Everyone is being so shallow about this song! Don't you know Justin Bieber only keeps his "hot teen that all the 12 year-old girls want to sleep with" image so that he can hide the darker side of his lyrics, because he can not go without saying the things that hurt him deep inside, but he also does not want anyone to know about what he feels because they would never understand anyway?
But I understand Justin. I understand it all.
This song is about the internal struggle of a boy with the meaning and purpose of the "self", after coming to the conclusion that nothing but Nihilism explains all of the questions and concerns he has about life and the universe.
The song takes an especially strong view on the idea of "ignorance is bliss" and Justin's constant references to his childhood are about how he wish he could go back to a time when he did not understand or know anything, and did not have to suffer from the realisation that all life is without purpose.
The "baby, baby" is referring not to a girl, but actually to himself as a baby, and the "ahhs and oooohs" are pathetic attempts to replicate the sounds he used to make at that time, because out of his desperation he is willing to try anything to go back to when he did not understand anything. The "thought you'd always be mine" is of course about his innocence and how he thought he could stay ignorant and blissful forever.
The verses are about how he slowly lost his ignorance over the years, as he learned that the things society teaches us can make us happy (possessions, money, love) made him happy at first "I'll buy you any ring", but slowly he finds they are meaningless "When I was 13, I had my first love, There was nobody that compared to my baby (once again referring to how there was nothing like the ignorant bliss he had as a child)", and as he keeps living his life he finds that materials and emotions have no value, and Justin struggles to hold onto things but he can not stop a nihilistic view from taking hold of him, "And I wanna play it cool/But I'm losin' you".
Finally the last verse is a bit ambiguous. The "I'm gone" could be referring to the "self", i.e. with Nihilsm completely taking over him he now has no conception of himself, and so he is now an empty shell without anyone inside (therefore he in essence is gone, even if his body is still there), OR it could also mean that in his struggle with Nihilism the only way out he could think of was suicide, so the "I'm gone" could refer to his falling into the pit of despair and killing himself, but I don't know for sure. You'd have to ask Justin in person to find out...
That is a very thoughtful interpretation, but I cannot help but think you missed... everything. I don't mean to be hateful. Please do not mistake this is a toll or me as a hater.
That is a very thoughtful interpretation, but I cannot help but think you missed... everything. I don't mean to be hateful. Please do not mistake this is a toll or me as a hater.
The very second verse kill everything you just said. "Are we an item, GIRL quit playin'. We're just friends? What are you sayin'?" That is very obviously talking to a girl about a relationship that he was taking much more seriously than she. "Is there another, look right in my eyes." Again, talking to a person. Childhood innocence cannot leave you for another person.
After that, we need to take a look music video. I am aware that those are not always reliable, but he is chasing a girl throughout the entire thing. He is talking to her, and trying after her. Again the lyrics point "I'll buy you anything, I'll buy you any ring." First, how would he give those to innocence, and generally, why would the innocence of a male child care? (one could say that he is just that effeminate, but that is an entirely different cobweb.)
So what about his real life? Do we see any evidence there? He was going to interview after interview. Believe me, I have watched them all. He is one of the happiest kids anyone has ever seen. After making the music video, he engaged in a romantic relationship with Jasmine V, then after, Selena Gomez. Also, importantly, he did not commit suicide. The only evidence I can see is the seemingly sudden jump he had into adrenaline related activities, like bungee jumping.
Also, he wrote this song with other people. I mean to say a lot of other people. If he is so sensitive about this subject and "Doesn't want anyone to know about what he feels," I would think that he would be writing it by himself and neglecting the help he so readily took.
This part, has a good deal of what some would call hate. I call it disappointment, since his older music (like say... "Never Let You Go" was so much better). I can't help but think that if he had the ability and motivation to put that much of himself into his songs, he would not be writing the superficial and generally thoughtless thing he is writing now.
I would love to believe he is that deep (not that I want him to be dropping into Nihilism), but I just do not see the evidence. If you want to listen to a song that is an example of a person without much meaning in there life, Motion City Soundtrack is a goldmine. You could listen to "Skin and Bones," "Circuits and Wires," or even "Disappear" if you interpret it that way. (I don't really know what is going on in that song.
If you think I am missing something, please offer a reply. I would hate to be missing as much as I would have to be to be contradicting you, should you be right. I know it has been years since you wrote that comment, but I just saw it today.
