Back Against The Wall

Actually, I think it's about a president, or leader-type person, who came into power and wanted to do good; but was just corrupted by the system he worked for. I feel as if the song is talking about how he looks at himself and how he's become. And also how he must change himself to fit into the image for the public eye.

"My tongue has now become a platform for your lies" Saying that he says whatever they tell him to.

"Tonight I'll have a look and try to find my face again" He doesn't know who he is anymore

"Behind the TV screen I've fallen to my knees" Imagine a leader just giving up in front of the public

"Stuck in-between the shadows of my yesterday" He can't be who he was before

"You got me where you want me again" and "I got my back against the wall" He's trapped into his work

"The alter's calling, but my legs won't seem to stand" He has to as he's told but doesn't want to

"Guess I'm a coward, afraid to face the man I am" He admits this is who he is now.

This is all interpretation, but it sounds right to me. It's all open for discussion, either way this song is genius.

I think this is about how so many people are trapped by their television sets. I think the average American now spends 4 or 5 hours a day -- the majority of their free time -- watching television.

"Tonight I'll have a look And try to find my face again Buried beneath this house"

He's looking for himself but he's buried by his television addiction. He's a couch potato.

"My spirit screams and dies again Out back a monster wears a cloak of Persian leather"

The monster is his leather couch he lives on.

"Behind the TV screen I've fallen to my knees"

He's praying for the will to escape and live outside of the fantasy world of TV.

"I said you got me where you want me again And I can't turn away I'm hanging by thread and I'm feelin like a fool I'm stuck here in-between The shadows of my yesterday I want to get away I need to get away"

Pretty straight forward: He can't turn away from the TV, because he has to see what is going to happen next. He feels like a fool but can't turn away.

"Blanket of silence Makes me want to sink my teeth in deep Burn all the evidence A fabricated disbelief Pull back the curtains Took a look into your eyes My tongue has now become A platform for your lies"

The blanket of silence is his mind turning off during TV, he wants to sink his teeth into the tv, to destroy it and burn it. He wants to burn its "fabricated disbelief": the suspension of disbelief necessary to believe the crap on TV. He says take a look into the "eyes" of those on TV, for he has now become a "platform" for their "lies."

"Now you know Yeah you got my back against the wall Oh god I ain't got no other place to hide Chained down Like a sittin duck just waitin for the fall You know Yeah you got my back against the wall"

His back is against the wall both figuratively and literally as he is stuck mesmerized by the television set. He is "chained down" by its images.

"Deep in the jungle Camouflaged by all the fallen leaves A hand holds up the sky While shamefully I make my plea The alters callin But my legs won't seem to stand Guess I'm a coward Scared to face the man I am"

The image of the true roots of man -- alive in the natural world, in the jungle, in touch with the world around him...touching the sky. While he shamefully is unable to stand and leave his television controlled existence. He has been enslaved by technology. He is scared to come to grips with what he has really become -- a couch potato coward.

I think this song is about how their past is haunting them. The video reminds me of the phrase "skeleton in the closet" ... only with gnomes lol. The whole concept reminds me of how one can try so hard to bury something - whether it be a hurt, a person, an addiction, etc; but the more we try to hide something ourselves and run from it - it just multiplies, and eventually consumes us. I think that's the very basic concept or meaning of this song.

I think this song is about the band getting sucked into the record company's lies.

"Out back a monster wears a cloak of Persian leather" could mean a wealthy person such as a record co. executive...

"Behind the TV screen I've fallen to my knees" this means music videos and how he is sad by them...

"I said you got me where you want me again And I can’t turn away I'm hanging by thread and I'm feelin’ like a fool I'm stuck here in-between The shadows of my yesterday" Again, the record co. has him where they want him and if he turns away he'll be without money so he feels selfish now...the shadows of my yesterday could mean what he used to believe in and what reality has in store for him now...

