Protect Me From What I Want

I can't believe how this song is apparently so difficult to interpretate. isn't it obvious that it's about depression??

"the disease of the age" --> is an often used description for depression.

"Corporate America wakes" --> one of the main reasons for the high number of depressed is the performance culture: work and work and spend.

"Coffee republic in case"--> How we need to pull ourselves through the days.

"We open the latch on the gate Of the hole that we call our home" --> We're so materialistic, but in the end it means nothing.

"Protect me from what I want, Protect me protect me" ---> as a fellow depressed person I know that we often 'seek' to stay depressed, because it's the only thing that we're sure of. Our routine behaviour keeps us in the depression e.i. depressing music, sitting alone at home and wasting our days... Psychiatrists will confirm this.

"Maybe we're victims of fate Remember when we'd celebrate We'd drink and get high until late And now we're all alone

Wedding bells ain't gonna chime With both of us guilty of crime And both of us sentenced to time And now we're all alone" --> These last two verses are the parts where a depressed person feels sorry for himself and has absolutely no faith that things will turn out alright, like they used to be. The 'wedding bells' and 'committed crime' are dysfemisms of the things the depressed person did wrong. Note: people who are depressed tend to think less of themselves and blow up every little mistake they've made to gargantic proportions, they feel like they don't deserve to be happy.

Hope I cleared this up for all of you.

I agree with poison girl13 and Edenfer! This is about a person that during their youth do not care about having a relationship, kids, whatever, but when age comes, and it cames really fast, he realizes that life has passed him by. And it was made of drinking, drugging, one night stands... Worthless. He cannot even stands his own house. Try to listen to the french version 'cause it is more beautifil and has more details to understand the song.

its like coming home after going clubbing or getting really wasted and just reflecting on the stupidity of it all. "protect me from what i want" reminds of lots of things.....drugs, cutting, alcohol, anything addictive really. its like the thing you love the most is the thing you must be protected from.

I'm thinking it's about someone being stuck in a life they want out of. Like, a job they hate and a home they can't stand.

"Maybe we're victims of fate Remember when we'd celebrate", he remembers his youth and regrets that it's over. He's grown up now, with a life he hates, but wants to be protected from what he ACTUALLY wants.

Yeah. I don't know.

Umm I am not sure where to put Lyric corrections so I am just putting them here, it is just the first verse that is a little wrong: It's that disease of the age It's that disease that we crave Alone at the end of the rave We catch the last bus home

Could be unplanned pregnancy after a big night out. "protect me from what i want" could mean use a condom, but he didnt, and now the girl is pregnant and is claiming child support from the man because they don't want to get married "wedding bells aint gonna chime/with both of us guilty of crime/and both of use sentenced to time/and now we're all alone"

I think this number is a protest to conformity expecially in the American culture. Brian has loudly voiced his isn't always proud to be an American and is very anti-war. And I really think he isn't a conformist. I definatly think this song is a protest to conformity.

interestingly brian i wouldn't say he is american. his father is american, his mother is scottish and he was brought up in luxembourg. so i'd call him european (thank god).

I love this song more than anything. I think its about this new era that we live in and all we can do is drink and get high and sleep around and soon enough we've wasted our whole lives doing that, so that when we're old we're alone because all our relationships were worthless one night stands. Hence the lines :"maybe we're victems of fate, remember when we'd celebrate, we'd drink and get high until late, but now we're all alone. Wedding bells ain't gonna chime, with both of us guilty of time and both of us sentenced to time and now we're all alone"

I have their DVD from their Paris concert... and before that this song always "bleh" for me

but when I saw the rendition they did of it...OHMYGOD!!!!! that's gotta be one of their best live songs

they sing the french version, but it still grips you like you have no idea what the fuck is taking over you

great song