Everyone is being so shallow about this song! Don't you know Justin Bieber only keeps his "hot teen that all the 12 year-old girls want to sleep with" image so that he can hide the darker side of his lyrics, because he can not go without saying the things that hurt him deep inside, but he also does not want anyone to know about what he feels because they would never understand anyway?
But I understand Justin. I understand it all.
This song is about the internal struggle of a boy with the meaning and purpose of the "self", after coming to the conclusion that nothing but Nihilism explains all of the questions and concerns he has about life and the universe.
The song takes an especially strong view on the idea of "ignorance is bliss" and Justin's constant references to his childhood are about how he wish he could go back to a time when he did not understand or know anything, and did not have to suffer from the realisation that all life is without purpose.
The "baby, baby" is referring not to a girl, but actually to himself as a baby, and the "ahhs and oooohs" are pathetic attempts to replicate the sounds he used to make at that time, because out of his desperation he is willing to try anything to go back to when he did not understand anything. The "thought you'd always be mine" is of course about his innocence and how he thought he could stay ignorant and blissful forever.
The verses are about how he slowly lost his ignorance over the years, as he learned that the things society teaches us can make us happy (possessions, money, love) made him happy at first "I'll buy you any ring", but slowly he finds they are meaningless "When I was 13, I had my first love, There was nobody that compared to my baby (once again referring to how there was nothing like the ignorant bliss he had as a child)", and as he keeps living his life he finds that materials and emotions have no value, and Justin struggles to hold onto things but he can not stop a nihilistic view from taking hold of him, "And I wanna play it cool/But I'm losin' you".
Finally the last verse is a bit ambiguous. The "I'm gone" could be referring to the "self", i.e. with Nihilsm completely taking over him he now has no conception of himself, and so he is now an empty shell without anyone inside (therefore he in essence is gone, even if his body is still there), OR it could also mean that in his struggle with Nihilism the only way out he could think of was suicide, so the "I'm gone" could refer to his falling into the pit of despair and killing himself, but I don't know for sure. You'd have to ask Justin in person to find out...
That is a very thoughtful interpretation, but I cannot help but think you missed... everything. I don't mean to be hateful. Please do not mistake this is a toll or me as a hater.
That is a very thoughtful interpretation, but I cannot help but think you missed... everything. I don't mean to be hateful. Please do not mistake this is a toll or me as a hater.
The very second verse kill everything you just said. "Are we an item, GIRL quit playin'. We're just friends? What are you sayin'?" That is very obviously talking to a girl about a relationship that he was taking much more seriously than she. "Is there another, look right in my eyes." Again, talking to a person. Childhood innocence cannot leave you for another person.
After that, we need to take a look music video. I am aware that those are not always reliable, but he is chasing a girl throughout the entire thing. He is talking to her, and trying after her. Again the lyrics point "I'll buy you anything, I'll buy you any ring." First, how would he give those to innocence, and generally, why would the innocence of a male child care? (one could say that he is just that effeminate, but that is an entirely different cobweb.)
So what about his real life? Do we see any evidence there? He was going to interview after interview. Believe me, I have watched them all. He is one of the happiest kids anyone has ever seen. After making the music video, he engaged in a romantic relationship with Jasmine V, then after, Selena Gomez. Also, importantly, he did not commit suicide. The only evidence I can see is the seemingly sudden jump he had into adrenaline related activities, like bungee jumping.
Also, he wrote this song with other people. I mean to say a lot of other people. If he is so sensitive about this subject and "Doesn't want anyone to know about what he feels," I would think that he would be writing it by himself and neglecting the help he so readily took.
This part, has a good deal of what some would call hate. I call it disappointment, since his older music (like say... "Never Let You Go" was so much better). I can't help but think that if he had the ability and motivation to put that much of himself into his songs, he would not be writing the superficial and generally thoughtless thing he is writing now.
I would love to believe he is that deep (not that I want him to be dropping into Nihilism), but I just do not see the evidence. If you want to listen to a song that is an example of a person without much meaning in there life, Motion City Soundtrack is a goldmine. You could listen to "Skin and Bones," "Circuits and Wires," or even "Disappear" if you interpret it that way. (I don't really know what is going on in that song.
If you think I am missing something, please offer a reply. I would hate to be missing as much as I would have to be to be contradicting you, should you be right. I know it has been years since you wrote that comment, but I just saw it today.