Paramore – Turn It Off

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  General Comment:i've been singing along to this song for four years and i was singing it today and suddenly the lyrics just made sense. I think me recently having come out of a struggle with my faith it all made sense. sometimes its easier to turn it off because everyone around is being hypocritical and rigid about the rules and expectations. Turning it off leaves you at the bottom though, and sometimes its only when you're at the bottom can you realize how much your faith means to you no matter what annoying things other people are doing that turn you off from it.

  Flag daisyjackon April 10, 2013   Link

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  General Comment:For that matter a lot of the songs from BNE forward kind of follow the same theme of Hayley wanting to go a different direction and it creating tension in the group...

  Flagged Penwheelon September 24, 2012   Link

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  General Comment:This song is not written from the point of view of someone who has lost their faith.
  
  It's the difference between people who have a more tolerant view of Christianity and those who have a rigid sort of fundamentalist view. Also it's about her questioning her own personal beliefs. Along those same lines, it's about how Hayley is open to learning from difficult life experiences and exploring things in her music, even when it involves the questioning of faith itself. Basically, she starts questioning her belief but at the same time accepts it as a learning experience rather than pretending like she's perfect and hiding behind a facade.
  
  
  
  "I scraped my knees while I was praying
  And found a demon in my safest haven, seems like
  It's getting harder to believe in anything
  Then just to get lost in all my selfish thoughts"
  
  -- Obviously this is about her questioning her beliefs but more importantly, she's willing to admit it.
  
  "I wanna know what it'd be like
  To find perfection in my pride
  To see nothing in the light
  I'll turn it off
  In all my spite
  In all my spite
  I'll turn it off"
  
  -- The thing she's talking about "turning off" is the train of thought that has her questioning her faith. But she's also criticizing those Christians (or religious people in general) who don't have an open mind and see themselves as totally perfect with a high horse attitude. She's kind of sarcastically saying that she wishes she could be as perfect as these people.
  
  "And the worst part is
  Before it gets any better
  We're headed for a cliff
  And in the free fall I will realize
  I'm better off when I hit the bottom"
  
  -- This line is about how (during the time she wrote this song) she realized that the questioning of her faith would get worse before it gets better. But she's not giving up. She's saying that despite all this questioning, she'll be better off when she hits the bottom because it's a growing experience and perhaps it strengthens her beliefs or something to that effect.
  
  -- It could also perhaps be about relationships within the band. The idea being that there might have been disagreements about what topics are appropriate for Hayley to explore lyrically. So it's the relationships between band members that's "headed for a cliff." Fans of Paramore will notice that "Playing God" is about Hayley writing lyrics that certain other people in the band didn't necessarily agree with.
  
  "The tragedy, it seems unending
  I'm watching everyone I looked up to break and bending
  We're taking shortcuts and false solutions
  Just to come out the hero"
  
  -- A lot of people she looked up to in her life are adopting false solutions to problems (either individual problems or social issues) and in doing so are denying aspects of reality in order to conform to a more dogmatic or rigid way of thinking. And instead of using the more positive side of faith they're diving into the mentally confining aspects. These people are shutting themselves off from parts of the world and are missing out on meaningful learning experiences. They are using fake solutions in order to seem like they're perfect but it's all wrong.
  
  "Well I can see behind the curtain (I can see, yeah yeah)
  The wheels are cranking, turning, it's all wrong the way we're working
  Towards a goal, that's non existent
  It's not existent, but we just keep believing"
  
  -- It's about how rigid fundamentalist beliefs are pushed onto particular aspects of reality in a way that just doesn't fit or make sense.
  
  -- Essentially (at the time of writing this) Hayley is someone who feels that faith is a very important part of her life. However, she's not a fundamentalist. She has a more relaxed, tolerant view of Christianity. And more to the point, she focuses more on her relationship with God, faith and positivity as opposed to the dogmatic features that often plague religion. She's open to exploring the world instead of hiding from it even if it means questioning her faith.
  
  
  
  "Turn it Off", "Playing God", "Monster" and "Renegade" are all along the same lines really and are probably at the root of why the Farro brothers left the band.
  
