying to trick himself into thinking he's okay (though he realizes that it's not as good as the real thing) and it just gets overwhelming.

    The abortion theory is a possibility, but I'm still sticking with my interpretation. Besides:

    The infidelities are on account of me
    And so I cheat on you, I beat on you with words
    and with actions
    I will never tell the truth, in debt, aloof
    Without you I'm a fraction

    I'm pretty sure at least THAT part has nothing to do with abortion... it's pretty straightforward.
    Flag UHmericanKitschon November 16, 2007   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

Back to top
explain