I don't feel the way I've ever felt
I know
Gonna smile and not get worried
I try but it shows

Anyone can make what I have built
And better now
Anyone can find the same white pills
It takes my pain away

It's a lie, a kiss with open eyes
And she's not breathing back
Anything but bother me
(It takes my pain away)
Never mind, these are horrid times
Oh-oh-oh
I can't let it bother me

I never thought I'd walk away from you
I did
But it's a false sense of accomplishment
Every time I quit

Anyone can see my every flaw
It isn't hard
Anyone can say they're above this all
It takes my pain away

It's a lie, a kiss with open eyes
And she's not breathing back
Anything but bother me
(It takes my pain away)
Never mind, these are horrid times
Oh-oh-oh
I can't let it bother me

I can't let it bother me

It takes my pain away
It's a lie, a kiss with open eyes
And she's not breathing back
Anything but bother me
(It takes my pain away)
Never mind, these are horrid times
Oh-oh-oh
I can't let it bother me (it takes my pain)
It takes my pain
It takes my pain
It takes my pain away


Lyrics submitted by Redlight, edited by carlalsford

Pain Lyrics as written by Richard E Burch James Christopher Adkins

Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Pain song meanings
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169 Comments

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  • +9
    General Comment

    You have the meaning wrong. It's not about drugs or what drug use has done to someone, or those around them. The song is about relationships, and the speaker in the song is struggling with someone He loves, who does not love him back. This love makes him feel addicted to her the way a drugie is addicted to drugs. The part about a kiss with open eyes, simbolizes how the one he loves shows no intrest in him, and is not breathing back the same feelings that he shows for her.. He is telling himself that he can not let it bother him, but infact it does. The false sence of accomplishment is when he thinks he is over her, the way a drug addict is over their addiction, but then something happens that makes him come back to his obsession. See the simbolism between drug use and love? it's there.

    runnerconkon September 26, 2004   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    In my opinion, It sounds like he has depression and is taking anti depressants for his problems. The anti depressants take his pain away. The song lists things making him this way (an unhappy relationship, feeling he has no unique accomplishments or unable to be successful).

    BelarusLoveon September 28, 2011   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    These lyrics are pretty self explanatory... He broke up with his girl and he's become addicted to these "white pills" to try and cope.. thats where the "takes my pain away" comes from. amazing song

    d_uckon September 25, 2004   Link
  • +1
    My Opinion

    i think the song is about vicodin addiction.

    "anyone can take the same white pills... it takes my pain away"

    the kiss, the girl, it's all vicodin. everytime, it's a false sense of accomplishment to walk away and quit vicodin, he's an addict.

    michaelallenon February 15, 2012   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    i can't make up my mind about what this song means. i mean, yeah, it's a drug addiction (seriously, how many songs do they have about drugs??), but i don't know what to think about the girl. maybe he's hallucinating about her. i don't actually know what this song means to me. i don't even know what i'm doing on this website if i'm too much of an idiot to have an interpretation.

    willowhazelon July 19, 2012   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    From an article MTV did with JEW: Jim Adkins preferred not to go into detail about "Pain" -- other than to say “it's about low willpower and taking the easy way to become pacified, which may or may not solve anything in the long run" -- though he did say that there's usually never one specific instance that inspires a Jimmy Eat World song.

    Kiknit4on December 23, 2022   Link
  • +1
    My Interpretation

    A few folks have said it - I agree that the primary theme of the song is drug addiction. The lyric "it's a false sense of accomplishment every time I quit" is absolutely about addiction.

    What I think the video is showing is someone who's using drugs to take the pain out of his life. Sitting in the pool, throwing himself down the steps, the meat suit - they're all signs of self-destructive behavior, just like taking drugs. But note that through it all he never winces - never shows a single sign of any feeling.

    The twins are the demons of addiction which follow him around as he destroys his life, thinking about the woman he's lost.

    At the very end of the video, she comes back to him and starts peeling the meat off - she wants to help him heal and stop hurting himself. And right then, the twins of addiction hit him upside the head - and now he flinches. Now that his life has meaning again, he has to deal with the demons he's invited into his life, whether he wants to or not.

    And we see them walk away together - she's going to help him down this road to recovery. Note that as he starts off with her, he's still got the full meat suit on - it's going to take him time to get back to life without his self-induced pain.

    phileauxon February 16, 2018   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Ferking love this song. Can't wait to get there new album!!

    I think this has a pretty obvious meaning, I think it all relates to drug dependancy, and overdoses, and the all the mental fuck up it causes the person and there loved ones around that person.

    beni_ffafon September 24, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I love this song too, but can I suggest a correction to the lyrics posted above. To me, it sounds like: "It's a lie, A kiss with opened eyes And she's not breathing back Anything but bother me (It takes my pain away) Nevermind, these are horrid times Oh, oh, oh I can't let it bother me"

    should read: "...Nevermind, these are hurried times Oh, oh, oh I can't let it bother me"

    It's like the speed, busyness and complexity of the narrator's life are being used as an excuse, and they are temporarily dismissing their fears... Not letting it bother them. I'd welcome anyone else's thoughts?

    dpmosson September 24, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Great song

    Darcyon September 25, 2004   Link

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