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We are not your kind of people
You seem kind of phony
Everything's a lie
We are not your kind of people
Something in your makeup
Don't see eye-to-eye
We are not your kind of people
Don't want to be like you
Ever in our lives
We are not your kind of people
Find when you start talking
There's nothing but white noise
Running around trying to fit in
Wanting to be loved
It doesn't take much
For someone to shut you down
When you build a shelf
Build a mummy in your mind
You can't sit still and you don't like hanging 'round the crowd
They don't understand
You drove by as I was sleeping
You came to see the whole commotion
And when I woke I started laughing
The joke's on me for not believing
We are not your kind of people
Speak a different language
We see through your lies
We are not your kind of people
Won't be cast as demons
Creatures you despise
[Repeat x4]
We are extraordinary people
You seem kind of phony
Everything's a lie
We are not your kind of people
Something in your makeup
Don't see eye-to-eye
We are not your kind of people
Don't want to be like you
Ever in our lives
We are not your kind of people
Find when you start talking
There's nothing but white noise
Running around trying to fit in
Wanting to be loved
It doesn't take much
For someone to shut you down
When you build a shelf
Build a mummy in your mind
You can't sit still and you don't like hanging 'round the crowd
They don't understand
You drove by as I was sleeping
You came to see the whole commotion
And when I woke I started laughing
The joke's on me for not believing
We are not your kind of people
Speak a different language
We see through your lies
We are not your kind of people
Won't be cast as demons
Creatures you despise
[Repeat x4]
We are extraordinary people
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When soldiers come back to America they tend to have trouble focusing and getting re-integrated, since they're so used to constant paranoia and violence, They "can't sit still" and don't like being in crowds of people, since in Iraq, a crowd of people can hide insurgents. As the song says, in Iraq the worst disasters could be set off by the smallest mistakes, "it doesn't take much for someone to shut you down." The bit about commotion while sleeping might mean a nightmare - lots of guys have these in the weeks after they're back, as a form of mild PTSD.
"Nothing but white noise" might be an inability to relate to people who don't understand what the war was like. This is why they can't "see eye-to-eye" with civilians. "They don't understand," or have incorrect ideas about the "army in your mind." When they're back everything seems so abnormal, like you "speak a different language," and some feel like the whole war was pointless, a lie that you can see through.
"Not your kind of people" seems to suggest that the American public ignored them or didn't appreciate them, and had them "cast as demons," but the songwriter won't stand for that, since they "are extraordinary people" who gave their all to support a country that doesn't understand them anymore.
This new garbage album is really something
As I'm very different from everybody in various aspects, I can really relate to lyrics. I also have a little of social phobia, I'll just copy a part of the song that's perfect.
"Running around trying to fit in,
Wanting to be loved.
It doesn't take much.
For someone to shut you down.
When you build a shell,
Build an army in your mind.
You can't sit still.
And you don't like hanging round the crowd.
They don't understand"
We close ourselves inside a shell... We have anxiety so we can't sit still when we're around other people, being observed. It's difficult to feel comfortable with people, you don't know if they'll understand the kind of people you're.
When we get to the end of the song... I need to comment the album too! It's about accepting you as you are, unique, extraordinary. :3
Recently I accepted myself as I'm and I stopped caring about what people will think about me, how they'll judge me. The people seem to aways want something from us, they want us to be extroverted and speak at all times. Well, I can't give them that, I'm very introspective and quiet, I try a little but they'll simply have to accept me this way.
* Check the amazing comment by lightdivided in "Man On A Wire": songmeanings.net/songs/view/3530822107859431743/
We can't live our lives with the necessity of being understood. Whoever is reading this, I give you this advice: be yourself, understand yourself and don't care about what other people will think.
I'm not sure about it but I've made an interpretation of this part of the song:
"You dropped by as I was sleeping. / You came to see the whole commotion." -> "She" (you) had your eyes closed to the solutions, you were asleep in the middle of your suffering.
"And when I woke I started laughing. / The jokes on me for not believing." -> But then you realize you can't be shaken by this kind of feeling, you accept yourself, you wake up and laugh at the jokes people made(/make) of you. Perhaps "believing" is related to the "lies" told by these people in the world. I'm giving a loosely interpretation here.
I'd be very thanked if someone could put a light on this stanza. :)
Like you, I am deeply introspective. It is so comforting for me to live in my own mind, if I could live a dream I probably would. However, I want so badly to connect with people. I reject my true personality, and resort to imitating normal people in my conversation and behaviors. I want to be social, and I hate myself for not having the tools to be charismatic or attractive. I have many friends, none of which seem to like garbage or a lot of my favorite music that has darker, deeper appeal. Its sad, because I know just from that revelation that I must be different from a lot of people.
I checked out the man on a wire quote. That is pretty inspiring. I still have not overcome my fear of people.
But its nice to know that other people like this music and can relate, I guess.
I just want you to know that I still have problems in ambients with people, I still get embarrassed and get sad after that... But I accept it.
Here, you should check this interview they posted in Garbage's page on Facebook:
artistdirect.com/entertainment-news/article/shirley-manson-of-garbage-talks-not-your-kind-of-people-debut-album-dogs-and-more/…
"- Where did "Beloved Freak" come from?
- In a funny way, I think that's a song to ourselves. As a band, we've always felt a little misunderstood, and we realize, even with this new record, it's sort of the same situation. We're just oddballs, and we always will be. At this point in our lives, rather than feel like victims of being left out, we're like, "Fuck it!" We're renegades. We're doing things on our own terms, and that's fine. Whenever you do choose to live in a way that's different from other people, they're very fast to call you a freak, weirdo, or oddball. That can feel very exclusive. As a human being, you have to invert that idea and say, "We're doing things on our own terms. This is how we see things. I will do what I think is right not what everybody else tells me is right, and that's okay."
- Does that become easier as you grow up?
- I don't know. Maybe, I don't mature as fast as everybody else, but I feel like it remains a challenge no matter how old you become. To me, it feels like a challenge to fit in and connect with people on a meaningful level. Maybe, I feel out of step. I don't know if it does get easier. I think your understanding of it gets deeper and therefore it's not as torturous. I have a feeling I will remain an oddball for the rest of my life [Laughs]. No matter how old I bloody well get [Laughs]! I'll be rocking the pink perm and I'll still feel out of things! Who knows? Who cares at this point?"
Outsiders are beautiful and delicate. Delicate because the way that they see the world is not how others see the world. Constantly seeing different from other people wears on the outsider and pressures them to conform.
It is easy to get discouraged.
-Embrace your differences and take pride in them
BRILLIANT Title Track - ties the whole album together like a title track should. I am tempted to comment on the whole album at once when i think of this song.
I have only begun to dissect this. I know there is more here to comment on. I can't explain the "dropped by while i was sleeping" stanza yet except for the fact that Shirley turns around the "joke on you" element of the title on herself
BTW Brilliant title for an Indie album!? The joke is on 'you' so to speak, A Big F**K You towards haters