Lyrics for Thirty Three as interpreted by starla33

Thirty Three Lyrics
speak to me in a language i can hear
humor me before i have to go
deep in thought i forgive everyone
as the cluttered streets greet me once again
i know i can't be late, supper's waiting on the table
tomorrow's just an excuse away
so I pull my collar up and face the cold, on my own
the earth laughs beneath my heavy feet
at the blasphemy in my old jangly walk
steeple guide me to my heart and home
the sun is out and up and down again
i know i'll make it, love can last forever
graceful swans of never topple to the earth
and you can make it last, forever you
you can make it last, forever you
and for a moment i lose myself
wrapped up in the pleasures of the world
i've journeyed here and there and back again
but in the same old haunts i still find my friends
mysteries not ready to reveal
sympathies i'm ready to return
i'll make the effort, love can last forever
graceful swans of never topple to the earth
tomorrow's just an excuse
and you can make it last, forever you
you can make it last, forever you

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Ethilien
05-15-2002

Rated 0 
this song is so beautiful. billy said it was about his divorce with courtney love i think? he had to move out of his apartment (as the cluttered streets greet me once again). he's hurt by this breakup and believes that maybe they can still hold on to whatever love is left (and you can make it last). he knows he has to get through this and he has his true friends to turn to blahblahblah. and when he was feeling all this pain he felt that life was meaningless and didn't have the will to go on (tomorrow's just an excuse away). oh yeah and he tried to forget about the pain by doing things (and for a moment i lose myself, wrapped up in the pleasures of the world) but it didn't work because the pain was still there (i've journeyed here and there and back again). ok that's all, i just want to say again that this song is beautiful and the video is surreal and lovely and it ROCKS

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y2doggy
05-27-2002

Rated 0 
sounds good Ethilien...I like your interpretation...the only thing I could add is that "home" is a safe place for everyone...it's a sanctuary where all your friends are...even at 33 years of age. That's what i got out of the number. Any other reason for the #?

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addictedjane
06-10-2002

Rated 0 
I can't remember the exact context but it has a link to jesus, who died at the age of 33. billy was also 33 when the pumpkins broke up. if you have the 33 single, it has a picture of jesus on it.

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watchthefireworks
06-12-2002

Rated 0 
On VH1, there is a show called Storytellers, I'm not sure if anyone else saw it, but anyways this was one of the songs that SP permformed on that. Billy said that he had hoped to write songs titled "66" and "99" for Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness as well, but didn't. He wrote the song when he was 27 and he was first experiencing true success with the band, and moved into a beautiful Victorian house with his girlfriend at the time. It's about his happiness lasting. And also there was something mentioned about a tarot card reader who told him he would be at his most successful/happiest point in his life/career when he was 33. (By the way, I may have gotten some things a little hazy because this a couple of weeks ago and this is just what I remember of it.) Oh yeah... and this is my favourite Smashing Pumpkins' song.

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Pheav
06-12-2002

Rated 0 
Regardless of what Bill has said i still believe that this song is about christ's crucufixion. I mean when I first heard the # 33 I immediatly thought of the age jesus died and then the lyrics about "supper and the earth benieith my heavy feat adn blasphemy in my old jangly walk" all make me think of the last supper adn jesus's carrying of the cross. But hey it could just be a coincidence.

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watchthefireworks
06-13-2002

Rated 0 
Hey... i am just going by what HE said. I'm sure he knows more than anyone else would.

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Nowhere_Girl
07-07-2002

Rated 0 
I really like this song...
I don't know exactly what it means...
Billy's a genius..
I love him

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rh_kida
07-30-2002

Rated 0 
its one of the very rare songs that you just cant find any better lyric to the music.
i agree that there is a very strong religious relation in the song, and Billys comparing the suffering of Jesus to his depression, so hes seeing Jesus as a role model, how he was able to *face the cold alone*. the fact that theyre using a series of photographs for the music video is because the song is about capturing the very beautiful moment of yer life (like at the end of the video when James and Darcy were on the swings!!). and love can make all beautiful things last forever.

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Lil_Shell
08-02-2002

Rated 0 
This is my favorite Smashing Pumpkins song of all time. I totally agree rh_kida, there's just no way to expand on the lyrics he wrote. Although maybe he also choose the words he did so it could be flexible, able to bend to religious context and his own life, as well as anyone else who could relate to it. He really captures a beautiful feelings though. The music is extraordinary.

