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He's had enough
He couldn't take anymore
He found a place in his mind
And slammed the door
No matter how they tried
They couldn't understand
They washed and dressed him
Fed him by hand
Yeah! I've left the world behind
I'm safe here in my mind
I'm free to speak with my own kind
This is my life, this is my life
I'll decide not you
Withdrawn he sat there
Staring into space
No sign of life
Would flicker on his face
Until one day he smiled
It seemed as though with pride
The wind kissed him goodbye
And then he died
Yeah! I've left the world behind
I'm safe here in my mind
I'm free to speak with my own kind
This is my life, this is my life
I'll decide not you
Keep the world with all its sin
It's not fit for livin' in
Yeah! I will start again
It can take forever, and ever
Whatever, whenever, but I'll still win
How many like him
Are they still
Who to us all
Seem to have lost the will
They lie in thousands
Lank and lost
Is knowledge worth this bitter cost
Beyond the realms of death
He couldn't take anymore
He found a place in his mind
And slammed the door
No matter how they tried
They couldn't understand
They washed and dressed him
Fed him by hand
Yeah! I've left the world behind
I'm safe here in my mind
I'm free to speak with my own kind
This is my life, this is my life
I'll decide not you
Withdrawn he sat there
Staring into space
No sign of life
Would flicker on his face
Until one day he smiled
It seemed as though with pride
The wind kissed him goodbye
And then he died
Yeah! I've left the world behind
I'm safe here in my mind
I'm free to speak with my own kind
This is my life, this is my life
I'll decide not you
Keep the world with all its sin
It's not fit for livin' in
Yeah! I will start again
It can take forever, and ever
Whatever, whenever, but I'll still win
How many like him
Are they still
Who to us all
Seem to have lost the will
They lie in thousands
Lank and lost
Is knowledge worth this bitter cost
Beyond the realms of death
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I think the lyrics are more clearly about angsty suicide and this is the more blatant message. It doesn't say "go do it" as much as it says "yea, I get it" to the suicidal teen spirit. I would argue that its double meaning about drugs is really an easy mask to foil the accusation that it is a relatively positive take on suicide, priest can always say "what do you mean its not about suicide its about drugs" but in context I think this is just a veneer over the blackness at the heart of the masterpiece.
Also, let's think this is the second to last song on the album with "better by you better than me" the song after, the last song, is about how you have to die to become a hero, very literally. This is what killed those kids, I don't mean that the fact that it is sympathetic to suicide is really an excuse for those kids killing themselves (just cuz priest makes complex art doesnt mean they should be legally culpable for how the weak minded take it) but I do think that this is what did it.
Why would they be retarded and sue over backmasking when its all forward right here at the end of the album?
It is about suicide. This is what made that famous suicide in priest history. It doesn't reflect on priest and make the religious dumbfucks right it just makes this song even that much more awesome!!!
but i connected with it through drug use cuz it talks about being beyond this world and all the crap (such as power hungry people that only want u to live the way they want u to and all the rest of the corruption that is around) when all u want to do is live your life the way u like and find peace of mind
but the rest of the world wont let u so, u say hell with it il find it some where else so u then close your self from this world and look for peace in your mind where their u are in control (safe) and the world no longer matters so u smile knowing what your looking for cant be found on earth but beyond it because death is only something of this world. as described in the second verse from a perspective of someone on earth. now the 3rd verse is a big connection for me because im one of those people that to u all ive lost the will to live that is because dugs changed the way i look at this world and it made me realize that what im looking for cant be found here but beyond this realm beyond death.(the song the seeker by the who also comes to mind) and thats what makes it sad is there nothing worth the biter cost of knowing that this world is meaningless
but hey its the metal that keeps me goin with out it i would have to be washed and dressed and fed by hand.
Although this has been one of my favorite Judas Priest since forever, I never really thought about the lyrics; and it just occurred to me that this song is about someone who chooses to escape the harsh realities of this world by use of drugs. It is well known that drug abuse is a theme that judas priest has talked about before (Dreamer deceiver for example). I mean, it totally makes sense: sitting withdrawn, staring blank into space without any other kind of interest.. and it also fits with when he says that there's thousands others, lank and lost. (people who abuse drugs like acid, meth or heroin end up losing a lot of weight and looking like ghosts).
I'm not saying this is definitely what the song is about, but it definitely deserves a closer look.
For those who compare this song to metallica's "one", i could also see how it could be about a veteran scarred by the tragedies of war, although that doesn't explain the "i am free to speak with my own kind / this is my life, i'll decide not you"; that fits much better with the theme of drug abuse, since the way of life he's talking about is obviously a conscious choice.
any thoughts on this?