This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
I am smellin' like the rose
That somebody gave me
On my birthday deathbed
I am smellin' like the rose
That somebody gave me
'Cause I'm dead and bloated
I am smellin' like the rose
That somebody gave me
On my birthday deathbed
I am smellin' like the rose
That somebody gave me
'Cause I'm dead and bloated
Oh, oh, yeah, yeah
And she says it's natural
I feel I've come of age
When she peeks I start to run
Oh, oh, yeah, yeah
And she says it's natural
I feel I've come of age
When she peeks I start to run
You can't swallow what I'm thinkin'
You can't swallow what I'm thinkin'
I am smellin' like the rose
That somebody gave me
On my birthday deathbed
I am trampled under sole
Of another man's shoes
Guess I walked too softly
Oh, oh, yeah, yeah
And she says it's natural
I feel I've come of age
When she peeks I start to run
Oh, oh, yeah, yeah
And she says it's natural
I feel I've come of age
When she peeks I start to run
You can't swallow what I'm thinkin'
You can't swallow what I'm thinkin'
I run through the world
Thinkin' 'bout tomorrow
Thinkin' 'bout tomorrow
I run through the world
Thinkin' 'bout tomorrow
Thinkin' 'bout tomorrow
I am smellin' like the rose
That somebody gave me
On my birthday deathbed
I am smellin' like the rose
That somebody gave me
'Cause I'm dead and bloated
I run through the world
Thinkin' 'bout tomorrow
Thinkin' 'bout tomorrow
I run through the world
Thinkin' 'bout tomorrow
Thinkin' 'bout tomorrow
I run through the world
Thinkin' 'bout tomorrow
Thinkin' 'bout tomorrow
I run through the world
Thinkin' 'bout tomorrow
Thinkin' 'bout tomorrow
I am smellin' like the rose
That somebody gave me
On my birthday deathbed
I am smellin' like the rose
That somebody gave me, somebody gave me
Somebody gave me
On my birthday deathbed
That somebody gave me
On my birthday deathbed
I am smellin' like the rose
That somebody gave me
'Cause I'm dead and bloated
I am smellin' like the rose
That somebody gave me
On my birthday deathbed
I am smellin' like the rose
That somebody gave me
'Cause I'm dead and bloated
Oh, oh, yeah, yeah
And she says it's natural
I feel I've come of age
When she peeks I start to run
Oh, oh, yeah, yeah
And she says it's natural
I feel I've come of age
When she peeks I start to run
You can't swallow what I'm thinkin'
You can't swallow what I'm thinkin'
I am smellin' like the rose
That somebody gave me
On my birthday deathbed
I am trampled under sole
Of another man's shoes
Guess I walked too softly
Oh, oh, yeah, yeah
And she says it's natural
I feel I've come of age
When she peeks I start to run
Oh, oh, yeah, yeah
And she says it's natural
I feel I've come of age
When she peeks I start to run
You can't swallow what I'm thinkin'
You can't swallow what I'm thinkin'
I run through the world
Thinkin' 'bout tomorrow
Thinkin' 'bout tomorrow
I run through the world
Thinkin' 'bout tomorrow
Thinkin' 'bout tomorrow
I am smellin' like the rose
That somebody gave me
On my birthday deathbed
I am smellin' like the rose
That somebody gave me
'Cause I'm dead and bloated
I run through the world
Thinkin' 'bout tomorrow
Thinkin' 'bout tomorrow
I run through the world
Thinkin' 'bout tomorrow
Thinkin' 'bout tomorrow
I run through the world
Thinkin' 'bout tomorrow
Thinkin' 'bout tomorrow
I run through the world
Thinkin' 'bout tomorrow
Thinkin' 'bout tomorrow
I am smellin' like the rose
That somebody gave me
On my birthday deathbed
I am smellin' like the rose
That somebody gave me, somebody gave me
Somebody gave me
On my birthday deathbed
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The song is about insecurity and the ability to conquer it.
It's the same feeling you get the first time you show your naked body to a lover for the first time. It's the same feeling you get when people walk all over you. And the main message is that it's hard to discuss how you feel and how to people and a true friend giving you comfort is really the only thing that can stop this wave of thinking. When people you care about really give you love and comfort, it's usually in either really great times (birthday) or really bad times (deathbed) where you're unafraid of people who couldn't understand you and might be uncomfortable hearing your inner thoughts.
I think this song is about the anticipation of death. How, no matter how fast or far we run, where or how, we're all gonna die. It's only natural, and we may think that we're safe from death, but all of us could drop dead within the next millisecond, and it could swallow up what we're thinking like water/
That's my interpretation. Probably wrong.
its basically about life and death, and living life to its fullest and overcoming the depression you get from a nihilistic mindset
i am smelling like the rose that somebody gave me on my birthday deathbed: he feels like hes going to die soon or his lifes too short, he already has the smell of death on him. hes also blaming whoever created him, whether its his parents or God, because he feels like they gave him life just so he could die
cause im dead and bloated: like i said...he feels like hes as good as dead
and she says its natural: people tell him the cycle of life and death is natural
i feel ive come of age: he now has a better understanding of things
when she peeks i start to run, you cant swallow what im thinking: he doesnt let anyone know about this nihilistic view of life, he feels like no one will understand it
i am trampled under sole of another mans shoe guess i walked too softly: hes been stepped on all his life, now he has this better understanding of things and hes not gonna walk so softly
i run through the world thinkin bout tomorrow: hes been putting everything off til tomorrow when now he realizes he could die at any moment. time to start living in the present because every moment could be the last
I think this song is song is pretty deep, and it may be about some of his own self-realizations and regrets. ( Creep as well ) As for the heroin thing, I truely think that a lot of his lyrics have a little something to do with that, it did play a huge part in his life after all. though the smeel of a deathbed rose is quite an intriguing thought, he's quite a character.