Blanket of silence Makes me want to sink my teeth in deep "Burn all the evidence A fabricated disbelief Pull back the curtains Took a look into your eyes My tongue has now become A platform for your lies" He's finally fed up with all he's done for them now and is ready to tear up everything they have made him...he wants to see them face-to-face and tell them that they are a bunch of liars and he is forced to speak for them in his songs

I think this song is about someone who is in a codependent relationship. They know the person they're with is horrible for them, but they've been with them so long they cant let go.The relationship is like an addiction. Also the person they're with knows that they're never going to leave them so they proceed to treat them however they want. It's an endless cycle breaking up and getting back together. they know that when they get back together happiness will only be short lived, then before you know it it goes to shit again (waiting for the fall). Their partner has made a fool out of them so many times yet they just cant leave the relationship even though they want to get away, no, NEED to get away.

i always thought this song was about realizing religion is a lie and that he has turned against it because he is so trapped by it all. i dunno... just a thought love the song though.

i think the song about the industry exploiting his talent or underground non commercial artist because in the music video gnomes are guards for mine or under ground treasurers and in the video he trys to burn the gnomes destroy them but they end up destroying them

now look at it as the gnomes the industry and he the underground artist (under ground treasure) he thinks he rocking out about how he like wont conform or what not to the industry but it turns around and bites him in the ass and makes a record label millions ..... maybe thats why he says my tounge now has become a platform for your lies

thake my take on this songs meaning

With the way the song sounds and all the lyrics in the first few lines mostly I think it's about drug abuse

This is might be completely wrong...but on the off chance that you like the interpretation, feel free to email me with special comments and what not wherehowz@yahoo.com

Tonight I�ll have a look And try to find my face again Buried beneath this house My spirit screams and dies again Out back a monster wears a cloak of Persian leather Behind the TV screen I've fallen to my knees

-in short, he is living two lives, one of which he is very ashamed of which makes him scream and die inside. he calls himself a monster, and the cloak symbolizes that he is hiding his lies from someone..maybe a girlfriend?

I said you got me where you want me again And I can�t turn away I'm hanging by thread and I'm feelin� like a fool I'm stuck here in-between The shadows of my yesterday I want to get away I need to get away

-he feels that his g/f is catching on and that it is inevitable that she will find out and confront him that he is scared of. he is very ashamed of this and feels stuck because he has already done it and cant take it back. he wants to get away so that he doesnt have to deal with the consequences

Blanket of silence Makes me want to sink my teeth in deep Burn all the evidence A fabricated disbelief Pull back the curtains Took a look into your eyes My tongue has now become A platform for your lies

-the blanket of silence refers to when he is with his girlfriend and is scared that she will confront him about his lies. he wants to take it all back but he cant. when he pulls back the curtains and looks into her eyes, he is telling her another lie, which is why he says his tongue is the platform for her lies...because he makes them up

I said you got me where you want me again And I can�t turn away I'm hanging by thread and I'm feelin� like a fool I'm stuck here in-between The shadows of my yesterday I want to get away I need to get away

^ive already talked about this part^

Now you know Yeah you got my back against the wall Oh god I ain't got no other place to hide Chained down Like a sittin� duck just waitin� for the fall You know Yeah you got my back against the wall

-his back is against the wall because he is with her and has no way of getting away. he is a sitting duck because at any moment she can just confront him about his lies.

Deep in the jungle Camouflaged by all the fallen leaves A hand holds up the sky While shamefully I make my plea The alters callin� But my legs won�t seem to stand Guess I'm a coward Scared to face the man I am

-he is deep in all of these lies and comoflagued by all of the lies. and he has a chance to admit all of his lies that he is ashamed of, and he just isnt able to do it because he is sooo embarrassed and ashamed of them.

