| Muse – Fury Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| Er...Computer glitch. Can't delete comments, unfortunately. Sorry for the repost. | |
| Muse – Fury Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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I wouldn't discount the religious connotations of the song. "You're so happy now, burning the candle at both ends. Your self-loving soothes and softens the blows you've invented." Having been involved in a Pentecostal Christian community, I'd say this is first identifying many Christians' over-enthusiasm for their religion. I thought I knew what "burning a candle at both ends" meant, but I looked it up (Googled it) anyways (I know Google isn't really a credible source of info, but it will have to do for the moment), and apparently it has both an older and newer meaning. The older meaning meant something along the lines of "wasteful effort". In other words, lighting two flames on the same candle (in the same location) doesn't illuminate much more than a single flame and wastes the candle. As I see it, folks who can't speak soberly about spirituality and instead rely on questionable demonstrations of "slaying in the spirit", "miraculous healing", "laying on of hands", and other activities are wasting their efforts. Everybody can see that they're trying too hard, "burning the candle at both ends", so to speak. Nevertheless, Christians are "so happy now" and "burn the candle at both ends" because their belief in their own salvation "soothes and softens the blows [they've] invented." That is, they feel comfortable with the idea of damning "sin" ("blows you've invented"), because they "know" they won't be held accountable for their sins because Jesus loves them (maybe just "self-love") and has forgiven them. They celebrate and evangelize with the wild abandon that is described as "burning the candle at both ends" in this song. (Go back and read the whole verse again) But this song isn't written from a Christian perspective (if it were there would probably be more tambourines involved). I think it's more written from the perspective of a non-Christian/ex-Christian assuming the doctrine is correct, and the chorus is a bitter reflection on what Christians believe is true. "Breathe in deep and cleanse away our sins. And we'll pray that there's no God to punish us and make a fuss." I had trouble with the "breathe in deep" line for awhile, but I'd say it's referencing the idea that concentrating on the act and confession of "being sorry/repentant" (the distinction between repentance and being sorry is lost to popular culture), concentration usually being accompanied by a deep breath or some other calming action, is what leads to salvation. It is, in fact, a mockery. "Yeah, you breathe in deep and that's what makes it all go away." I'd say the second sentence of the chorus can't be understood before the second verse. "Crack's healing up. Future soul, forgive this mess. You wait twenty years and wind up alone, demented." This may be a good time to stop and make a note on the way the songs are sung. Usually the meaning of a song is not inherent only in the lyrics, but depends on the inflection of the singer combined with the lyrics. Of course subtleties in speech, much less singing, are hard to communicate via written word. Hence the need for singing it rather than writing a letter to the world. With that said, I'm not going to try to convey the sense I get from the way "Fury" is sung. However, I'd suggest the second verse and it's second statement, are the key to the "meaning" of this song. Sometimes shit happens. It hurts, sometimes. I'd go so far as to say sometimes it doesn't just hurt, but causes very real, palpable damage to people. "Crack"s, really. In the process of "healing" people can turn into something they weren't before, like poking your finger into a balloon and having it stretch the rubber so the air fills the space afterwards and makes it look like there's an inverted finger coming out of the balloon. In this verse the "crack's healing up", but what is left afterwards might not be quite right. I'd say this is the source of angst for the whole song. In Christianity, when a person is "saved" it's "out with the old (soul), in with the new (soul)". I think the "future soul" of this verse is that "new" soul that's promised upon repentance/salvation (like the "happy" people in the first verse have). In other words for the person who wrote this song, that soul is never going to be manifest. Maybe hoping that wasn't the case, he/she "waited twenty years", and just wound up "alone", "demented", and as the preceding lyric states "a mess". To reiterate, something happened to him/her that had no other solution than to become something that could not be a part of the group that is "so happy now", hence the derision in Matt's voice for a group that believes that "everyone can be saved". And so for this person (the lyricist or Bellamy himself, I'm not sure) who may have believed at the time before there were "cracks" that there was a God, now "prays there is no God to punish us or make a fuss" over what could not have been avoided. In other words, sometimes people become what they never wanted to be while the Christian religion is all about wanting to be something and that wanting causing the person to be what they want to be. PS. I realize any interpretation of a song has a lot to do with personal experience, and I've put a lot of my own experience into this comment. Personally, aside from what I think the song "means" (hooray for postmodernism), I think myatl's (4 comments up) interpretation is at least as credible as mine. I don't personally know who wrote the lyrics and I think, in general, knowing the person who wrote them well is a factor in the credibility of a person's interpretation. |
