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"
Whores
Whores
Whores
Whores
Your windows boarded up, your private lives exposed
The talk shows pump it up, lab rats diseased for show
We're doomed to use the slang, outbreak of drug roulette
A church burned to the ground, not even noticed yet
Thirteen, thirteen
Thirteen, thirteen
Thirteen, thirteen
Steps
Whores
Whores
Whores
Whores
A backwards swastika, the black skin riddled in lead
A Nazi Gangster Jew, it beats a dog that's dead
It's in to use the slang, outbreak of gun roulette
The cross slants to the side, will prove the damnedest yet
Thirteen, thirteen
Thirteen, thirteen
Thirteen, thirteen
Steps
Leads to nowhere
The backlash dislocates, an untimely reign of death
The wolf poked with the stick, awaits with cancerous breath
(Leads to nowhere)
Outsiders still suppose, there's Holy streets to roam
The truth should not surprise, your homes were built on lies
Lies, yeah
Thirteen, thirteen
Thirteen, thirteen
Thirteen, thirteen
Steps
Whores
Whores
Whores
Your windows boarded up, your private lives exposed
The talk shows pump it up, lab rats diseased for show
We're doomed to use the slang, outbreak of drug roulette
A church burned to the ground, not even noticed yet
Thirteen, thirteen
Thirteen, thirteen
Thirteen, thirteen
Steps
Whores
Whores
Whores
Whores
A backwards swastika, the black skin riddled in lead
A Nazi Gangster Jew, it beats a dog that's dead
It's in to use the slang, outbreak of gun roulette
The cross slants to the side, will prove the damnedest yet
Thirteen, thirteen
Thirteen, thirteen
Thirteen, thirteen
Steps
Leads to nowhere
The backlash dislocates, an untimely reign of death
The wolf poked with the stick, awaits with cancerous breath
(Leads to nowhere)
Outsiders still suppose, there's Holy streets to roam
The truth should not surprise, your homes were built on lies
Lies, yeah
Thirteen, thirteen
Thirteen, thirteen
Thirteen, thirteen
Steps
Lyrics submitted by pineapplechic
13 Steps to Nowhere Lyrics as written by Rex Brown Philip Anselmo
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
i havent read all of the song and i've never heard it, but i think it's about Phil's addiction, his involvement in something like NA or another 12-step program, then relapsing (the 13th step, to spell it out for the tards among us). His frustration with the 13th step was the impetus for this song.
@CHEGnotKEG the beginning of the song he says whores the 13 step is a joke by the 12 step program the 13 step means not being tempted by a women while using the 12 step program , because it actually happens all the time and usually they begin using drugs together ..so in other words dont be tempted or fall into that trap also in the song drag the waters he is talking about Sweet is the slice and the lips, you're going to have that woman, she is your favorite lay<br /> Promised you swore that no one had been there, and she was going to keep it that way<br /> Let it move in, you got thin, and got high and your money went and so did your friends<br /> But she's by your side, and her smile cannot hide the premonition of the beckoning end//// I mean it's very obvious. he his saying he fucked up or a friend fucked up by allowing a woman to overcome his desire for drugs, but they end up falling back into drug use. again, referring to the 13 step I know what the 13 step means because I used the 12-step program. I guess it could be something else but Iam almost certain. I also did the 13 step and failed and ended up back in the program. you think if I find love, I won't need drugs etc and you are detoxing so it's easy to get caught up with a woman and fucking it up for both of you ,.. <br /> The end
It seems to me the whole song is a continuance about how the media cares about nothing that cares. The events that are being ignored get worse and worse throughout the song, and in the last verse, he's referring to the people that are watching the major networks on televisions, and believing that the world is a good place. At least, that's my interpretation of it.
the album "THE GREAT SOUTHERN TRENDKILL" focous on phils addictions and hate of the media 13 steps to nowhere speaks for it's self the 13th step is falling off the wagon so your just going around in circles so just be one sober or fucked
i think its about media making a big deal out of drug addiction. when in reality, its a personal problem, no one elses business. 13 steps, like said before, is like taking the first 12 steps to recovery...and then the 13th step being relapse. a lot of the lyrics in this song are contradictory and make no sense. i think phil did that on purpose to show that trying to quit drugs makes no sense...cuz eventually you will relapse
@nlegrand 13 step is relapse but its also a joke that the 13 step is falling for a woman while using the program and fucking it up for both of you becux you think if you find love i wont need drugs read the lyrics also to drag the waters. Sweet is the slice and the lips, you're gonna have that woman, she is your favorite lay<br /> Promised you swore that no one had been there, and she was going to keep it that way<br /> Let it move in, you got thin, and got high and your money went and so did your friends<br /> But she's by your side, and her smile cannot hide the premonition of the beckoning end<br /> The end also again he is breaking the 13 step he falls for a woman and the beginning of 13 steps he refers to and says whores' whores' whores whores ... <br />
you have to go up 13 steps when you get hanged 13 steps to nowhere
I never thought of that. 13 steps to nowhere does make sense. good insight
@Aho never thought of that but I am certain he isnt speaking of this or he could be and also using more than 1 meaning to describe it ..13 step is relapse but its also a joke that the 13 step is falling for a woman while using the program and fucking it up for both of you becux you think if you find love i wont need drugs read the lyrics also to drag the waters. Sweet is the slice and the lips, you're gonna have that woman, she is your favorite lay<br /> Promised you swore that no one had been there, and she was going to keep it that way<br /> Let it move in, you got thin, and got high and your money went and so did your friends<br /> But she's by your side, and her smile cannot hide the premonition of the beckoning end<br /> The end also again he is breaking the 13 step he falls for a woman and the beginning of 13 steps he refers to and says whores' whores' whores whores .. I did the 12 step program and ended up falling for a girl and we thought we were over the drugs but eventually we fell right back into it and I had to go back to the program.<br />
anyone have a clue on what this song is about. Because reading it, I cannot make anything cohesive about the song. What does 13 steps mean, and why are their meaningless lines like "The Wolf Poked with the stick, awaits with cancerous breath". Is this song just simply induced by drugs?
