take me down
6 underground
the ground beneath your feet
laid out low
nothing to go
nowhere a way to meet.
i've got a head full of drought
down here
so far off of losing out
round here
Overground, watch this space
I'm open to falling from grace.
calm me down
bring it round
too way high off your street
i can see
like nothing else
in me
you're better than I wannabe
don't think 'cos i understand
i care,
don't think 'cos i'm talking
we're friends
Overground, watch this space
I'm open to falling from grace
talk me down
safe and sound,
too strung up to sleep
wear me out
scream and shout
swear my time's never cheap
i fake my life like i've lived
too much,
i take whatever you're given; not enough,
Overground, watch this
space, I'm open
i fake my life like i've lived
too much,
i take whatever you're given; not enough,
Overground, watch this
space, I'm open
to falling
from grace.
6 underground
the ground beneath your feet
laid out low
nothing to go
nowhere a way to meet.
i've got a head full of drought
down here
so far off of losing out
round here
Overground, watch this space
I'm open to falling from grace.
calm me down
bring it round
too way high off your street
i can see
like nothing else
in me
you're better than I wannabe
don't think 'cos i understand
i care,
don't think 'cos i'm talking
we're friends
Overground, watch this space
I'm open to falling from grace
talk me down
safe and sound,
too strung up to sleep
wear me out
scream and shout
swear my time's never cheap
i fake my life like i've lived
too much,
i take whatever you're given; not enough,
Overground, watch this
space, I'm open
i fake my life like i've lived
too much,
i take whatever you're given; not enough,
Overground, watch this
space, I'm open
to falling
from grace.
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!
Here are the correct lyrics, followed by my interpretation.
I'm on tilt, I'm on tilt, I'm on tilt...
Take me down
Six underground
The ground beneath your feet
I'm on tilt, I'm on tilt, I'm on tilt...
Laid out low
Nothing to go
Nowhere a way to meet
I'm on tilt, I'm on tilt, I'm on tilt...
I've got a head full of drought
Down here
So far from losing out
Round here
Overground
Watch this space
I'm open
To falling from grace
I'm on tilt, I'm on tilt, I'm on tilt...
Calm me down
Bring it round
Too way high off your street
I'm on tilt, I'm on tilt, I'm on tilt...
I can see
Like nothing else
In me you're better than I wanna be
I'm on tilt, I'm on tilt, I'm on tilt...
Don't think 'cos I understand
I care
Don't think 'cos I'm talking
We're friends
Overground
Watch this space
I'm open
To falling from grace
Talk me down
Safe and sound
Too strung up to sleep
I'm on tilt, I'm on tilt, I'm on tilt...
Wear me out
Scream and shout
Swear my time's never cheap
I fake my life like I bleed
Too much
I'll take whatever you're giving
Not enough
Overground
Watch this space
I'm open
I fake my life like I bleed
Too much
I'll take whatever you're giving
Not enough
Overground
Watch this space
I'm open
To falling from grace
I'm on tilt, I'm on tilt, I'm on tilt...
I'm on tilt, I'm on tilt, I'm on tilt...
I'm on tilt, I'm on tilt, I'm on tilt...
I'm on tilt, I'm on tilt, I'm on tilt...
This song is about a girl who is in a messed up relationship that is breaking her heart.
We've all been there, right girls?
I'm on tilt, I'm on tilt, I'm on tilt...
*A poker reference, but a description of how it feels when you are off kilter - angry - upset. Acting out because of the overwhelming emotions coursing though you.*
Take me down
Six underground
The ground beneath your feet
*This is her saying that their relationship is bringing her down. It is making her "tilt" and as such, she is in a state of chaos and upset. He brings her down with his inability to love. Perhaps he is cold... or maybe he cheats. Maybe he’s on drugs. Either way, the experience of loving this man is dragging her down into a place that feels like death/destruction.*
I'm on tilt, I'm on tilt, I'm on tilt...
Laid out low
Nothing to go
Nowhere a way to meet
*Try as they might, they can't have a "meeting of the minds" or any accord. The discord is laying her out - making her exhausted and sad all the time. She recognizes that there's no way to fix it.*
I've got a head full of drought
Down here
*Her mind is filled with the dry, loveless nature of their union. She is obsessed with thoughts of his inability to love her. It's like being in the dessert with no water - the liquid she needs is his love, but he can't give it.*
So far from losing out
Round here
*She isn't ready to let go of the relationship even though it's killing her.*
Overground
Watch this space
I'm open
To falling from grace
*She will allow herself to hit bottom because she loves him too much to leave him... even though he is hurting her so deeply. How many times have we been here - a place where we recognize the pain and the hopelessness, but aren't ready yet to break free?*
I'm on tilt, I'm on tilt, I'm on tilt...