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| Muse – Fury Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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I wouldn't discount the religious connotations of the song. "You're so happy now, burning the candle at both ends. Your self-loving soothes and softens the blows you've invented." Having been involved in a Pentecostal Christian community, I'd say this is first identifying many Christians' over-enthusiasm for their religion. I thought I knew what "burning a candle at both ends" meant, but I looked it up (Googled it) anyways (I know Google isn't really a credible source of info, but it will have to do for the moment), and apparently it has both an older and newer meaning. The older meaning meant something along the lines of "wasteful effort". In other words, lighting two flames on the same candle (in the same location) doesn't illuminate much more than a single flame and wastes the candle. As I see it, folks who can't speak soberly about spirituality and instead rely on questionable demonstrations of "slaying in the spirit", "miraculous healing", "laying on of hands", and other activities are wasting their efforts. Everybody can see that they're trying too hard, "burning the candle at both ends", so to speak. Nevertheless, Christians are "so happy now" and "burn the candle at both ends" because their belief in their own salvation "soothes and softens the blows [they've] invented." That is, they feel comfortable with the idea of damning "sin" ("blows you've invented"), because they "know" they won't be held accountable for their sins because Jesus loves them (maybe just "self-love") and has forgiven them. They celebrate and evangelize with the wild abandon that is described as "burning the candle at both ends" in this song. (Go back and read the whole verse again) But this song isn't written from a Christian perspective (if it were there would probably be more tambourines involved). I think it's more written from the perspective of a non-Christian/ex-Christian assuming the doctrine is correct, and the chorus is a bitter reflection on what Christians believe is true. "Breathe in deep and cleanse away our sins. And we'll pray that there's no God to punish us and make a fuss." I had trouble with the "breathe in deep" line for awhile, but I'd say it's referencing the idea that concentrating on the act and confession of "being sorry/repentant" (the distinction between repentance and being sorry is lost to popular culture), concentration usually being accompanied by a deep breath or some other calming action, is what leads to salvation. It is, in fact, a mockery. "Yeah, you breathe in deep and that's what makes it all go away." I'd say the second sentence of the chorus can't be understood before the second verse. "Crack's healing up. Future soul, forgive this mess. You wait twenty years and wind up alone, demented." This may be a good time to stop and make a note on the way the songs are sung. Usually the meaning of a song is not inherent only in the lyrics, but depends on the inflection of the singer combined with the lyrics. Of course subtleties in speech, much less singing, are hard to communicate via written word. Hence the need for singing it rather than writing a letter to the world. With that said, I'm not going to try to convey the sense I get from the way "Fury" is sung. However, I'd suggest the second verse and it's second statement, are the key to the "meaning" of this song. Sometimes shit happens. It hurts, sometimes. I'd go so far as to say sometimes it doesn't just hurt, but causes very real, palpable damage to people. "Crack"s, really. In the process of "healing" people can turn into something they weren't before, like poking your finger into a balloon and having it stretch the rubber so the air fills the space afterwards and makes it look like there's an inverted finger coming out of the balloon. In this verse the "crack's healing up", but what is left afterwards might not be quite right. I'd say this is the source of angst for the whole song. In Christianity, when a person is "saved" it's "out with the old (soul), in with the new (soul)". I think the "future soul" of this verse is that "new" soul that's promised upon repentance/salvation (like the "happy" people in the first verse have). In other words for the person who wrote this song, that soul is never going to be manifest. Maybe hoping that wasn't the case, he/she "waited twenty years", and just wound up "alone", "demented", and as the preceding lyric states "a mess". To reiterate, something happened to him/her that had no other solution than to become something that could not be a part of the group that is "so happy now", hence the derision in Matt's voice for a group that believes that "everyone can be saved". And so for this person (the lyricist or Bellamy himself, I'm not sure) who may have believed at the time before there were "cracks" that there was a God, now "prays there is no God to punish us or make a fuss" over what could not have been avoided. In other words, sometimes people become what they never wanted to be while the Christian religion is all about wanting to be something and that wanting causing the person to be what they want to be. PS. I realize any interpretation of a song has a lot to do with personal experience, and I've put a lot of my own experience into this comment. Personally, aside from what I think the song "means" (hooray for postmodernism), I think myatl's (4 comments up) interpretation is at least as credible as mine. I don't personally know who wrote the lyrics and I think, in general, knowing the person who wrote them well is a factor in the credibility of a person's interpretation. |
