| Audioslave – Show Me How to Live Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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It has nothing to do with god or religion. Seriously guys? No one caught on that this entire song is a giant reference to Mary Shelly's Frankenstein? 'I was not received - but with stolen parts' is a reference to Frankenstein's "monster" not being created by traditional means ('received' is a colloquialism for childbirth), but instead being created from various body parts stolen from dead bodies. Hence "but with stolen parts". 'Nail in my head from my creator' is a reference to the procedure by which Victor Frankenstein's "monster" was created. 'You gave me a life, now show me how to live' is a reference to what the "monster" tells Frankenstein. The monster resents Frankenstein for creating and then immediately abandoning him. Never showing him what to do with his life or how to deal with the people that fear him. 'Is this a cure, or is this a disease' is a reference to Frankenstein's motives. He created the "monster" in hopes of finding a 'cure' for death. But instead all it brought was unimaginable horrors and grief. For the monster, Frankenstein, and the town's people it turned out to be more 'disease' than cure. 'You thought you made a man - You better think again' is a reference again to Frankenstein's initial expectations for what he was creating. And then subsequent fear and horror. 'before my role defines you' is a reference to the way Frankenstein's life, once normal and wholesome, becomes defined by the existence of the "monster", to whom, after losing everything he loves, he follows all the way to the north pole. 'Somebody get me a priest' is a reference to the "monster's" struggle with whether or not he has a soul. Whether he is worthy of happiness and life, or if he should be doomed to torment. 'And in your final hours - I will stand - Ready to begin' is a reference to the "monster's" reaction upon finding his creator dead. Because he thinks of Frankenstein - his creator - as his father, he immolates himself with his father's burning body on a pyre, now sorrowful and angry at himself for all the grief he selfishly caused his father. He dies with him, ironically ready to begin his life as it should be. Which is to say, finally dead. |
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