<br /> In my humble opinion ... this is yet another metal song about new world order, written in ‘code’. Remember, music & comedy are the only ways we can express the truth openly without getting fuct (see sepultua & ratm).<br /> The first verse is about how people are blinded (boarded up) to the fact their rights are being eroded (private lives exposed), while being bombarded by media distractions/fear, controlled by more than the conditioned news readers & celebs (lab rats) we see. Slang is something we do to fit in, drugs is something we do to ‘escape ‘. <br /> 2 metaphorical categories for majority of humanity today. Media has replaced the church as the main method of control, hence, A church burned to the ground, not even noticed yet.<br /> Verse 2, Swastika was originally a sign of peace, Nazis inverted it to mean the opposite, fascism being the common theme throughout the ages of the powers that be/n.w.o./elite whatever you wanna call them. Nazi Gangster Jew is obviously Rockefeller, who, like others, has an agenda far surpassing any superficial bollox such as race & religion. The dog is us, the loyal & stupid people. The cross slants to the side, on its way to being inverted... long story short... coming of the antichrist/number of the beast, etc.<br /> Third verse, about rebellion of the people ending in massive loss of life, dog becomes wolf. Outsiders not privy to this info are still wandering around oblivious and naive, but this truth should not surprise as your homes were built on lies (federal reserve/ mortgage scam) and could be taken away from us at any time.<br /> 13 being a favoured number of the elite/Satanist/n.w.o. Steps being rehab or other implementation metaphor for something doomed to fail!<br /> I might be completely wrong. I love a debate but please, no bitching.<br /> Peace<br /> I LOVE PANTERA !<br />
I believe the 13 steps to nowhere refers to the number of steps to the gallows. The song is about death and how our actions bring us closer to it.
@SpilltheBlood 13 step is relapse but its also a joke that the 13 step is falling for a woman while using the program and fucking it up for both of you becux you think if you find love i wont need drugs read the lyrics also to drag the waters. Sweet is the slice and the lips, you're gonna have that woman, she is your favorite lay<br /> Promised you swore that no one had been there, and she was going to keep it that way<br /> Let it move in, you got thin, and got high and your money went and so did your friends<br /> But she's by your side, and her smile cannot hide the premonition of the beckoning end<br /> The end also again he is breaking the 13 step he falls for a woman and the beginning of 13 steps he refers to and says whores' whores' whores whores ..
maybe hes just trying to lead you to nowhere, like this is what it means to be led to nowhere, actions that have no point layed everywhere, and you probably wont notice or care when your there
RIP DIME
@clown137 13 step is relapse but its also a joke that the 13 step is falling for a woman while using the program and fucking it up for both of you becux you think if you find love i wont need drugs read the lyrics also to drag the waters. Sweet is the slice and the lips, you're gonna have that woman, she is your favorite lay<br /> Promised you swore that no one had been there, and she was going to keep it that way<br /> Let it move in, you got thin, and got high and your money went and so did your friends<br /> But she's by your side, and her smile cannot hide the premonition of the beckoning end<br /> The end also again he is breaking the 13 step he falls for a woman and the beginning of 13 steps he refers to and says whores' whores' whores whores ..
the song is about the lies in the world, and how it is bring down the world."The Wolf Poked with the stick, awaits with cancerous breath," line means that the people who have been shit on, await to get thier revenge
@krazylarry 13 step is relapse but its also a joke that the 13 step is falling for a woman while using the program and fucking it up for both of you becux you think if you find love i wont need drugs read the lyrics also to drag the waters. Sweet is the slice and the lips, you're gonna have that woman, she is your favorite lay<br /> Promised you swore that no one had been there, and she was going to keep it that way<br /> Let it move in, you got thin, and got high and your money went and so did your friends<br /> But she's by your side, and her smile cannot hide the premonition of the beckoning end<br /> The end also again he is breaking the 13 step he falls for a woman and the beginning of 13 steps he refers to and says whores' whores' whores whores ..<br />
well because i'm in high school i always relate this song to school because your in school for 13 years including kindergarten. i truly and absolutely believe school is the most useless thing anyone ever invented and im so pissed off that you hav to go it because it doesnt amount to anything. i mean look at what people who didnt finish school achieved... im basically talkin about 95% of all metal i know.
Its about state israel who "build their homes on lies". Understand? A backwards swastika means that the jews (zionists) are the real nazis ;)<br /> <br /> there you have it. no further speculations.
the reason they became successful without highschool is because they would spend their time learning thier craft. for example, in dimes bio "black tooth grin" it said that he barely went to school and would just stay at home and play guitar. this comment just makes you sound like an angry teen who doesnt like school. If you really think the educational system is useless.. you probably shouldve paid more attention in school. In that case maybe its useless to you because your determined to be mad at it. and im 15, i love so many different types of metal, i play guitar, smoke alot of weed and have to get up at 550 for school everyday. and not by choice my bus comes at 620. so dont give me the "you dont understand" thing.
This song is about drug rehab, and the 13th step (relapse). The nonsencical lines are there to protray how worthless 12 step programs are because you will allways end up where you started. Phil has said before that he does not attend 12 step programs because they dont work for him.