A febrile shocking violent smack and
the children are hoping for a heart attack
tonight the windows are watching,
the streets all conspire
and the lampost can't stop crying
If I could fly high above the world
Would I see a bunch of living dots spell the word stupidity?
Or would I just see hungry lover homicides,
loving brother suicides
and olly olly oxenfrees, who pickaside and hide

The world is scratching at my door
My morning papers got the scores,
the human interest stories, and the obituary

Cockroach nape and rattling traps,
How many devils can you fit upon a match head?
Caringosity killed the Kerouac cat,
Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction

In my alley around the corner
there's a wino with feathered shoulders
and a spirit giving head for crack and he'll
never want it back
There's a little kid and his family eating
crackers like Thanksgiving
and a pack of wild desperadoes scornful of living

The world is scratching at my door
My morning papers got the scores,
the human interest stories, and the obituary

Cradle for a cat, Wolfe looks back,
How many angels can you fit upon a match?
I want to know why Hemmingway cracked
Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction

Life is the crummiest book I ever read,
there isn't a hook, just a lot of cheap shots
Pictures to shock and characters an
amateur would never dream up

Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction



Lyrics submitted by punk_in_drublic99, edited by merkTheJerk

Stranger Than Fiction song meanings
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30 Comments

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  • +1
    General Comment

    sometimes truth is stranger than fiction....

    FiveSecondPunkon June 01, 2002   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    "Life is the crummiest book i ever read, there isn't a hook, just alotta cheap shots, pictures to shock, and character and amateur would never dream up!" - I think, one of the best bad religion quites of them all! Sums up life to a tee!

    crazy_punk_gurlon December 11, 2004   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    I think Brett said that caringosity is a made up word that joins caring and curiosity. Awesome song!

    maxbenon April 07, 2007   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Kerouac is Jack Kerouac, the author of the novel of On the Road... among other things.

    Blackbird_1565on May 28, 2007   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Can anyone explain "cockroach naps and rattling traps"?

    Deadbornon May 12, 2008   Link
  • +1
    My Interpretation

    Throughout the song Graffin mentions famous authors; Hemmingway, Kerouac and Wolfe. All three were noted for writing about normal people. The examples that come to mind immediatly are Hemmingways Nick Adams stories. They are simple stories about a young man going to war and coming home.

    Throughout the song Graffin compares these 'normal' stories written by some of the greatest authors of the 20th century to what you read in the news. Child abuse (first and second line), lovers quarrels turned deadly, unexpected suicides, homelessness, drug abuse and alcoholism.

    Graffin is saying that some of the news stories you hear sound like they are written by an amateur fiction writer because they are almost unbelievable.

    benlonghairon August 27, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    yeah what he said

    badreligionpigeonon July 26, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Definately!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    LiVeOnCeFoRfOrEvEron July 26, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    hell yeah

    coolstuff25on July 28, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    this song is fucking amazing. it's extremely well written, and i'd have to say that stranger than fiction is my favorite bad religion album that i own. brett gurewitz and greg graffin are two of the greatest song writers ever

    Lucif3ron July 28, 2002   Link

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