Everyone's afraid of their own lives
If you could be anything you want
I bet you'd be disappointed, am I right?

No one really knows the ones they love
If you knew everything they thought
I bet that you would wish that they'd just shut up

Well, you were the dull sound of sharp math
When you were alive
No one's going to play the harp when you die
And if I had a nickel for every damn dime
I'd have half the time, do you mind?

Everyone's afraid of their own lives
If you could be anything you want
I bet you'd be disappointed, am I right?
Am I right, am I right, am I right?
Am I right, am I right, am I right?

And it's our lives
It's hard to remember, it's hard to remember
We're alive for the first time
It's hard to remember, it's hard to remember
We're alive for the last time
It's hard to remember, it's hard to remember
To live before you die

It's hard to remember, it's hard to remember
That our lives are such a short time
It's hard to remember, it's hard to remember
When it takes such a long time
It's hard to remember, it's hard to remember

My mom's God is a woman and my mom she is a witch
I like this
My hell comes from inside, comes from inside myself
Why fight this?

Everyone's afraid of their own lives
If you could be anything you want
I bet you'd be disappointed, am I right?


Lyrics submitted by PLANES, edited by qazerty, cxavierrun, bubblegumanimals, PLATnumb, fietronic

Lives Lyrics as written by Isaac Brock Eric Judy

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Downtown Music Publishing

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Lives song meanings
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82 Comments

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  • +7
    General Comment

    I think what this song is saying is that you spend your life ashamed of who you are. And you spend your time hoping that you can be someone else, but that person you become will ultimately disappoint you in the long run. Don't live as your told to live. This is your life, your only life to live and you should live it how you would like to spend it. Without the influence of the others telling you to change. Your too afraid your going to fuck up so you hold back from what you really should or could become. This is by far my favorite song by modest mouse

    fakerealityon February 10, 2008   Link
  • +5
    General Comment

    This song gives me shivers. I listen to it and it almost makes me cry every time because it is so beautiful and so true.

    It's hard to remember, it's hard to remember We're alive for the first time It's hard to remember were alive for the last time It's hard to remember, it's hard to remember To live before you die It's hard to remember, it's hard to remember That our lives are such a short time It's hard to remember, it's hard to remember When it takes such a long time It's hard to remember, it's hard to remember

    simply amazing. Isaac Brock is a fucking genius.

    linzeeeon April 29, 2010   Link
  • +5
    General Comment

    I think the "my mom is a witch part" is about his mom being a pagan. But I think he put it in the song because it's a contrast to what he's singing about. He's singing about the fact that people don't live their lives to the fullest. Well, his mom is being her own person in this world and he likes the fact that she is living her own life.

    chubiganson September 16, 2010   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    Believe nothing on the faith of traditions, even though they have been held in honor for many generations and in diverse places. Do not believe a thing because many people speak of it. Do not believe on the faith of the sages of the past. Do not believe what you yourself have imagined, persuading yourself that a God inspires you. Believe nothing on the sole authority of your masters and priests. After examination, believe what you yourself have tested and found to be reasonable, and conform your conduct thereto.

    Buddha

    We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make our world.

    Buddha

    I think Buddha says it best.

    MeaningLessMeanderon May 18, 2008   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    I think this song deals with someone who is contemplating suicide. He is thinking about what people would say when he died, but no one will even play the harp when he does. You often wonder what your loved ones- friends and family- think of you, but really he just wants them to shut up so he can just get it over with. Its hard to remember that we are only alive once, and that taking your life does end it for good. And its hard to remember that life is over before we know it even without ending it ourselves, but he only can see it dragging out because he is depressed. His hell comes from inside, making him want to kill himself...

    jvb00on June 08, 2010   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    theprynce is right about how literal that quote is. his mom, like mine, is 'a witch' because she celebrates the goddess rather than the god, it's almost an explanatory note to his statement.

    my favorite part of this song is 'if i had a nickel for every damn dime i'd have half the time, do you mind?' it reminds me of a joke proof that my friend did in physics about time being equal to money. and i guess that's part of the message of the song, right? we're so preoccupied with the details of the world, including money, perhaps, and other things material, we forget to live...although, if you believe in reincarnation or you are one who will have but one life, you still agree that you, as a sum of your experiences, are alive for the first and last time.

    i just...well, i realize that i ramble quite a bit, but i effing love this song.

    balalínon April 13, 2004   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    this song makes me want a modest mouse t-shirt

    vacantjoshson July 11, 2002   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    I noticed something about these two lines:

    "And if I had a nickel for every damn dime I�d have half the time, do you mind?"

    Ever hear of the expression "Being nickle and dimed?". He is saying that he has been nickle and dimed out of his time. He does an eloquent job of it too.

    Just throwing in my two cents (pun intended).

    RedCasanovaon July 01, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    one of the songs mm songs that i really like right now

    mulmoon July 02, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    this is a song to live by. the first and best song i have heard by this band. truly great.

    leadmyskepticsighton July 13, 2002   Link

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