to the center of the earth
or anywhere god decides
for the fever pulling forth
we hear our call is all

and to the center of the earth
as if written in
and dna is regenomed
to your frequency

i want to live
and don't want to die
i want to live
i want to try

all in prayer
prayer ends all
all are scared
scared of love

black room are calling
to men in leather coats
white labs are cooking
up the silver golds
the glass migrates under
a translucent skin
and all the spiders wonder
what we've got us in

all is you
you are all
all with you
you ends all

i want to live
i don't want to die
i want to live
i want to try

so, it's all very obtuse
because it's all like, like, i don't know
so, like, i started thinking
that everything i operate on
is based on what i believe god was telling me to do
god could be my intuition or whatever
but i always assume
i always assume that the voice i hear is the voice of god
then i started thinking
what if i'm insane
so i'm operating on the premise
that i'm hearing the voice of god
or what i perceive to be god speaking to me
or through me
but maybe i'm completly in...
so all my...
demagoguery in my life about me thinking that my life has importance
my, my..
thinking that my life has importance
my, my, my thought of it
and the fact that i believe that i'm following my intuition
which in and of itself may be completely false
so then i started freaking out thinking...
of itself may be completely false
and again this creature that believes that he's acting upon
heavenly intuition, but meanwhile he's totally rampant
and i started thinking maybe this is the cause
of all the negativity against...
and i started thinking maybe this is the cause
of all the negativity against...
and i started thinking maybe this is the cause
of all the negativity against...

so meets the final coda
of our vinyl storm
one more cherry cola
to lift up our dead arms
a dream of soft-focused sunsets
filters through the din
we are losing contact
as she dials it in
she can hear glass callin'
or is it someone that looks like him
she eyes tv reflection
and nods a knowing look
she says it doesn't matter
she'd never liked her looks
i have seen a thousand fractures
i have seen everything
cause knowing is its own answer
love something in a book
there's not much left to ponder
not much left to cook
as she counted the spiders
as they crawled up inside her
as she counted the spiders
as they crawled up inside her
as she counted the spiders
as they crawled up inside her
as she counted the spiders
as they crawled up inside her
as she counted the spiders
as they crawled up inside her
as she counted the spiders, oh



Lyrics submitted by Ice

Track duration: 09:56


Glass + the Ghost Children song meanings
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26 Comments

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  • +1
    General Comment:I feel much of the song is about the realization that everything Glass (the main character) understood to be true could just be in his mind. Glass had believed God was speaking to him and letting him know that his life had a greater purpose. This is the the fear induced by self doubt.

    I also think there is definitely a dual personality theme. Where the main character has two sides: Zero and Glass. Zero is persona of depression, worthlessness, and despair as characterized by much of the early SP music. Glass is the persona that matches how Billy later was later taking on at this point in his life. I think Billy/Glass came to believe God was speaking to him somehow, and he had a purpose far greater in life. Whether that is true or not, he is questioning his beliefs and that scares him.

    I think this song is about his doubts and fears of what he had thought to be an enlightenment, he though he was seeing things as clear as glass, but mostly because life still seems to go on the same depressing way - Zero's persona seems to be creeping back in. To quote the song Zero: "I'm your Zero, I'm the face in your dreams of Glass"
    Flag Vigoon November 24, 2010   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:My interpretation of glass and ghost children is schizophrenia. This explains why the song is written in fragments. I don't really think it is supposed to make much sense. The man who begins to speak, seems to be speaking to a psychiatrist. If you look up the word, you'll see that the people who are diagnosed may say that they see things or hear voices. The song makes sense to me in this manner, but I am not the one who wrote the song so, who knows what it could really mean......Only Billy of course. ;)
    Flag jadedguitarson April 01, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:like most have mentioned definitly god meaning and keeps the theme of the album. the song title makes me look at the album cover and think of an embryo in glass. the song is talking about genetic engineering and cloning, humans playing god, with their machinas.
    Flag justathoton February 22, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:The whole Machina album is a sort of fictionalized, dramatized version of the Smashing Pumpkins itself. Billy was sort of taking the piss out of the public's and media's portrayal of the Smashing Pumpkins, its fans and himself.

    I think a lot of the imagery in this song is lifted straight from David Bowie's song "Glass Spider" (on his Never Let Me Down album) and I doubt it's by accident. Machina II has a few Bowie/Ziggy Stardust references as well, Ziggy Stardust & the Spiders From Mars being the ultimate fictionalized rock band of course.

    Like Ziggy Stardust, Machina was just pure theatrics.
    Flag telegramsam17on December 14, 2009   Link
  • -2
    General Comment:It amazes me how much misunderstanding there is over something so incredibly simple to grasp. Who gives a shit about who was thinking what when they wrote what, pointing that out doesn't matter, because you end up talking in circles around the big picture. You're like scientists trying to figure out where electrons go when they dissapear into nothing. If you've ever spent one focused moment assessing your place in the universe, these lyrics will make perfect sense to you. I can understand why the man who writes such things is so frustrated at his 'fans'. He's just trying to show you a way.

    Shut up and listen and live and understand. If you dont, you probably never will.
    Flag rozwolfhearton December 27, 2008   Link
  • -1
    General Comment:This song goes along with the story that was written for the album.
    A story about a man named Zero that claimed to hear the voice of god. And if you read the lyrics you can find out other stuff about this story. Smashing Pumpkins is my 5th favorite band,but the lyrics in the middle part just prove how selfish Billy Corgan is. How he says a man named Zero heard the voice of god,hmm perhaps Zero is Billy Corgan.Afterall he did write a song called Zero in which he says "Im your Zero" and then there was everybody that used to wear the SP "ZERO" shirts back in the mid- 90's.
    Also,he opnce referred th Smashing Pumpkins as the "Billy Corgan Band" Great songwriter,but he is the biggest ego-freak ever!
    Flag master_erkon June 07, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:If you listen from 4:38 you can hear the piano which is the same as the intro to "Deux machina" on Machina II

    I think it's that song anyway, correct me if otherwise. =]
    Flag Kerriganon September 23, 2007   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:I absolutely love this song. it's so... eerie.
    i don't really know what it means, (like most of the smashing pumpkins songs!) but i always thought it was about how we all do what we are called to do, and that there is no escape, and then we start to doubt... and that our thoughts and faith and impulse could all just be a crazy lie that your mind has made up.
    Flag erraticityon August 10, 2007   Link
  • -3
    General Comment:I don't mean to sound like a jerk, but as I go through this website, I can't help but realize that no one actually listens to songs anymore, or even attempts to understand their meaning. And when and/or if they do, it's always some selfish interpretation derived from their own life. Not that that's bad thing but you all still miss the big picture. YES, this is a concept album, albeit not too hard to figure out. Basically, the entire album is about God and Us (or Christ).
    Flag RadioKoRnon June 04, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I could make a book on this song and the whole Machina concept.. but that would be redundant..
    Lyrics are off in a few places..

    We here our call AS all

    DNA is REACHING OUT

    I don't want to die

    Prayer IN all

    Scared of ALL

    Black roomS are calling
    To men in leather coats
    White labs are cooking
    Up the silver GHOST

    You IN all

    and various other errors..
    Flag chinosomaon May 16, 2007   Link

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