This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
I've been trying to tell you about a thing I thought I saw
It came to me in a dream one night, when a voice began to call
I heard my name being summoned as I looked around to see
A hooded judge and jury
There was no mercy there for me
Well I can't make it, I can't figure it out
This dream is drivin' me crazy
I gotta know what it's all about
The mark is upon me
And the mark of Cain brings fear
A cold wind is a blowin' oh right down my back
I'm runnin, I'm runnin', I'm runnin'
From a figure that's dressed in black
I think my legs are made out of lead
'Cause I'm runnin' but I'm gettin' nowhere
The bad dream's coming closer and closer
I got a feelin' he'll always be there
Forever is a long time to spend in agony
And the demons of confusion have got a place for me
The mark is upon me
And the mark of Cain brings fear
I was tired, so tired of runnin'
I had to turn and look around
I saw eyes that looked right through me
And a voice that made no sound
My body froze, I stood and stared
Unearthly face before me
From the depths of a hooded nightmare
I saw what could not be
Mysteries and mayhem from the pinnacle I see
There's no answer when there is no question
The mark of Cain bears hard on me
It came to me in a dream one night, when a voice began to call
I heard my name being summoned as I looked around to see
A hooded judge and jury
There was no mercy there for me
Well I can't make it, I can't figure it out
This dream is drivin' me crazy
I gotta know what it's all about
The mark is upon me
And the mark of Cain brings fear
A cold wind is a blowin' oh right down my back
I'm runnin, I'm runnin', I'm runnin'
From a figure that's dressed in black
I think my legs are made out of lead
'Cause I'm runnin' but I'm gettin' nowhere
The bad dream's coming closer and closer
I got a feelin' he'll always be there
Forever is a long time to spend in agony
And the demons of confusion have got a place for me
The mark is upon me
And the mark of Cain brings fear
I was tired, so tired of runnin'
I had to turn and look around
I saw eyes that looked right through me
And a voice that made no sound
My body froze, I stood and stared
Unearthly face before me
From the depths of a hooded nightmare
I saw what could not be
Mysteries and mayhem from the pinnacle I see
There's no answer when there is no question
The mark of Cain bears hard on me
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@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
Mountain Song
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Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
No Surprises
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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.
It was a while back when i first heard of the band Kansas, 5 years ago actually. And as far as i knew they were just another band to me so i ignored the band for a while. Then as far as i knew i was in a mental hospital for 2 months over attempted suicide and seeing a dark shadowed figure and hearing a voice in my head tell me to "Run away, be happy". not to mention the being an atheist, but After all the things i witnessed i started to hear a couple of songs on a playlist on youtube and one the songs were "Mysteries and Mayhem" by of course Kansas so listened. It told me what i was already experiencing and it made me feel like i wasn't alone, like i wasn't the only one dealing with this. So i start listening to more and more songs by Kansas and each album they sing about a different topic and honestly I think God knew what he was doing when i started listening to Kansas. Because before i listened to Kansas i didn't listen to much of any music. So each song represented to me a part of my life i have already had been and are currently experiencing. I think God when he made me he made my life based off the lyrics of Kansas cause i feel thats what my life is based on. I feel like i was meant to listen to Kansas to know what my purpose is in this world. Now i know some aren't Christian but i believe thats what it was. anyway thats a great memory, And all (Kansas kept me from suicide and told me my life story) THE END
@westmenstudios Good post. Good for the Athiest to hear your story.
the "demon's" say on the pinnacle. Almost the same exact song, but this time it's about the evil one's say. They have the mark of cain, just as it says in the pinnacle.