| Soundgarden – By Crooked Steps Lyrics | 12 years ago |
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VibrantJackal's interpretation is pretty good, and I think his concept is overall nail on the head. But I think this song is much, much deeper and darker. Matt Cameron has called this a very "serious" song, not a sad song. I think this song is about a man (possibly in the friendzone) in love with a girl (or obsessed with her) and he is about to kill the man she's with in order to win him. Let's go verse by verse: "I'm addicted to feeling Stealing love isn't stealing Can't you see that I understand your mind?" The word "addicted" here makes me feel he can't live without her. He's so used to having her presence and her affection in some form that he can't afford to lose her. He considers himself in love with her, so he doesn't think he is stealing her away from the other bloke, because it's love, so it's ok. And the last question is a kind of defiant, desperate way to make her understand that she's better off with him than with her current partner. "I'm a walking believer I'm a ghost and a healer I'm the shape of the hole inside your heart" He believes in their love, and he won't let it die. When he calls himself a ghost, it may be because he feels invisible to her, but he's always around her. Maybe he haunts her in a manner of speaking, or maybe he stalks her. He says he completes her in every way (by filling up the hole in her heart) and calls himself a healer because he will heal her from her past hurt (come on, everyone has been hurt in love at least once in their life). "Not looking for a brighter side" -- This line is a retaliation to when people say things like 'Oh, well, look on the bright side' whenever we face a loss or a disappointment. "Crooked steps will take me higher" -- This is a clear indication of his intent. He's not content to look at things on the brighter side. He's going to take steps (crooked as they may be) to reach above this place of loss or disappointment. "I don't care if you want to cry" -- This is a temporary and probably untrue statement to her. She's going to cry at her loss of her current partner. He says he doesn't care about that because he's passionate about getting her. And also, he's confident that he'll "heal" her, isn't he? "I'm a soldier for hire Killing all you admire" This, to me, is the clearest way of saying that he will kill her current partner. He calls himself a soldier for hire, like a mercenary, because maybe he doesn't like the idea of killing, but he has to kill anyway, for his love for her and in order to have her all to himself. "And you live in the cloud but that will change" -- Cloud here refers to the fact that she's unable to see clearly (clouded vision/clouded judgement), which is why she's with her current partner instead of him. And he intends to make her see more clearly. "Blood raining down Cuts a deep, deep river And we're diving And we're diving" I think this is a metaphor. When he says they're diving, he means to say that they're about to dive into a new life together, probably marriage (marriages are often called "taking the plunge", aren't they?). And in order to dive, you need a water body that is deep and that will allow you to dive safely. And the blood (of her previous/current partner) will create a river deep enough for them to dive safely into, meaning that his death will allow them to live happily ever after, since there is no chance that he could come back and try to win her back. -- This is obviously just one interpretation, so please feel free to add on to this. |
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