You plug me in and turn me on.
Turn on me.
I am your device of manufactured hope.
You plug me in and turn me into wires and blood.
I am your trophy wife shaking hands with your guests.
Hi my name is "yours".
The unfortunate ones will be spared.
We are the industry.
I'm sorry but your name is not on the list.
Your results do not comply.
Your ashes will fuel the machine.
We are the industry.
We are the birth and the death.


Lyrics submitted by x_melancholy_x

We Are The Industry song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

8 Comments

sort form View by:
  • 0
    General Comment

    this song is pretty much straight forward. we are the industry. society might have you think other wise. that you dont matter and you have to follow the crowd. weve heard it all before. we are the birth and the death. what we say goes. we can start something, and we can end something. just like im ending this entry

    wings_ablazeon June 22, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    oh yeah, and also what its saying is "STICK IT TO THE MAN"

    wings_ablazeon June 22, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    i think this is about the music industry and how the record companies and shit treat artists liek shit and use them for money. "i am your trophy wife shaking hands." "we are the industry. im osrry your name is not on the list."

    dragonchaseron January 27, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    this is my favourite song by the bled at the moment i think that it is mainy about the music indutry as drangonchaser said. but that it also has a double meaning in reference to life and people in general.

    harlequinxgirlon January 31, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    service economy? Even in death you fuel the machine, funeral homes make money off you, flower places, the church, the corner, the hospital etc.

    Tombuzzon October 08, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I'm pretty sure it's about how the government tries to act like they own us. Like they have a factory that produces us like robots or something. OR WHATEVER.

    sick1on April 14, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Internal locus of control for the win!

    RU12on May 14, 2009   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation

    This is what I thought when I first heard it.

    Quick version:

    It's about being perfect. Having the perfect family ('Trophy wife'). Fitting in with what society sees as perfect. Being part of, in a sense, that industry. The industry of being perfect.

    Long version:

    "You plug me in and turn me on. Turn on me."

    You see everywhere, from when you're born what society as a whole in general deems to be acceptable behaviour. They set the guidelines on what's a 'perfect' life. Kind of how Supermodels on magazines convey to women that that's how they should look like.

    But, by conforming to being 'perfect' you won't be happy, so in turn socety has turned on you, making you into something you don't want to be... Just to fit in.

    "I am your device of manufactured hope. You plug me in and turn me into wires and blood."

    Society made them into what they are, so they 'plugged them in' in a sense. And by conforming you're kind of like a robot (Hence, the 'wires') but you're still a person (Hence, the 'Blood') And by doing that, (Let's say it's to do with a couple here, as in the husband wanted the perfect wife)In the wifes point of view, she's a device of manufactured hope for the husband, he's turned her into the 'perfect' wife to go along with his hope of a 'perfect' life.

    "I am your trophy wife shaking hands with your guests. Hi my name is "yours"."

    There again, this line tells that the husband sees her as an object, rather than a person, something to show off to people. Rather than something to love. Her role, in this sense is to be perfect.

    “The unfortunate ones will be spared. We are the industry. “

    People think it’s good to be ‘perfect’ in the industry of the sense of being perfect. The ones that don’t fit in with wha t people see as being perfect will be ‘spared’ from that fate, which people don’t want. Because they all want other people to see them as good people, they all want people to want to know them. “I'm sorry but your name is not on the list. Your results do not comply.”

    The results (Traits, how they are, what they do) don’t comply with what people see as being perfect. “Your ashes will fuel the machine. We are the industry.”

    When they die, nothing will change, society will go on.
    “We are the birth and the death. “

    The guidelines of what society deems to be acceptable are there from when you’re born ‘til when you die. And before and beyond.

    Well, there you go. I think it’s about a couple, and like yeah wanting to be perfect.

    I say, be yourself. Be happy :D

    JasminsNinjaon June 10, 2010   Link

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

Album art
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
Album art
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Album art
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
Album art
No Surprises
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Album art
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.