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Lil_Shell
08-02-2002

Rated 0 
This is my favorite Smashing Pumpkins song of all time. I totally agree rh_kida, there's just no way to expand on the lyrics he wrote. Although maybe he also choose the words he did so it could be flexible, able to bend to religious context and his own life, as well as anyone else who could relate to it. He really captures a beautiful feelings though. The music is extraordinary.

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starlightfading
08-18-2002

Rated 0 
ethilien's explanation was good. to me, this song sorta signified the end of some beautiful, but difficult relationship. he started to collect his thoughts by walking around and "forgiving everyone" for just going about their way, insensitive to his pain [i think i feel that way a lot, which is why i interpreted it as such]. its a really great song, though.. let it be whatever you want it to be.

FAVORITE PART: [depends on mood]

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Iris8
08-25-2002

Rated 0 
Why does everything have to be about breaking up and love affairs???

I think this song is anything but. I don't really buy into the religious references either. I think this song is about getting to the top. It's about his career and where he came from to be where he is right now. Seems from his many songs that his childhood wasn't very happy but in this song he's suggesting he's willing to move on and not hold grudges.

"but in the same old haunts i still find my friends
mysteries not ready to reveal
sympathies i'm ready to return"



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Searchin4AnimalChin
09-04-2002

Rated 0 
I've been listening to this song since I was about ten years old... I really don't want to think that this song has anything to to with Courtney Love, so officially, it DOESN'T... lol. I don't think that this has anything to do with breaking up... I've heard from many sources that the title came from a back of a Rolling Rock bottle... I was always sceptical, but several years ago, I looked, and there it was.... will someone PLEASE help me with the Graceful Swans of Never..??? Ironically, they keep returning to me somehow.. I've seen references to them on the SP website as well....

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Searchin4AnimalChin
09-04-2002

Rated 0 
I've been listening to this song since I was about ten years old... I really don't want to think that this song has anything to to with Courtney Love, so officially, it DOESN'T... lol. I don't think that this has anything to do with breaking up... I've heard from many sources that the title came from a back of a Rolling Rock bottle... I was always sceptical, but several years ago, I looked, and there it was.... will someone PLEASE help me with the Graceful Swans of Never..??? Ironically, they keep returning to me somehow.. I've seen references to them on the SP website as well....

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bngipson
09-14-2002

Rated -1 
Well, in the beginning I thought Billy was talking about a relationship, but one day it all hit me. I personally think it's about Jesus last days on earth. He was crucified when he was 33....

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Crapy91
04-08-2003

Rated 0 
It has to be about Jesus!

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Redlight
04-20-2003

Rated 0 
This was pretty much our class song in high school :)
class of 2001 !!

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Status
04-26-2003

Rated -1 
This has been explored in depth at http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Alley/9278/33.txt , and there's really nothing I could add that the original author didn't.

Billy, you may have figured by now, frequently lies about the meanings of his songs. ^_^;;

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darrenr
06-30-2003

Rated 0 
well billy has said he got the inspiration for the title off the back of a rolling rock bottle... the mysterious "33"... of course this has nothing to do with the actual song's meaning.

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emilystarnes
07-01-2003

Rated 0 
whether he meant it or not, (which i'm almost sure he did because the biblical allusions and references to the crucifiction are blatant if you look for them), this song is about Jesus's last couple days as a mortal.
He was 33 when crucified, he "forgives everyone", the cluttered streets that greet him refer to the thousands of the lame and sick that beg to be touched and healed, the "supper" that's waiting on the table refers to the Last Supper with his disciples on the night before he died, "steeple guide me to my heart and home" alludes to God the Father leading him to remain faithful even though he's about to be crucified though he could prove his power by one simple miracle.
i love this song. it took me scrounging up meloncholy (what a great collection) a couple years after it was released to understand the meaning. i was in like, 5th grade or something when it first came out so i listened to it without really reflecting on the lyrics

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Deathcab4Chrissy
10-27-2004

Rated 0 
wow...I have heard this song before but i never really realized what it was...I jsut heard it on the car ride home today and I was taken away by this song. It is so beautiful...it reminds me of my boyfriend and I(corny i know but whatever) it is simply amazing...i'm not really a big pumpkins fan but this is such a great song...it makes me cry.

