I am sick of reading foolish comments about "it's all about masturbation and phallic symbols." I am sick of cop-outs like "the song has no meaning." Let's break this sucker down verse by verse.
"I had visions, I was in them
I was looking into the mirror
To see a little bit clearer
The rottenness and evil in me."
--Narrator is trying to see who s/he truly is and figure out what's wrong with him/her(note that s/he's already made the assumption that something IS wrong with him/her).
"Fingertips have memories
Mine can't forget the curves of your body
And when I feel a bit naughty
I run it up the flagpole and see who salutes
(but no one ever does)."
--Not 100% certain on this. Could be jerking off to memories of a hot ex, could be dealing with resentment towards an ex by making fun of him/her to others (running something up a flagpole so everyone can see it and laugh and notice everyone else laughing). Could be impotence--"...and see who salutes/(But no one ever does)."
"I'm not sick but I'm not well
And I'm so hot cause I'm in hell."
--Nothing diagnosable (or physical) is wrong with the narrator, but s/he knows something is wrong, and it's hell not being able to figure it out.
"Been around the world and found
That only stupid people are breeding
The cretins cloning and feeding
And I don't even own a TV."
--Starting to looking outside him/herself now. Other people are seriously messed up and seem oblivious to it. The lack of a TV might signify poverty, non-materialism, non-consumerism, how different the narrator is, or just that s/he wants to watch his/her shows and can't and are bitter.
"Put me in the hospital for nerves
And then they had to commit me
You told them all I was crazy
They cut off my legs now I'm an amputee, god damn you!"
--This is real important stuff. This is about trying to get outside help and it bites the narrator in the ass. "Put me in the hospital for nerves/And then they had to commit me" means that s/he went to the doctor because s/he felt something was wrong with him/her, but rather than therapy, s/he got a padded cell (possibly because the doctors over-reacted). The next 2 lines talk about someone close to the narrator (possibly same "you" whose bodily curves the narrator can't forget?) betraying and misrepresenting him/her and doing him/her great harm because of it. This verse may well be about speaking one's mind and holding unconventional opinions, or about admitting you have a problem and need help, and the negative consequences that can follow either one.
"...And it's a sin to live so well."
--Possibly guilt at being better off, or self-hatred and a feeling of deserving punishment. Could also be ironic.
"I wanna publish zines
And rage against machines"
--Wants to speak his/her mind and do something constructive (and counter-culturey).
"I wanna pierce my tongue
It doesn't hurt, it feels fine"
--Tongue piercing is "bad-ass" "rebellious", as is being unfazed by pain. This could, however, also be considered self-destructive/nihilistic.
"The trivial sublime
I'd like to turn off time
And kill my mind
You kill my mind...."
--Life and speaking one's mind can be very painful, stressful, and confusing, and sometimes one just wants a rest, an escape. Plus, if the narrator's messed up in the head, then s/he wants a vacation from his/her own thoughts, wants their mind to stop torturing them. S/he'll "turn off time/And kill [his/her] mind" if it means inner peace.
"Paranoia paranoia
Everybody's coming to get me
Just say you never met me
I'm running underground with the moles (diggin' big holes!)
Hear the voices in my head
I swear to god it sounds like they're snoring
But if you're bored then you're boring
The agony and the irony, they're killing me!"
--This is when (I think) our narrator has really started to lose it. S/he feels paranoid that everyone is out to get him/her, or at least is against him/her, so the narrator is leaving (figuratively or literally is anyone's guess). S/He's gone underground to avoid whatever problems or judgements are haunting him/her, and either hoping to find kindred spirits ("the Moles") or screw up other people ("digging big holes"). The voices in the narrator's head might be actual voices, or just conflicting instincts, but s/he's begun to bore him/herself with their own unending psycho-schmutz. The last two lines of this verse--I think--refers to the question that the narrator has: "Is society screwed up, or am I screwed up because I can't function in society?"
I think this song is about having a breakdown, and is for anyone who's ever needed a therapist or not fit into the machine and wondered "is it them or me that's the problem?" I could be wrong and feel free to tell me so.
