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Stranger than your sympathy
And this is my apology
I've been killing myself from the inside out
And all my fears have pushed you out
I wish for things that I don't need
All I wanted
And what I chase won't set me free
It's all I wanted
And I get scared but I'm not crawling on my knees
Oh yeah everything's all wrong yeah
Everything's all wrong yeah
Stranger than your sympathy
I take these things so I don't feel
And all these thoughts from the inside out
Now my head's been filled with doubt
It's hard to lead the life you choose
All I wanted
When all your luck's run out on you
All I wanted
And you can't see when all your dreams are coming true
Oh yeah it's easy to forget yeah
And you choke on the regrets yeah
Stranger than your sympathy
All these thoughts you stole from me
I'm not sure where I belong
Nowhere's home and I'm all wrong
And I wasn't all the things
I tried to make believe I was
And I wouldn't be the one to kneel
Before the dreams I wanted
And all the talk and all the lies
Were all the empty things disguised as me
Yeah
Stranger than your sympathy
Stranger than your sympathy
And this is my apology
I've been killing myself from the inside out
And all my fears have pushed you out
I wish for things that I don't need
All I wanted
And what I chase won't set me free
It's all I wanted
And I get scared but I'm not crawling on my knees
Oh yeah everything's all wrong yeah
Everything's all wrong yeah
Stranger than your sympathy
I take these things so I don't feel
And all these thoughts from the inside out
Now my head's been filled with doubt
It's hard to lead the life you choose
All I wanted
When all your luck's run out on you
All I wanted
And you can't see when all your dreams are coming true
Oh yeah it's easy to forget yeah
And you choke on the regrets yeah
Stranger than your sympathy
All these thoughts you stole from me
I'm not sure where I belong
Nowhere's home and I'm all wrong
And I wasn't all the things
I tried to make believe I was
And I wouldn't be the one to kneel
Before the dreams I wanted
And all the talk and all the lies
Were all the empty things disguised as me
Yeah
Stranger than your sympathy
Stranger than your sympathy
Lyrics submitted by WinterzEnd
Track duration: 02:58
"Sympathy" as written by John Rzeznik
Lyrics © EMI Music Publishing
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I don't remember much from that time, finding this song has helped me not feel so alone in how i am feeling, trying to get my head around actually being able to feel.
My take, as I'm sure it's been done before but haven't read through all the comments, is that Johnny is in somewhat of an argument - with himself. I get to that because the "All I wanted" (which is throughout the whole song), to me anyway, is like a response to the previous line, an excuse almost. He wanted things he didn't need and chase things that would set him free, the life he chose IS hard, but he chose it and at some point in time, it got so hard and "luck ran out" (maybe the consequences of being simply who he is) It's an "internal" song, mixed with what he is thinking of saying to someone. A point form journey as HE looking for sympathy from someone but finds it very very "strange" considering his life and how successful he has been (who can relate to Johnny?) The rest of the song would follow with that form. Probably way way off from what he intended, but hence the beauty of music and what it can do to someone.
So I may have missed it if someone already said something about this, but I have a question about a couple of the lines. When he says:
"I take these things so I don't feel
I'm killing myself from the inside out"
My first thought when I read that was to think he was talking about drugs. Like he's taking drugs to not feel the pain he's suffering. And he knows that thye're bad and he's gonna kill himself from the inside out with them. Now I'd really like for that to not be what it means so if someone sees a different meaning in those words please reply and just let me know! =)
Thanks!
~Emily
love her
He can not even recognize what he is letting go.
His addictions make it easy to forget her, making it easy to let her
go. But he has intense moments where he realizes this "regrets"
He continues his cycle of addiction to numb his pain, he can not deal with
losing her.
He is not that "special" but he pretends to be to hide the truth, he can not love
while being an addict.
He feels deceived that she sees through him, knowing what he is thinking
and feeling despite the false image he portrayed.
He can not understand how she broke through,he is lost and does
not want her to know.
She knows and she still loves him, wants him to get better.
He does not understand how she could sympathize, strange to him
He has never experienced such love.
He finally sees through his denial, able to see
how he not what he pretended to be.
Her love broke down his walls, she forgives him for this but she knows
she has to let him go if he does not get help.
Him facing life and breaking through denial is stranger then her understanding of him.
He has been a stranger to himslef for so long, but she helped him find himself.
Love can conquer all!
Taking drugs daily to escape.
Apologizing for not being able to live up to the dreams they shared.
Fear of recovery, pushing her away instead of living sober.
Wishing for love, although at the moment they do not need anything but drugs/alcohol/pills
Wanting to love and being loved but so numb, unable
Chasing a high, being chained down unable to live and love
Fear but unable to go to her and make things right
He is living in denial, he wants to stay there
He thought she would be believe and stay, fooled himself in believing the lies he told her
Continuing his addictions, destroying his body...she loves him more then he has
ever loved himself
She understands him, sees him and loves him still
She lives her life sober, "hard to live the life you choose", he takes the
easy way out, unable to face life sober and hard to deal with
everything he has been hiding from
Their love was superficial, no depth because he is an addict
"All your luck runs out on you" He feels alone, all his luck can't
keep her, he is unable to love her and she realizes this
Everything he ever wanted is right before him, the dreams he has wished for.
He has always dreamed of someone like her, but he is unable to appreciate her.