I Want to Vanish

General CommentI've always thought that this song was about suicide... my mother was taken from me in that way and for a long time after that my dad would sometimes sit down with a scotch, listen to this, and cry...

• 1 Reply Log in to reply

My InterpretationI think this song was written about Princess Diana of the UK. Just wanting to get away from everything and everyone. It was written around ‘96, when she wanted out of the royal family, was dating Dodie Al Fyed (?), etc. To be ‘captured’ here he’s referring to the paparazzi just always hounding her to get photos and snapshots. Literally, laid on a decorated dish, as in all the tacky dishes, mugs etc. with her image at the souvenir shops in London.

“You arrange the mirrors and the spools
To snare the rare and precious jewels
That were only made of paste” - the mirror in the 35mm SLR cameras, and the film spools. The rare and precious photos that are only paper and chemicals.

Next verse—every little thing she says and does is scrutinized. She’s just a human being. The awful truth is that they feel she’s let them down. All the bad stuff about her that came out in the media. Can’t be undone. ‘Just leave me alone. I want to vanish. Be left alone.’

• No Replies Log in to reply

General CommentThis makes me think of a guy who feels like a wretch in the eyes of a girl, walking through an empty alleyway under moonlight.

• No Replies Log in to reply

General CommentSuch a sweet song...Love the orchestra singing in the background....crooning and beautiful.

• No Replies Log in to reply

General CommentWow, now that's what I call sad. Sometimes when I don't feel so well emotionally I have to listen to this song, and I also think that this song is about a depressed and/or suicidal person.

• No Replies Log in to reply

My InterpretationThe references to being laid out on a “decorated dish” displayed among “the rare and precious jewels that are only made of paste” suggests the song is about the ironies of fame. He wants to vanish, to be anonymous and therefore a normal part of humanity. Fame isolates - places one on display case among the other counterfeit gems, beautiful, but inauthentic. For a true artist, this must be a source of tremendous conflict. To be committed to telling the truth, only to be put on display as a glorified fiction. Like a “lost dog” he is unable to read the sign post with directions back to where he is himself again. The awful truth is the reality of his frail humanity in contrast with his public image. The rest he seeks is that of being anonymous. The tremendous depth of feeling he expresses in this song, suggests he may also be seeking the “rest” of oblivion.

• No Replies Log in to reply