Calm me down
Bring it round
Too way high off your street
*She knows she is healthier than him emotionally - thus she is "higher than his street." But at this juncture, it doesn't matter - she's still trying to get through to him and can’t let go yet – most likely be cause she has never loved anyone this strongly.*
I'm on tilt, I'm on tilt, I'm on tilt...
I can see
Like nothing else
In me you're better than I wanna be
*She makes him better by loving him (she is the good in him), but his dearth of love (or inability to share real love with her) is strangling the good in HER. She is sacrificing who she is for their relationship - she doesn't even want to be a better person anymore because to do so would be to close the chapter on this relationship.*
I'm on tilt, I'm on tilt, I'm on tilt...
Don't think 'cos I understand
I care
Don't think 'cos I'm talking
We're friends
*Here she is echoing his words or attitude toward her. He is not able to be her friend or put her first. He is too caught up in his own decline/misery. In her anger and resentment, she too becomes an enemy... unable to be HIS friend anymore because she is too angry and resentful. Yet she is still trapped by the intensity of her love for him.*
Overground
Watch this space
I’m open
To falling from grace
Talk me down
Safe and sound
Too strung up to sleep
*Could be a reference to drugs, which could certainly explain why he isn't able to be a healthy partner to her, but you could also be stung out (or "strung up") on the negative emotions you are feeling in a chaotic and miserable relationship. It's easy to imagine that you would not be able to sleep at night when you feel so strongly for someone who is treating you like crap. Perhaps HE is on drugs and she is referring to him getting wired and lying next to her at night not sleeping - caught in his addiction. Or - maybe she is doing drugs with him... this is open to interpretation.*
I'm on tilt, I'm on tilt, I'm on tilt...
Wear me out
Scream and shout
*They fight a lot. The fighting is wearing her out.*
Swear my time's never cheap
*There's a huge price to be paid for the time she spends trying to work on the relationship. Her heart is breaking... suffocating. These are the wages of her addiction to him."
I fake my life like I bleed
Too much
*She's pretending she's OK - she's faking it. The reference to her bleeding is speaking to her pain. It's too much to bear.*
I'll take whatever you're giving
Not enough
*Again - she's too in love to walk away, so she's sentenced herself to taking whatever he's giving her emotionally, though it is clearly not enough.*
By; Mark A. Jones
Take me down, 6 underground,
The ground beneath your feet,
-In reference to being consumed by death, and buried six feet underground.
Laid out low, nothing to go
Nowhere a way to meet
-Laying here dead with no place to go, and no way to meet with. Lying in the bed you've made for yourself.
I've got a head full of drought', Down here
-Drought is an extended period without water in a region, but in the song I believe it to be a metaphor for a head full of empty thoughts (death basically) meaning the song writer is describing what it means to be dead.
DOWN HERE... To me say descended (down) into hell, FALLEN FROM GRACE... suggest hell also.
So far off losing out, round here
-Missing out on the life the writer once had, because he/she is dead.
Chorus:
Overground, watch this space
-A funeral gathering of friends and family watching where the tragic victim now lies.
I'm open to falling from grace...
- IM OPEN TO FALLING FROM GRACE... to me suggests suicide. The taking of your own life is a fall from grace, or damnation, hell basically.
Verse one of the song is basically the end result of the tellers story, being told in the first person in a past-tense. How do I know this, you ask? I'M OPEN... Suggest first person.
Calm me down, bring it round
- In reference to rescuers calming a person wanting to jump. BRING IT ROUND... could refer to a safety net, or air mattress for jumpers possibly.
Too way high off your street
- A high rise, ledge or rooftop. Basically a fall that would surely kill a person.
I can see, like nothing else
- He/She is looking down, while everyone else would be looking up. LIKE NOTHING ELSE... suggest he/she is alone up there.
In me you're better than I wannabe
- This part of the song suggest another person involved in the story. Perhaps a loved one? Who values the writers life, more than the writer values their own. IN ME... May suggest inner thoughts. Perhaps the the jumpers last thoughts???
Don't think 'cos I understand, I care
Don't think 'cos I'm talking, were friends
- This part of the song I believe means just what it say... Even though the people (rescuers) mean well in their attempts, the jumper sympathizes with what they have to say, and yet doesn't care, and neither considers them to be friends. FRIENDS is plural, which may suggest a mass is gathered below.
Verse two is the events leading up to verse one. It basically describes how he/she died.
Talk me down, safe and sound
-This part of the song describes a friend, or loved one trying to calm the user down (drugs)... This part of the song suggest some sort of paranoia. Which to me suggest "Crack Cocaine".
I've seen what this stuff does to people, and this drug was very popular right around the era of this song.
Too strung up to sleep
- The user is too high to sleep. Which is common in crack smokers.
Wear me out, scream and shout
The user has become worn out, and hysterical.