I think you are closest to having it right. The song opens with the section about the author seeing rottenness and evil in himself. Without context, we don't know why the author feels that way. Jump ahead to the 2nd and 3rd choruses which are extended by the line "... and it's a sin to live so well." The author feels rotten and evil because he lives so well. What's wrong with living well? The problem is that the vast majority of the world doesn't live well at all.
I think you are closest to having it right. The song opens with the section about the author seeing rottenness and evil in himself. Without context, we don't know why the author feels that way. Jump ahead to the 2nd and 3rd choruses which are extended by the line "... and it's a sin to live so well." The author feels rotten and evil because he lives so well. What's wrong with living well? The problem is that the vast majority of the world doesn't live well at all.
I think the song is about the mental struggle of trying to live a normal, happy life while being aware of how horrible life is for most people on the planet. We live lives of frivolity and hypocrisy while people starve to death, or struggle for basic necessities, deal with constant malnutrition, crime, violence, political disenfranchisement and so on. The ones who have it decent in the 3rd world are working in sweatshops making pointless junk for us.
The comment about stupid people breeding is a commentary about the teeming masses of people who participate happily and obliviously in first world culture seemingly unaware of the rottenness that the author sees in himself, others and the culture as a whole. The comment about the author not even owning a TV is a reference to him giving up on the culture entirely rather than trying to change it from within. He doesn't own a TV, he doesn't watch the news, he doesn't try to change the culture from within because he's outnumbered and out bred.
He wants to publish zines (little magazines or blogs with limited distribution), rage against machines, pierce his tongue... he wants to rebel... but he's already given up. Hence, the trivial sublime. Turn off time and kill my mind is a reference to any form of escapism, though the author might be thinking of drugs in particular, it could be movies, games or anything else. As much as any of us might not participate in the mainstream culture, there are sub-cultures for everyone in the first world to distract themselves with.
The lines about mental illness are a straightforward comment about his own reaction to the situation. A few lines are more obscure to me, but I think can fit into this general theme from on perspective or another. Only the author could tell you for certain what every word means. For example, perhaps the amputee reference is figurative. The author went to a shrink for mental help, ended up being committed and is now tagged as a mental case for the rest of his life which is crippling in a competitive world where background checks screen flawed individuals from the system.
I agree wholly with your interpretation. You did a great job of deciphering the more-than-he-can-handle angst of the narrator. I, too, think he's having a breakdown from not fitting in and not knowing what to do about it. This is one of my favorite songs ever because it's clever and deep and sad and funny and I just instinctively understand what he's feeling. My favorite line of the entire song: "Hear the voices in my head, I swear to God it sounds like they're snoring...." Cracks me up. Every time.
I agree wholly with your interpretation. You did a great job of deciphering the more-than-he-can-handle angst of the narrator. I, too, think he's having a breakdown from not fitting in and not knowing what to do about it. This is one of my favorite songs ever because it's clever and deep and sad and funny and I just instinctively understand what he's feeling. My favorite line of the entire song: "Hear the voices in my head, I swear to God it sounds like they're snoring...." Cracks me up. Every time.
Wow, outstanding dissection of these lyrics.
I've had the experience of being involuntarily hospitalized, and drugged up with various medications (including multiple antipsychotics), and "diagnosed" (i.e. labeled) "mentally ill". It totally does bear a stigma (not as much as it used to, but still widespread), and that can have a pretty detrimental effect on how one sees oneself. I would describe it as a feeling of being damaged...being an aberration, a freak. Different, and not in a good way.
When I was (over)medicated, I felt as though part of myself was missing. My personality no longer seemed my own & I couldn't feel my feelings anymore, if that makes sense. It was like an amputation, figuratively speaking. A soul amputation.
Most people don't and can't really understand, unless they have had similar experiences.
After having been "committed", I did not seek help again for quite some time due to my fear of the same exact thing happening again. Also, because of the way I experienced being "on meds", I am what psychiatrists and mental health workers call "resistant" to taking medication.