I said you got me where you want me again And I can�t turn away I'm hanging by thread and I'm feelin� like a fool I'm stuck here in-between The shadows of my yesterday I want to get away I need to get away

Now you know Yeah you got my back against the wall Oh god I ain't got no other place to hide Chained down Like a sittin� duck just waitin� for the fall You know Yeah you got my back against the wall

Now you know Yeah you got my back against the wall Oh god I ain't got no other place to hide Chained down Like a sittin� duck just waitin� for the fall You know Yeah you got my back against the wall

To me, it seems like the character in the song is addressing himself when he says "you" in this song. Here's why:

"Tonight I'll have a look And try to find my face again"

He's going to try to find who he is again -- the person he wants to be, or the person who he was before something happened.The word "again" makes me think that he tries -- unsuccessfully -- to do this a lot.

"Buried beneath this house My spirit screams and dies again"

Not too sure about this one. Maybe the house represents a typical middle-income American lifestyle that he has worked himself into -- he has a house, security, wealth, etc., but underneath it all his spirit is screaming and dying for something different, maybe a dream that he had in the past.

"Out back a monster wears a cloak of Persian leather"

No clue.

"Behind the TV screen I've fallen to my knees"

He drowns himself in entertainment and is to the point where he is almost controlled by it. His life has little meaning outside of what he sees on the screen. He's "fallen to his knees" and let it take control of him.

"I said you got me where you want me again And I can't turn away I'm hanging by thread and I'm feelin' like a fool"

He can't get away from this lifestyle or mindset that he's worked himself into.

"I'm stuck here in-between The shadows of my yesterday"

Maybe he failed in the past and decided to settle for less, to give up on his ambitions. Now he's stuck, wanting to feel alive again but afraid to try because he remembers the "shadows" -- failures -- of yesterday, the past.

"I want to get away I need to get away"

He wants to get out of this rut. He knows he needs to for his own good.

"Blanket of silence Makes me want to sink my teeth in deep Burn all the evidence A fabricated disbelief Pull back the curtains Took a look into your eyes"

This one isn't too clear to me, either. Maybe he wants to forget the past and his failures but he can't, thus "burn all the evidence, a fabricated disbelief".

"My tongue has now become A platform for your lies"

This could mean that he's started thinking of himself as a failure or a coward. He's addressing himself when he says "your lies" -- the part inside of him that wants to give up and accept defeat. There's a small part of him that believes in himself, the part that knows the lies he's saying about himself are not true, the part that knows he COULD succeed if he kept trying. But that other quiet but persuasive voice inside has convinced himself that he can't.

"I said you got me where you want me again And I can't turn away I'm hanging by thread and I'm feelin' like a fool I'm stuck here in-between The shadows of my yesterday I want to get away I need to get away"

Same as above.

"Now you know Yeah you got my back against the wall Oh god I ain't got no other place to hide"

He feels overwhelmed and trapped by the failures of his past, therefore he feels that he's being held "against the wall". He doesn't have any place to hide from it anymore.

"Chained down Like a sittin' duck just waitin' for the fall"

His fears are crippling him, and he knows that if he lets them keep holding him back he's going to fall even lower soon.

"You know Yeah you got my back against the wall"

Same as above.

"Deep in the jungle Camouflaged by all the fallen leaves A hand holds up the sky While shamefully I make my plea"

No clue.

"The alters callin' But my legs won't seem to stand"

Not sure how the word "alter" works into the song, but the part about his legs not being able to stand clearly means he has no determination anymore -- no guts to face challenges again.

"Guess I'm a coward Scared to face the man I am"

This sums up the previous two verses, I think. He's not beating around the bush anymore. He's openly admitting it now, in a bit of a self-pitiful, hopeless way: "I guess I really am a coward, too scared to face the fact that I failed in the past." That's what is holding him back from trying again.

"Now you know Yeah you got my back against the wall Oh god I ain't got no other place to hide Chained down Like a sittin' duck just waitin' for the fall You know Yeah you got my back against the wall"

Same as above.

The song could be about a number of different things, but regardless of the context, I think it is focusing on failures of the past holding you back from trying again.