Lyrics for Warsaw as interpreted by typo

Warsaw Lyrics
3, 5, 0, 1, 2, 5, Go!

I was there in the backstage
when first light came around
I grew up like a changeling
to win the first time around
I can see all the weakness
I can pick all the faults
I concede all the faith tests
just to stick in your throats

3-1-G - 3-1-G - 3-1-G

I hung around in your soundtrack
to mirror all that you've done
To find the right side of reason
to kill the three lies for one
I can see all the cold facts
I can see through your eyes
All this talk made no contact
no matter how hard I tried

3-1-G - 3-1-G - 3-1-G

I can still hear the footsteps
I can see only walls
I slid into your man-traps
with no hearing at all
I just see contradiction
had to give up the fight
Just to live in the past tense
to make believe you were right

3-1-G - 3-1-G - 3-1-G

3, 5, 0, 1, 2, 5

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  • 14 Comments
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alda
04-20-2004

Rated 0 
First Joy Division song I ever heard... sounds very different from the rest of their stuff msuically, although lyrically it has the same underlying tones...

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mightformiracle
01-25-2005

Rated 0 
Can anyone tell me what the significance of the numbers is?
[That sounded really pretentious. I honestly didn't mean for it to]

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1 Reply
das blaue licht
02-16-2005

Rated 0 
"Can anyone tell me what the significance of the numbers is?"

350125 was Rudolf Hess's Prisoner of War serial number after he made his bizarre parachuting adventure into Scotland in the early 1940s. I'm not exactly sure what Rudolf Hess has to do with Warsaw (since as far as I know, he never even set foot in the place), but based on the presence of the numbers, I would say that the song itself refers to Rudolf Hess's admiration/emulation of Adolf Hitler -- his boss and onetime cellmate in the prison they were sent to after the aborted Beer Hall Putsch in the 20s -- and how his increasing dissatisfaction with Hitler's statesmanship and his prosecution of World War II eventually led him to flee the country and attempt to end the war on his own terms without even consulting his superior officer(s). Needless to say, that didn't work out so well for him.

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mightformiracle
03-27-2005

Rated 0 
Wow. Thank you for the information!
I am endlessly amased by Ian's knowledge of Nazi Germany. He was an intelligent chap.

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silencekit
05-03-2005

Rated 0 
What about the "3-1-G!"?

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JohnnyBeBad
06-27-2005

Rated 0 
I heard the song title came from David Bowie's song warszawa off low.As for ''3-1-G''

3 5 0 1 2 5 go
- - -
?

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hahacharade
08-14-2005

Rated 0 
"Warsaw begins with 350125 Go! and 31G appears in the chorus. These numbers appear to refer to Rudolf Hess's prisoner of war number 31G 350125. Around the time this song was written there was quite a lot of interest in the newspapers the prisoner who had been kept more or less in solitary confinement in Spandau prison for several decades. Some people thought he'd been punihed enough and should be released, others thought he should be left to rot."

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Wilf_x
09-29-2006

Rated 0 
I have a feeling that 31-G actually means 31 grand which was the average cost of a one bedroom flat in manchester, england in the 80s.

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i_am_the_law
10-28-2007

Rated 0 
Wilf x, that's deep man, I think if you managed to pull that info out of your hat you're probably right.

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thebodiesobtained
01-21-2008

Rated 0 
Well, I'm assuming the song is about Rudolph Hess. I don't know very much about him, but the few things I've heard seem to fit with this song. The lines, "I was there in the backstage when first light came around" and "Hung around in your soundtrack to mirror all that you've done" could be directed at Hitler from Hess's point of view because Hess was probably in the in crowd from the beginning of the whole Nazi thing and maybe he wanted to be like Hitler. "All this talk made no contact no matter how hard I tried" could mean that he couldn't get close to Hitler or something. I heard that Hitler wasn't really into personal relationships even with his top people. The last stanza seems like it could be Hess's thoughts on being locked up in prison ("I can see only walls," "I slid into your man-traps"). I just see contradiction/Had to give up the fight/Just to live in the past tense/To make believe you were right" sounds like Hess is sitting around in prison maybe having doubts about Nazi philosophy and at some level realizing that it is contradictory but being in denial about it and telling himself that Hitler was right. I think a lot of people retreat to the past tense, to their memories, when they're in prison, because there isn't much going on in the present or the present is too unpleasant for them to deal with.

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2c-easy
03-03-2008

Rated 0 
Its definantly about Rudolf Hess, and for the most part i believe thebodiesobtained has it right. However Hess schooled Hitler in etiquette, he introduced him into the culture, and the middle/upper-class circles they would need to win over if they were to achieve power. Ian was impressed with the all the power and influence Hitler had over the Germans. This makes the first two stanzas have a different interpretation, but i still think the you were right about the last stanza. Also, Hess killed himself at age 93 while still imprisoned.

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cyd
06-01-2008

Rated 0 
was this song in a video game or movie or something? 'cause i downloaded An Ideal for Living today for the first time and i swear i've heard this song before

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The Honest Liar
08-25-2008

Rated 0 
It was in Tony Hawk's Underground 2.

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sexyboy01
11-25-2008

Rated 0 
idk how the brittish mind works but i think its about religion. "i concede all the faith tests" is in first person like the whole song is. he might be talking from Gods point of view. i dont feel like analizing this song line-by-line but think about what i write and plug it in. it makes sense to me at least.

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