@Scheherezade Yeah I think you're pretty darn close. Here's what I'd add:
Verse 1: no notes
@Scheherezade Yeah I think you're pretty darn close. Here's what I'd add:
Verse 1: no notes
Verse 2: "Fingertips have memories..." He used to be in a relationship, and his sexual desires were being met. But now he's not, and he's remembering the things he and his ex used to do, and of course it makes him horny (a little bit naughty), but when he tries to reach out and form a sexual connection with someone else, nobody is interested ("I run it up the flagpole and see who salutes, but no one ever does") and this lack of desirability is contributing to his mental health problems.
Chorus (I'm not sick but...): no notes
Verse 3: (Been around the world...), the only thing I'd add is about the "I don't even own a TV." I think that line is suggesting that he has disdain for people who spend all day in front of the TV and never go out. Those are the stupid breeding people he's talking about. And he doesn't own a TV, implying he doesn't see himself as one of them, but then again, they seem happy, and he's not. So he's torn between the intellectual knowledge that he's better off by not watching TV all day, but the emotional trauma of feeling isolated.
Verse 4: (Put me in the hospital...) Yeah, he checked himself in because he knew that he didn't feel right, but when the doctors asked someone close to him to describe his symptoms (from an outside perspective), they overplayed the symptoms, betraying him while he was vulnerable, and made the situation even worse. So now he's committed, can't trust his friends, not getting laid, bored, and isolated EVEN MORE. The pressure builds...
Bridge (Publish 'zines, rage against...): no notes.
Verse 5 (Paranoia...): Now the narrator trusts no one, so as you said, he's going to "go underground" with other people in the same situation, which shows that he's finally found a group he belongs with: outcasts. The irony here is that in order to find somewhere he belonged, he had to completely turn his back on society. The big holes reference is, I think, intended to convey that there turned out to be a LOT more people like him than he ever expected. Gotta make some big tunnels for that many people to "go underground."
Verse 6 (Hear the voices...): I think here, he's saying he's still messed up in the head, but he feels more secure now, having found other people who share his predicament. They're sort of all crazy together, but in saying that, he's found a degree of relief and healing. Not TOTAL healing, but a certain degree of tolerance knowing that he isn't really alone after all, and never really was. There's still agony at not feeling right, but the irony of finding other people like him is a big surprise to him.
I am sick of reading foolish comments about "it's all about masturbation and phallic symbols." I am sick of cop-outs like "the song has no meaning." Let's break this sucker down verse by verse. "I had visions, I was in them I was looking into the mirror To see a little bit clearer The rottenness and evil in me." --Narrator is trying to see who s/he truly is and figure out what's wrong with him/her(note that s/he's already made the assumption that something IS wrong with him/her). "Fingertips have memories Mine can't forget the curves of your body And when I feel a bit naughty I run it up the flagpole and see who salutes (but no one ever does)." --Not 100% certain on this. Could be jerking off to memories of a hot ex, could be dealing with resentment towards an ex by making fun of him/her to others (running something up a flagpole so everyone can see it and laugh and notice everyone else laughing). Could be impotence--"...and see who salutes/(But no one ever does)." "I'm not sick but I'm not well And I'm so hot cause I'm in hell." --Nothing diagnosable (or physical) is wrong with the narrator, but s/he knows something is wrong, and it's hell not being able to figure it out. "Been around the world and found That only stupid people are breeding The cretins cloning and feeding And I don't even own a TV." --Starting to looking outside him/herself now. Other people are seriously messed up and seem oblivious to it. The lack of a TV might signify poverty, non-materialism, non-consumerism, how different the narrator is, or just that s/he wants to watch his/her shows and can't and are bitter. "Put me in the hospital for nerves And then they had to commit me You told them all I was crazy They cut off my legs now I'm an amputee, god damn you!" --This is real important stuff. This is about trying to get outside help and it bites the narrator in the ass. "Put me in the hospital for nerves/And then they had to commit me" means that s/he went to the doctor because s/he felt something was wrong with him/her, but rather than therapy, s/he got a padded cell (possibly because the doctors over-reacted). The next 2 lines talk about someone close to the narrator (possibly same "you" whose bodily curves the narrator can't forget?) betraying and misrepresenting him/her and doing him/her great harm because of it. This verse may well be about speaking one's mind and holding