In a joking sense, this song reminds me of a mental disorder called Fictious Disorder- a disorder where people will fake or exaggerated being sick or injured in order to go to the hospital and get attention as much as possible.
To be humorous, then, the lyrics sound like they could be describing a disordered person enjoying his hospital visit.
On a more serious note, I interpret the more literal meaning of the song as this:
It's talking about how society is a bitch.
Society expects everyone to live up to ridiculous standards of popularity and beauty. You are required to fit in and live up to their ideals, and if you don't you will be rejected and tormented. On the other hand, if something is wrong with you, the same society that bullies you will turn around and fake it and start acting all sweet. It's all a game they are playing in order to make themselves look good.
So, I think that the guy in the song (not Gerard himself- just the theoretical narrator of the song, a guy who represents many of us frustrated people)- is either subconsciously or consciously trying to get society's attention. This is because he has found that being sick or in danger is the ONLY way to get attention of any kind... And without attention, he feels completely rejected and lonely. Basically, the character is being open and vulnerable to society, admitting his weaknesses. Perhaps he's given up on trying to hide it, because they bully him either way. But he recognizes that society is cruel and will feed off his pain, so he decides to use it to get their attention, rather than just waste away on the sidelines.
However, subconsciously seeking attention through displaying pain openly or acting in desperate ways only brings temporary satisfaction. This seems to be the meaning of the line "it will never be enough." No matter how hard the narrator tried to fit in to society, on the one hand, it didn't work. They made fun of him anyway and mocked his weaknesses, delighting in bullying him and never getting tired of it. Now, on the other hand, the narrator also realizes that his attempt to get compassion through his suffering (or perhaps even just suffering that is not self-imposed, but should get him compassion) is meaningless. The affection and attention society shows a person is either cruelty or bullying (delighting in a victim's misery and pain) OR it is a fake act that is "required" because of proper manners- a compassion that doesn't go deep. Society's compassion is just a shallow thing, and behind it lurks the real disgust society has always had for the "less desirable" people.
I find the last line "the kind of human wreckage that you love" to be sort of bitter and sarcastic. The narrator is mocking the irony of the fact that he only gets attention from mean people by being hurt. And that they actually delight in how much of a struggle it is for him to get their attention, and how much pain he is enduring because of their bullying.
So again, long story short, the song is discussing how society is a bitch.
In a joking sense, this song reminds me of a mental disorder called Fictious Disorder- a disorder where people will fake or exaggerated being sick or injured in order to go to the hospital and get attention as much as possible. To be humorous, then, the lyrics sound like they could be describing a disordered person enjoying his hospital visit.
On a more serious note, I interpret the more literal meaning of the song as this:
It's talking about how society is a bitch. Society expects everyone to live up to ridiculous standards of popularity and beauty. You are required to fit in and live up to their ideals, and if you don't you will be rejected and tormented. On the other hand, if something is wrong with you, the same society that bullies you will turn around and fake it and start acting all sweet. It's all a game they are playing in order to make themselves look good.
So, I think that the guy in the song (not Gerard himself- just the theoretical narrator of the song, a guy who represents many of us frustrated people)- is either subconsciously or consciously trying to get society's attention. This is because he has found that being sick or in danger is the ONLY way to get attention of any kind... And without attention, he feels completely rejected and lonely. Basically, the character is being open and vulnerable to society, admitting his weaknesses. Perhaps he's given up on trying to hide it, because they bully him either way. But he recognizes that society is cruel and will feed off his pain, so he decides to use it to get their attention, rather than just waste away on the sidelines.
However, subconsciously seeking attention through displaying pain openly or acting in desperate ways only brings temporary satisfaction. This seems to be the meaning of the line "it will never be enough." No matter how hard the narrator tried to fit in to society, on the one hand, it didn't work. They made fun of him anyway and mocked his weaknesses, delighting in bullying him and never getting tired of it. Now, on the other hand, the narrator also realizes that his attempt to get compassion through his suffering (or perhaps even just suffering that is not self-imposed, but should get him compassion) is meaningless. The affection and attention society shows a person is either cruelty or bullying (delighting in a victim's misery and pain) OR it is a fake act that is "required" because of proper manners- a compassion that doesn't go deep. Society's compassion is just a shallow thing, and behind it lurks the real disgust society has always had for the "less desirable" people.
I find the last line "the kind of human wreckage that you love" to be sort of bitter and sarcastic. The narrator is mocking the irony of the fact that he only gets attention from mean people by being hurt. And that they actually delight in how much of a struggle it is for him to get their attention, and how much pain he is enduring because of their bullying.
So again, long story short, the song is discussing how society is a bitch.