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| Muse – Fury Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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I wouldn't discount the religious connotations of the song. "You're so happy now, burning the candle at both ends. Your self-loving soothes and softens the blows you've invented." Having been involved in a Pentecostal Christian community, I'd say this is first identifying many Christians' over-enthusiasm for their religion. I thought I knew what "burning a candle at both ends" meant, but I looked it up (Googled it) anyways (I know Google isn't really a credible source of info, but it will have to do for the moment), and apparently it has both an older and newer meaning. The older meaning meant something along the lines of "wasteful effort". In other words, lighting two flames on the same candle (in the same location) doesn't illuminate much more than a single flame and wastes the candle. As I see it, folks who can't speak soberly about spirituality and instead rely on questionable demonstrations of "slaying in the spirit", "miraculous healing", "laying on of hands", and other activities are wasting their efforts. Everybody can see that they're trying too hard, "burning the candle at both ends", so to speak. Nevertheless, Christians are "so happy now" and "burn the candle at both ends" because their belief in their own salvation "soothes and softens the blows [they've] invented." That is, they feel comfortable with the idea of damning "sin" ("blows you've invented"), because they "know" they won't be held accountable for their sins because Jesus loves them (maybe just "self-love") and has forgiven them. They celebrate and evangelize with the wild abandon that is described as "burning the candle at both ends" in this song. (Go back and read the whole verse again) But this song isn't written from a Christian perspective (if it were there would probably be plenty of tambourines involved). I think it's more written from the perspective of a non-Christian/ex-Christian assuming the doctrine is correct, and the chorus is a bitter reflection on what Christians believe is true. "Breathe in deep and cleanse away our sins. And we'll pray that there's no God to punish us and make a fuss." I had trouble with the "breathe in deep" line for awhile, but I'd say it's referencing the idea that concentrating on the act and confession of "being sorry/repentant" (the distinction between repentance and being sorry is lost to popular culture), concentration usually being accompanied by a deep breath or some other calming action, is what leads to salvation. It is, in fact, a mockery. "Yeah, you breathe in deep and that's what makes it all go away." I'd say the second sentence of the chorus can't be understood before the second verse. "Crack's healing up. Future soul, forgive this mess. You wait twenty years and wind up alone, demented." This may be a good time to stop and make a note on the way the songs are sung. Usually the meaning of a song is not inherent only in the lyrics, but depends on the inflection of the singer combined with the lyrics. Of course subtleties in speech, much less singing, are hard to communicate via written word. Hence the need for singing it rather than writing a letter to the world. With that said, I'm not going to try to convey the sense I get from the way "Fury" is sung. However, I'd suggest the second verse and it's second statement, are the key to the "meaning" of this song. Sometimes shit happens. It hurts, sometimes. I'd go so far as to say sometimes it doesn't just hurt, but causes very real, palpable damage to people. "Crack"s, really. In the process of "healing" people can turn into something they weren't before, like poking your finger into a balloon and having it stretch the rubber so the air fills the space afterwards and makes it look like there's an inverted finger coming out of the balloon. In this verse the "crack's healing up", but what is left afterwards might not be quite right. I'd say this is the source of angst for the whole song. In Christianity, when a person is "saved" it's "out with the old (soul), in with the new (soul)". I think the "future soul" of this verse is that "new" soul that's promised upon repentance/salvation (like the "happy" people in the first verse have). In other words for the person who wrote this song, that soul is never going to be manifest. Maybe hoping that wasn't the case, he/she "waited twenty years", and just wound up "alone", "demented", and as the preceding lyric states "a mess". To reiterate, something happened to him/her that had no other solution than to become something that could not be a part of the group that is "so happy now", hence the derision in Matt's voice for a group that believes that "everyone can be saved". And so for this person (the lyricist or Bellamy himself, I'm not sure) who may have believed at the time before there were "cracks" that there was a God, now "prays there is no God to punish us or make a fuss" over what could not have been avoided. In other words, sometimes people become what they never wanted to be while the Christian religion is all about wanting to be something and that wanting causing the person to be what they want to be. PS. I realize any interpretation of a song has a lot to do with personal experience, and I've put a lot of my own experience into this comment. Personally, aside from what I think the song "means" (hooray for postmodernism), I think myatl's (4 comments up) interpretation is at least as credible as mine. I don't personally know who wrote the lyrics and I think, in general, knowing the person who wrote them well is a factor in the credibility of a person's interpretation. |
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