unconventional opinions, or about admitting you have a problem and need help, and the negative consequences that can follow either one. "...And it's a sin to live so well." --Possibly guilt at being better off, or self-hatred and a feeling of deserving punishment. Could also be ironic. "I wanna publish zines And rage against machines" --Wants to speak his/her mind and do something constructive (and counter-culturey). "I wanna pierce my tongue It doesn't hurt, it feels fine" --Tongue piercing is "bad-ass" "rebellious", as is being unfazed by pain. This could, however, also be considered self-destructive/nihilistic. "The trivial sublime I'd like to turn off time And kill my mind You kill my mind...." --Life and speaking one's mind can be very painful, stressful, and confusing, and sometimes one just wants a rest, an escape. Plus, if the narrator's messed up in the head, then s/he wants a vacation from his/her own thoughts, wants their mind to stop torturing them. S/he'll "turn off time/And kill [his/her] mind" if it means inner peace. "Paranoia paranoia Everybody's coming to get me Just say you never met me I'm running underground with the moles (diggin' big holes!) Hear the voices in my head I swear to god it sounds like they're snoring But if you're bored then you're boring The agony and the irony, they're killing me!" --This is when (I think) our narrator has really started to lose it. S/he feels paranoid that everyone is out to get him/her, or at least is against him/her, so the narrator is leaving (figuratively or literally is anyone's guess). S/He's gone underground to avoid whatever problems or judgements are haunting him/her, and either hoping to find kindred spirits ("the Moles") or screw up other people ("digging big holes"). The voices in the narrator's head might be actual voices, or just conflicting instincts, but s/he's begun to bore him/herself with their own unending psycho-schmutz. The last two lines of this verse--I think--refers to the question that the narrator has: "Is society screwed up, or am I screwed up because I can't function in society?"
@Scheherezade
@Scheherezade
I think you are closest to having it right. The song opens with the section about the author seeing rottenness and evil in himself. Without context, we don't know why the author feels that way. Jump ahead to the 2nd and 3rd choruses which are extended by the line "... and it's a sin to live so well." The author feels rotten and evil because he lives so well. What's wrong with living well? The problem is that the vast majority of the world doesn't live well at all.
I think you are closest to having it right. The song opens with the section about the author seeing rottenness and evil in himself. Without context, we don't know why the author feels that way. Jump ahead to the 2nd and 3rd choruses which are extended by the line "... and it's a sin to live so well." The author feels rotten and evil because he lives so well. What's wrong with living well? The problem is that the vast majority of the world doesn't live well at all.
I think the song is about the mental struggle of trying to live a normal, happy life while being aware of how horrible life is for most people on the planet. We live lives of frivolity and hypocrisy while people starve to death, or struggle for basic necessities, deal with constant malnutrition, crime, violence, political disenfranchisement and so on. The ones who have it decent in the 3rd world are working in sweatshops making pointless junk for us.
The comment about stupid people breeding is a commentary about the teeming masses of people who participate happily and obliviously in first world culture seemingly unaware of the rottenness that the author sees in himself, others and the culture as a whole. The comment about the author not even owning a TV is a reference to him giving up on the culture entirely rather than trying to change it from within. He doesn't own a TV, he doesn't watch the news, he doesn't try to change the culture from within because he's outnumbered and out bred.
He wants to publish zines (little magazines or blogs with limited distribution), rage against machines, pierce his tongue... he wants to rebel... but he's already given up. Hence, the trivial sublime. Turn off time and kill my mind is a reference to any form of escapism, though the author might be thinking of drugs in particular, it could be movies, games or anything else. As much as any of us might not participate in the mainstream culture, there are sub-cultures for everyone in the first world to distract themselves with.
The lines about mental illness are a straightforward comment about his own reaction to the situation. A few lines are more obscure to me, but I think can fit into this general theme from on perspective or another. Only the author could tell you for certain what every word means. For example, perhaps the amputee reference is figurative. The author went to a shrink for mental help, ended up being committed and is now tagged as a mental case for the rest of his life which is crippling in a competitive world where background checks screen flawed individuals from the system.
