Words as Weapons

When Seether released Words As Weapons, the band seemed to revive. And Shaun Morgan has seemed to evolve with the beautiful words he's given us with this song. The more I listen to Words As Weapons, the more it dawns on me that Shaun Morgan seems to be writing about himself, which makes a lot of sense when you get to the main chorus lines of, "All I really want is something beautiful to say, to never fade away, I want to live forever".

I don't think Shaun is giving us a run in with a bad relationship. I don't think he's talking about wanting to physically live forever. I think Shaun is talking about a battle within himself, and perhaps not feeling good enough to produce anything that will stay with people for eternity, even after he dies.

After reading about his recent depression with making their recent album, it only makes sense that their hit song on Isolate and Medicate would reflect the inward struggles of darkness within himself. Depression can make you feel worthless, jealous and afraid among many other things. With Shaun, I honestly feel his inward struggles in this song. With each line, I feel he is talking directly to himself, to that deep-seeded, dark, side of himself that is filled with bitterness and hate.

Having said that, here is my full interpretation of the lyrics:

All I really want is something beautiful to say

Keep me locked up in your broken mind I keep searchin', never been able to find a Light behind your dead eyes Not anything at all

IN: I feel, with this stanza, that Shaun is talking to himself, about himself. He feels his mind is broken because of the things he's had to endure, the life he lives, and the struggles he's facing with depression. He feels locked inside his mind, as if he has two sides to his personality. He keeps searching for something beautiful inside himself, but he's never been able to find anything behind his "dead eyes". He sees himself as a shell of a man who has can't seem to find the words to express the beauty of what he really wants to say. He can't find "anything at all". He's nothing, waste.

You keep living in your own lie, ever deceitful and ever unfaithful Keep me guessin', keep me terrified Take everything from my world

IN: He continues to live in the lie that surrounds him. There's more to him than meets the eye, maybe he's let family and friends down and feels deceitful and unfaithful because of it. That dark part of himself is the culprit, constantly making him scared. It seems to hurt those around him, and thus "takes everything" from his world.

Say can you help me right before the fall Take what you can and leave me to the wolves

IN: This is his cry for help, reaching out to those - friends, family, fans - to help him right before he "falls". In other words, help his legacy live on before dies. And once he dies one day, "take what you can" from him, such as his legacy as an artist/musician/poet, and let it live on, then "leave him to the wolves". Let the wolves tear him apart and eat him, let him die (like decomposition).

Keep me dumb, keep me paralyzed Why try swimming? I'm drowning in fables You're not that saint that you externalize You're not anything at all

IN: He doesn't want to know, doesn't want to feel anymore, because every time he tries "why try swimming?" he only loses to something else. This could be religious, or pertaining to lies once again, with the word "fables". He's telling himself he's not the saint that he might try to be, he's nothing. Waste, once again.

It's all so playful when you demonize To spit out the hateful, you're willing and able Words are weapons of the terrified You're nothing in my world

IN: When he puts others down, he's willing to talk about how hateful they are, but words are weapons of the terrified, which he's saying he is, and once again, he's nothing, so he has to let it go.

All I really want is something beautiful to say Keep me guessing, keep me terrified

IN: All he wants is something beautiful to say. But he can only keep guessing what, keeping him terrified of saying it.

All I really want is something beautiful to say You keep livin' in your own lie

All I really want is something beautiful to say To never fade away, I wanna live forever!

IN: He wants to say something beautiful to the world, but he keeps living the lie he's in, so he can't. He wants something beautiful to say, that will live on forever and ever. He wants "live forever" through his words, but his words are weapons, and they terrify.

Dumb interpretation? Too far? I don't know, I almost get a religious feel to this too, in which I can relate to being mentally exhausted by religious people trying to convert me, and Shaun has written similar bitterness for religious people in the past. So if Shaun isn't directly talking about himself here, I feel he's talking about people who bother him, not necessarily one person.

This song runs deeper than just a "bad relationship" thing. When I hear this song I feel the emotion in it, I feel the envy and pain that was put into it. Either way, even if this interpretation sucks, it's still a great song, one that truly will live on forever.