ok just because he does (or did) heroin doesnt mean that his songs have to be about that. and just becuase some of his songs r about that doesnt mean all of them are.
heroin is a big deal. i agree with winteronyx, a lot of his lyrics have to do with heroin and the disappointment and bad social relationship that comes with it. I agree not all of them, but you can't argue that it isn't a big factor in many of his lyrics
Aight, I'm gonna school you guys.<br /> Scott wasn't into hard drugs (heroin and cocaine) until after this record was written.<br /> Scott says that he was first introduced to heroin by the Butthole Surfers singer Gibby Haynes when STP was on tour with the surfers in 1994. <br /> Core came out in 1992, and Purple came out in 1994.<br /> I think this song is more about relationship shit.
Aight, I'm gonna school you guys.<br /> Scott wasn't into hard drugs (heroin and cocaine) until after this record was written.<br /> Scott says that he was first introduced to heroin by the Butthole Surfers singer Gibby Haynes when STP was on tour with the surfers in 1994. <br /> Core came out in 1992, and Purple came out in 1994.<br /> I think this song is more about relationship shit.
generalhide.... your a dumb fuck scott wasnt on heroin yet when he wrote this
surge3 you were doing so good till the last sentence.. this song isabout abortion
deadandbloatedd...you're the dumb fuck...I never said THIS song was about heroin...i know he didn't do heroin till after core...i was just agreeing that heroin and other drugs are a big deal and does affect a lot of his lyrics
blasting the horrible nature of humanity seems to be the recurring theme of stp's album, "core." i.e. sex type thing - the macho attitude many men have toward women. sin - an abusive husband/father naked sunday - the hatred and violence that religious fanatics carry toward people of different faith creep - how people can be so cruel to others who dont "fit in"
keeping this theme in mind, i interperet "dead and bloated" as a reminder of how truly f'd up the act of war is. it can be argued that war will forever be a part of life, it is natural, and that killing in the name of war is a just act. this may be a reasonable belief, but i think scott isnt making that judgement. it seems he is asking u to put yourself in the shoes of young soldiers chased by the terror of death.
"i am smelling like a rose that somebody gave me on my birthday deathbed" - it is a tradition for some to place flowers on the grave of a lost loved one. would-be birthdays, christmas, the anniversary of his or her death, or in other strange, artistic words, the birthday of the death. the griever placed a rose on the soldiers grave.
"and she says its natural, i feel i've come of age, when she peeks i start to run"- many people, especially military, feel its heroic and "natural" to die for one's country. "she" is referring to the soldier's home country or in our case, the U.S....but maybe this really isnt a feeling we should have... a young soldier with his life ahead of him probably doesnt feel this warm fuzzy 'natural' feeling on the brink of death. the coming of age may refer to the history of the draft and our nation's belief that 18 is about the right age to start dying for your country. in some countries it is much younger. scott is probably personifying death with the lyrics "when she (death)peeks i start to run"..at a young age, it's much harder to face death for a cause he probably doesnt understand yet, so his nature is to avoid it or "run". scott's use of "she" could refer to either death or the U.S. since the U.S. commands the soldier, and therefore is the 'deathbringer'.
"i run through the world, thinkin about tomorrow"- war is worldwide of course, and if you could be killed any moment, what is on your mind? will i make it to tomorrow? "i am trampled under sole of another man's shoe, guess i walked too softly"- these lyrics are my favorite.is it his turn to kill, or be killed? fate can be so cruel... this soldier isn't lucky and is killed in combat. walking too softly refers to the fact that he isnt as great of a soldier as his killer and consequently meets his doom. when i hear this i sympathize with the young men thrown into combat destined to die. this song is a great reminder how tragic it is that the innocent die for another's greed.
your either a fucking genious or a fucking stoner
nice interpretation i never thought of this song as about war... the common theory is that this is about abortion but you supported your theory very well
great interpretation! you should interpet some other STP songs that seem hard to understand... like piece of pie/glide/wicked garden..etc
"I run through the world, thinkin bout tomorrow" Definantly the story of my life.
i think itsabout scott doing heroin and how he goes through kind of a weird, but deep experience.
scott dint do drugs till after core was finished this song is on the core album so its not about him doing heroin
scott had said that Core and Libertad are the only two albums he's written sober... he said that a couple years ago so im sure the new album he wrote sober as well
wow and your username is STP and you didnt know that? epic fail
Maroon 5 is definately the best band in the world, and did you know Runescape won't let you say your password backwards? Look! ***
hahaha wow maroon 5 is extremely gay... completely forgot about them
I agree with WinterOnyx. I love line on my birthday deathbed beings if you think about it when you're first born you technically start dying. Think about it.
I don't think the heroin thing is right. In an interview he said he didn't do heroin til after the release of core, i don't see why he would lie.
for some reason,judging by the small poem insert inside the core album booklet,i got the impression this is about america's materialistic,apathetic downfall.
thats the theme of the entire core album not this song
well according to scott weiland the theme of core is that "humanity is confused"