Swear my times never cheap
- The consequences of use are costly over time.
I fake my life like I've lived, Too Much
- This suggests that the users masks the life he/she has come to know. who tries to appear normal on the surface, when it's anything but. I imagine someone like this would feel alone.
TOO MUCH... refers to the life the user has lived. A fast life, which is refered to by many as a life of drug use.
I take what ever you're given, Not enough
- I believe this part of the song refers to the high you get from the drug. Much like the crack high people chase, which is never enough.. Or so I've heard.
Verse three is basically the start of the writers story, the beginning/cause of how the writer ends up six feet underground.
In short, the story is being told backwards in the first person in a past tense... Effect back to cause. Which takes place at their funeral, and describes the events leading up to their death.
This is just my interpretation of the song. I'm sure it could be be interpreted many other ways, but thats what makes this song so engenious. It really gets you thinking. Hats off to the Sneeker Pimps. A really well written song, with a mysterious quality. Truely I say this song is poetry in motion.
"I take whatever you're given (?)" I think that's more like "I take whatever you're giving"
The clip shows a fat guy on a couch in front of the TV with a big slice of pizza on his belly. A reference to greed then. Continuing to live in denial while knowing perfectly well that we should be revolting in the face of absolute injustice, is comparable to prostitution which a lot of people picked up on. For all the techy gadgets and money and cars and house and power and jewellery and comfort in doing their best to ignore what they are well aware of, most people choose to sacrifice ethics. She's pissed off that people continue to live this way and is basically calling the general public a bunch of whores. I have always had a strong attraction to this song. Now that I actually understand it, it has officially become one of my all-time favourites. Dark and edgy and powerful song. The story of the movie "the saint" involved technology that belonged to the world but was coveted by the authorities (governments, criminal organizations - which is the same thing come to think of it) who were more than ready to kill "the saint" and any other innocent person in the way to profit from the discovery rather than having it being shared with the world. This song being picked as a soundtrack piece was no accident.
The entire first verse is the thoughts of a girl who wants to die (likely by suicide).
She seems to be cognicent of everything death entails,i.e. being unable to move or communicate.
However, in this, she seems not to grasp her own lack of conciousness in the grave.
The bridge entails "Watch over me in the grave."
And then, of course, she details the manner in which she plans to kill herself:
"I'm open to falling from grace." (I.e. the favor of her loved ones)
In the next verse, she's chased off her own doubt and ascended a tall building.
"Way high off your street/I can see like nothing else" She takes in the view and prepares to jump.
She has a moment of doubt thinking of a particular loved one: "In me, you're better than I want to be."
She wants to jump, numb, but is frustrated by momentary guilt by thoughts of that close loved one.
A bystander(or another jumper?)tries to sympathize with her. She solidifies her position to him/her.
"Don't think that because i understand that I care. Don't think that because I'm talking we're friends."
I.e. It's a big "Fuck You."
Still prepared to jump, she is foiled(by the authorites?).
She's "Talked down, safe and sound." This is upsetting to her, but numb as she is, she can't really care.
The adrenaline rush she's experiencing from her survival insticts kicking in prevents her from sleeping.
The loved one who's memory gave her pause screams at her that her time is valuable.
(I.e: "What the hell were you thinking?")She's completely numb, emotionlly exhausted by the hysterics.
In the end, she admits that she fakes her way through life unaware of what to feel. (sociopath?)
Otherwise, perhaps she just loves the sadness and purposely creates a more difficult life for herself.
She takes up all the time, money and emotional energy of her loved one, but remains unsatisfied.
Sad but true. I love this song.
This song's meaning became clear to me when I recalled that in Shakespearean literature, having sex was often compared to dying and going to heaven. (Forgive me, I was an English major in college.) The girl is saying, essentially, "I'm open to falling from grace." To put it more bluntly, she's saying "I want to lose my virginity to you."
I believe she is open to sex because she keeps on making references to sex: "laid out", "strung up", "Wear me out", "scream and shout", "swear my time's never cheap" are the more obvious sexual statements. Why does she want to have sex? Sounds like she's a bit stressed out by life right now: "Calm me down", "I fake my life like I've lived". And finally, although she thinks the guy is really amazing, but she is implying she wants simply wants a one night stand: "In me you're better than I wannabe/Don't think 'cos I understand, /I care, don't think 'cos I'm talking we're friends."
The reason why the song is so ambiguous is because the singer is pretending she is innocent, but she is really not. If she were that innocent, she wouldn't want so badly to be corrupted.
I hope this helps. It's a rather challenging song to interpret.
At least that's how I interpret that line. Otherwise for me the song is just pretty with not much meaning.
Either way this song is definitely haunting. This song is about pushing life as hard as you can and then ending up 6 underground like you would either way.