  I assume one thing that initially happened is that Hayley was writing lyrics that question a belief in God. This topic likely wasn't well accepted by certain other members of the band and it could have been one of the issues that created a rift in the group. Basically Hayley was interested in exploring different topics through her music that were met with resistance.

  Flag Penwheelon September 24, 2012   Link

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• -1
  My Interpretation:Disclaimer: I haven't read any other interpretations to this song. This is simply mine.
  
  To me it feels like this song is about how Hayley lost faith in God and religion altogether, whilst most of the song is somewhat sarcastic and cynical. She is often speaking from a believer's point of view, but sarcastically so.
  
  
  "I scraped my knees while I was praying
  And found a demon in my safest haven"
  -- Pretty straightforward. refers to praying and finding out religion has its terrible demons and it's not all holy as she was taught.
  
  "Seems like it's getting harder to believe in anything
  Than just to get lost in all my selfish thoughts"
  -- Her selfish thoughts is materialism. She lives the life of a rockstar.
  
  "I wanna know what it'd be like
  To find perfection in my pride
  To see nothing in the light
  I'll turn it off, in all my spite
  In all my spite, I'll turn it off"
  -- To see nothing in the so-called "light" that was shoved down her throat her entire life and be able to deny her faith ("turn it off") without feeling remorse or regret ("in all my spite").
  
  "And the worst part is
  Before it gets any better
  We're headed for a cliff"
  -- "The worst part" is sarcastically speaking. Her parents and\or congregation consider it terrible that she's chosen that lifestyle. Hence, "we're added for a cliff", as well. They consider it falling and she's rubbing it in their face.
  
  "And in the free fall
  I will realize I'm better off
  When I hit the bottom"
  -- she still has some kind of attachment to religion, that's why she's not at the bottom yet. But once she sheds of all bond to religion (hit the bottom), she will be better off.
  
  "The tragedy, it seems unending
  I'm watching everyone I looked up to break and bending
  We're taking shortcuts and false solutions
  Just to come out the hero"
  -- More criticism on church life, priests and other people she looked up to as a child and now, as an adult, she sees them for who they really are, with all their vices and flaws exposed.
  
  
  
  "Well, I can see behind the curtain
  (I can see it now)
  The wheels are cranking, turning
  It's all wrong, the way we're working
  Towards a goal that's non-existent
  It's not existent, but we just keep believing"
  -- Pretty much the most straightforward part in the song. The curtain is the lies they told her. Now she knows what it's really like and what makes the religion machine tick. The goal is heaven and the after life.
  
  

  Flag slickleg1897on August 14, 2011   Link

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  General Comment:Well, how I see this song is more as she is having struggles with what she believes in and feels like giving up. That is what it means to me. She talks about how it's easier to get lost in selfish thoughts than to believe in anything. And how most people struggle in believing in anything bigger because they are selfish. I am a Christian, and I see this as a Christian song, yes, but the part where it says "In the free fall I will realize i'm better off when I hit the bottom." What happens when you fall off of a cliff? You die. She feels like dying is easier then living.

  Flag philmonster101on July 25, 2011   Link

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  General Comment:i think this song is very realated to faith but not in terms of god but in oneself. hayley williams is referring to herself in this song. how even when she prays some how demons (pain,misery,hopelessness) keep coming back in. so it makes it hard for her to belive in anything like god or in herself or in her band. itz much easier to escape her selfishness. to only thinkn of herself. she want to know how it would feel & be like to have pride & see nothing & no one else. but she wants to turn off the negitivity. but she says in the chores. the worse thing is that they are falling apart before they can fix anything. & while the bands falling apart maybe she's better off. maybe it's all for the best. "que sera sera" what ever will be will be. what ever happens happens. the probem seems unending to her. & she's watching everrybody who was her role model just forming to what people want them to be or failing under pressure. they are trying to find easy ways out & pretending to be perfect just to be role models. but she knows what's reallly happening behinde the scenes. that nothing they do seem to fix the problem. so they are beliving in a non exist faith that sumthing will happen that never will & they know that

  Flag nicolesimas6on July 13, 2011   Link

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  General Comment:Definitely one of the darkest, if not _the_ darkest, lyrics that Hayley has written.
  