@Scheherezade I would argue that the amputee line is referring to the loss of freedom from being "committed" after speaking their mind
@Scheherezade I would argue that the amputee line is referring to the loss of freedom from being "committed" after speaking their mind
I agree wholly with your interpretation. You did a great job of deciphering the more-than-he-can-handle angst of the narrator. I, too, think he's having a breakdown from not fitting in and not knowing what to do about it. This is one of my favorite songs ever because it's clever and deep and sad and funny and I just instinctively understand what he's feeling. My favorite line of the entire song: "Hear the voices in my head, I swear to God it sounds like they're snoring...." Cracks me up. Every time.
I agree wholly with your interpretation. You did a great job of deciphering the more-than-he-can-handle angst of the narrator. I, too, think he's having a breakdown from not fitting in and not knowing what to do about it. This is one of my favorite songs ever because it's clever and deep and sad and funny and I just instinctively understand what he's feeling. My favorite line of the entire song: "Hear the voices in my head, I swear to God it sounds like they're snoring...." Cracks me up. Every time.
@Scheherezade
@Scheherezade
Wow, outstanding dissection of these lyrics. I've had the experience of being involuntarily hospitalized, and drugged up with various medications (including multiple antipsychotics), and "diagnosed" (i.e. labeled) "mentally ill". It totally does bear a stigma (not as much as it used to, but still widespread), and that can have a pretty detrimental effect on how one sees oneself. I would describe it as a feeling of being damaged...being an aberration, a freak. Different, and not in a good way. When I was (over)medicated, I felt as though part of myself was missing. My personality no longer seemed my own & I couldn't feel my feelings anymore, if that makes sense. It was like an amputation, figuratively speaking. A soul amputation. Most people don't and can't really understand, unless they have had similar experiences. After having been "committed", I did not seek help again for quite some time due to my fear of the same exact thing happening again. Also, because of the way I experienced being "on meds", I am what psychiatrists and mental health workers call "resistant" to taking medication.
One of my favorite songs, by the way.
One of my favorite songs, by the way.
@Scheherezade Yeah I think you're pretty darn close. Here's what I'd add: Verse 1: no notes
@Scheherezade Yeah I think you're pretty darn close. Here's what I'd add: Verse 1: no notes
Verse 2: "Fingertips have memories..." He used to be in a relationship, and his sexual desires were being met. But now he's not, and he's remembering the things he and his ex used to do, and of course it makes him horny (a little bit naughty), but when he tries to reach out and form a sexual connection with someone else, nobody is interested ("I run it up the flagpole and see who salutes, but no one ever does") and this lack of desirability is contributing to his mental health problems.
Chorus (I'm not sick but...): no notes
Verse 3: (Been around the world...), the only thing I'd add is about the "I don't even own a TV." I think that line is suggesting that he has disdain for people who spend all day in front of the TV and never go out. Those are the stupid breeding people he's talking about. And he doesn't own a TV, implying he doesn't see himself as one of them, but then again, they seem happy, and he's not. So he's torn between the intellectual knowledge that he's better off by not watching TV all day, but the emotional trauma of feeling isolated.
Verse 4: (Put me in the hospital...) Yeah, he checked himself in because he knew that he didn't feel right, but when the doctors asked someone close to him to describe his symptoms (from an outside perspective), they overplayed the symptoms, betraying him while he was vulnerable, and made the situation even worse. So now he's committed, can't trust his friends, not getting laid, bored, and isolated EVEN MORE. The pressure builds...
Bridge (Publish 'zines, rage against...): no notes.
Verse 5 (Paranoia...): Now the narrator trusts no one, so as you said, he's going to "go underground" with other people in the same situation, which shows that he's finally found a group he belongs with: outcasts. The irony here is that in order to find somewhere he belonged, he had to completely turn his back on society. The big holes reference is, I think, intended to convey that there turned out to be a LOT more people like him than he ever expected. Gotta make some big tunnels for that many people to "go underground."
Verse 6 (Hear the voices...): I think here, he's saying he's still messed up in the head, but he feels more secure now, having found other people who share his predicament. They're sort of all crazy together, but in saying that, he's found a degree of relief and healing. Not TOTAL healing, but a certain degree of tolerance knowing that he isn't really alone after all, and never really was. There's still agony at not feeling right, but the irony of finding other people like him is a big surprise to him.