I disagree on the song being about self-loathing or fear of opening up. This is the surface imagery, yes, but not what the song ultimately builds to.
On the surface the speaker thinks he's destructive and toxic to life and relationships (no woman and no emotion stay with him and still be real) - on the other hand he conveys this in intensely selfaggrandizing imagery, "a great unstoppable mass" "a place where everybody knows your name" and equating his 'destructive' heart (i.e. his emotional intensity) not to toxins, but to something used to purify, an autoclave. The chaos of the second verse is what happens when he tries to share that self-image with others: they don't see him as the great unstoppable thing he thinks he is, and so he winds up lost and in chaos until he can purge the relationship ("nothing left to burn", "no emotion worth having") and be the pure thing he considers himself again.
So, while on the surface it seems to be about self-loathing and loneliness, the undertone is that he is lonely because he feels so intense and so righteous at heart that no-one else can survive exposure to his true feelings (the autoclave). It's not about self-loathing: it's about a narsicistic personality justifying and protecting it's own grand self-image by alienating everything that threatens to expose it as just human (be it romantic partners or his own common sense).
I just re-listened to this the other day and thought the same thing! I was reading a lot about narcissists and Narcissistic Personality Disorder, and this song seemed to me to be absolutely written from a narcissist's point of view (if they had the ability for self-reflection anyway).
I just re-listened to this the other day and thought the same thing! I was reading a lot about narcissists and Narcissistic Personality Disorder, and this song seemed to me to be absolutely written from a narcissist's point of view (if they had the ability for self-reflection anyway).
@delay "...equating his 'destructive' heart (i.e. his emotional intensity) not to toxins, but to something used to purify, an autoclave."
You and I think autoclaves do different things. I think an autoclave is meant to kill bacteria and fungal spores. I think that in this song, he's comparing his heart to an autoclave because it kills everything it comes in contact with.
@delay "...equating his 'destructive' heart (i.e. his emotional intensity) not to toxins, but to something used to purify, an autoclave."
You and I think autoclaves do different things. I think an autoclave is meant to kill bacteria and fungal spores. I think that in this song, he's comparing his heart to an autoclave because it kills everything it comes in contact with.
I disagree on the song being about self-loathing or fear of opening up. This is the surface imagery, yes, but not what the song ultimately builds to.
On the surface the speaker thinks he's destructive and toxic to life and relationships (no woman and no emotion stay with him and still be real) - on the other hand he conveys this in intensely selfaggrandizing imagery, "a great unstoppable mass" "a place where everybody knows your name" and equating his 'destructive' heart (i.e. his emotional intensity) not to toxins, but to something used to purify, an autoclave. The chaos of the second verse is what happens when he tries to share that self-image with others: they don't see him as the great unstoppable thing he thinks he is, and so he winds up lost and in chaos until he can purge the relationship ("nothing left to burn", "no emotion worth having") and be the pure thing he considers himself again.
So, while on the surface it seems to be about self-loathing and loneliness, the undertone is that he is lonely because he feels so intense and so righteous at heart that no-one else can survive exposure to his true feelings (the autoclave). It's not about self-loathing: it's about a narsicistic personality justifying and protecting it's own grand self-image by alienating everything that threatens to expose it as just human (be it romantic partners or his own common sense).
I just re-listened to this the other day and thought the same thing! I was reading a lot about narcissists and Narcissistic Personality Disorder, and this song seemed to me to be absolutely written from a narcissist's point of view (if they had the ability for self-reflection anyway).
I just re-listened to this the other day and thought the same thing! I was reading a lot about narcissists and Narcissistic Personality Disorder, and this song seemed to me to be absolutely written from a narcissist's point of view (if they had the ability for self-reflection anyway).
@delay "...equating his 'destructive' heart (i.e. his emotional intensity) not to toxins, but to something used to purify, an autoclave." You and I think autoclaves do different things. I think an autoclave is meant to kill bacteria and fungal spores. I think that in this song, he's comparing his heart to an autoclave because it kills everything it comes in contact with.
@delay "...equating his 'destructive' heart (i.e. his emotional intensity) not to toxins, but to something used to purify, an autoclave." You and I think autoclaves do different things. I think an autoclave is meant to kill bacteria and fungal spores. I think that in this song, he's comparing his heart to an autoclave because it kills everything it comes in contact with.