  "And the worst part is
  Before it gets any better
  We're headed for a cliff
  And in the free fall
  I will realize I'm better off
  When I hit the bottom"
  
  That there (the chorus) says it all. If the music wasn't so upbeat, this would be pretty depressing, lol.

  Flag marathon_81on May 20, 2011   Link

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  My Interpretation:This song isn't against God at all. It is about a time when the band was going through a hard time and they were having trouble with their Faith, (like any Christian goes through some point in their life,) but in the end they eventually were able to overcome it with God's help.
  
  VERSE 1:
  "I scraped my knees while I was praying and found a demon in my safest haven"
  All the bad things were happening to them when they felt safest.
  
  "Seems like it's getting harder to believe in anything than just to get lost in all my selfish thoughts"
  They got to a state of doubt in their Faith because of all the bad things that were happening and felt like it would just be easier to just forget about everything they believe in.
  
  
  "I wanna know what it'd be like to find perfection in my pride
  To see nothing in the light
  Or turn it off in all my spite
  In all my spite I'll turn it off"
  Basically this just says that maybe it'll just be easier to just forget about their Faith and 'turn it off'. It says that they are kind of feeling like nothing is really worth believing in.
  
  VERSE 2:
  "The tragedy it seems unending"
  Bad things keep happening and doesn't seem to stop, and when this is happening faith is questioned at times because people think 'Why is God letting all these bad things happen?'and are blaming Him in a way.
  
  "I'm watching everyone I looked up to breaking, bending."
  The people that they looked up to are falling apart, physically and/or emotionally.
  
  "We're taking shortcuts and false solutions just to come out the hero."
  They are making up reasons for things and just trying to forget about their problems(taking shortcuts) instead of trying to deal with them and looking to God to help them with it.
  
  "Well I can see behind the curtain
  The wheels are cranking turning"
  Faith isn't based off of what is seen. And sometimes people believe that since they can't see something it must not exist.
  
  "It's all wrong the way we're working towards a goal that's nonexistent
  It's nonexistent but we just keep believing"
  I had a little trouble trying to figure this one out. But I think it's about trying to believe in something that others don't think is real but you believe in it anyways. Or also that even though we don't see God's existence we still believe in Him.
  
  BRIDGE:
  "I wanna know what it'd be like to find perfection in my pride
  To see nothing in the light
  And turn it off in all my spite
  In all my spite I'll turn it off
  Just turn it off
  Again"
  Like in the first verse, it is saying that sometimes it seems easier to just not believe in anything and to just give everything up and 'turn it off'.
  
  CHORUS:
  "And the worst part is before it gets any better we're headed for a cliff
  And in the free fall I will realize I'm better off when I hit the bottom."
  Before anything in a problem gets better, things will usually get worse. So therefore before they are able to find their faith in Jesus again they will struggle a lot but things will get better. Once you've hit the bottom, things can't get any worse so things will get better.

  Flag ParamoreIsStillABandon April 24, 2011   Link

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• +1
  General Comment:Following up on gradx's comment:
  
  "From Hayley's Lyrical journal: "In accordance with Playing God, this is the emotional result...I want to be in a constant state of learning and growing and i hope God can always show me that from the bottom there are just more ways to look up"
  
  "she's talking about learning from failed relationships: moving on, persevering, and becoming a stronger person."
  
  That is crazy smart... Hayley's got some skillz. This song kind of blew my mind... much like the rest of the CD. Nice input gradx.
  
  You have to hit the bottom to be able to look up sometimes. And if you don't try to learn from those mistake that took you down you're probably gonna end up hitting it again till you do...
  
  *The more you know... ;)

  Flag Johann4uon March 24, 2011   Link

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  General Comment:From Hayley's Lyrical journal: "In accordance with Playing God, this is the emotional result...I want to be in a constant state of learning and growing and i hope God can always show me that from the bottom there are just more ways to look up"
  
  "i wanna know what it'd be like to find perfection in my pride"
  
  she's talking about learning from failed relationships: moving on, persevering, and becoming a stronger person.

  Flag gradxon February 26, 2011   Link

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