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Searchin4AnimalChin
11-10-2004

Rated 0 
::chuckles to self:: we've got originality in the house! wait, let me guess. you're stalking me in my music, too? i'm fucken amused. here, let me save you the trouble:

tonight, tonight
here is no why
ava adore
more life in a tramps vest
white trash heroes
where did you sleep last night
every you every me
nights in white satin
apache rose peacock
bro hymn
the freshmen
the KKK took my baby away
war or hands of time
you're the one
smells like teen spirit
black hole sun
glycerine
haha you're dead
bleed american
best of jill hives
back to the lake
and finally, to top it all off:
CECILIA
(then, and only then will your dream of finally becoming me! no, just kidding you'll still be someone stalking some chick and ripping off her music ha. seriously. this song was released ten years ago. get with the program. its lyrics are painted on my bedroom ceiling, you douche. how embarrest you must feel)

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Duiel
11-22-2004

Rated 0 
You're right...the 33 is from a bottle...well, that's what I've heard. It seems like everyone has heard Billy say something different about it. What I heard is that he had just gotten home from the Siamese Dream tour and that was the first thing that came out. And it seems to fit the purpose...about being home again after a long time. It's funny how many of these songs I can relate to :)
And Billy didn't write much religious stuff before Machina came along...that's where it really started.

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buffstuff34
11-24-2004

Rated 0 
ok, let me go way further on what EMILYSTARNES wrote: speak to me in a language i can hear - JESUS TEACHING PRAYER TO THE MANY WHO DIDN'T KNOW
humor me before i have to go-JUDAS LYING TO HIM
deep in thought i forgive everyone -FORGIVENESS
as the cluttered streets greet me once again -THE MASSES OF PEOPLE ON PALM SUNDAY
i know i can't be late, supper's waiting on the table -JESUS GOING TO HEAVEN, AND HE KNOWS IT...THEN THE LAST SUPPER
tomorrow's just an excuse away -JESUS COULD DENOUNCE EVERYTHING AND STAY ALIVE...HIS EXCUSE.
so I pull my collar up and face the cold, on my own -NO ONE ELSE IS DYING, AND SIMON WILL NOT VOUCH FOR JESUS DURING THE MARCH TO SKULL MOUNTAIN
the earth laughs beneath my heavy feet -THE CARRYING OF THE CROSS
at the blasphemy in my old jangly walk -HE IS WEAK FROM THE WEIGHT AND THE BEATINGS HE TOOK
steeple guide me to my heart and home -THE TRIANGLE OF CRUCIFIXIONS, WITH JESUS AT THE PINNACLE
the sun is out and up and down again-AFTER HE DIES, IT GETS DARK AND STARTS RAINING
i know i'll make it, love can last forever -JESUS'S ETERNAL LOVE
graceful swans of never topple to the earth THE MIRACLES OF JESUS
and you can make it last, forever you
you can make it last, forever you
and for a moment i lose myself
wrapped up in the pleasures of the world-JESUS LOOKING AT THE GOOD WORK HE DID
i've journeyed here and there and back again-JESUS HAS BEEN TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH A MILLION TIMES
but in the same old haunts i still find my friends -THE CHURCH AND PLACES WHERE THE APOSTLES WOULD CONGREGATE WITH JESUS
mysteries not ready to reveal -THE MYSTERY OF GOD
sympathies i'm ready to return -THE LAST SUPPER AND THE "TAKE AND EAT" SPEECH
i'll make the effort, love can last forever
graceful swans of never topple to the earth
tomorrow's just an excuse
and you can make it last, forever you
you can make it last, forever you

THAT'S WHAT THIS SONG IS ABOUT, LEARN SOMETHING HERE!!!!

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tsubaki
11-26-2004

Rated +1 
wow thanks so much buffstuff34!! i agree wif most of the stuff youd said. so as we all know, the lyric speaks of the final hours of jesus, but id like to point at the title thirtythree, its the age when jesus died, so to be more specific, this song is about what happened WHEN jesus died. "tomorrow's just an excuse away", like how buffstuff34 had put it, he couldve *not* died. but what had to come would eventually come, like tomorrow, however we hate what we know is going to happen, it will eventually come. so lets cut the excuses, tomorrow will come, but we should not be afraid, bcos "love can last forever" and most importantly "YOU can make it last forever", as the word "you" is repeated over and over again; its also the last word of the song indicating "you" are the most important in making love last forever. and i think this would be like the theme of this song. like, everyone, sometimes we know that although weve had a lot of bad times already, worse things are still waiting, but since what needs to come will come, let us throw away our "excuse[s]" bcos "love can last forever" and "you can make it last, forever you"!

( i hope i havent repeated myself!!)

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