This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Let's tap your heart so we can paint the walls and see if anybody likes the tone or the pain. The hungry eyes waiting for life flash, now they're gonna see it. Open your veins so we can make a pool and bathe and see if anyone complains of the stain. Let's strip you down so we can see you old scars. Now you're gonna feel it. Show me how to shine now. Have you ever turned to dust? I saw an insect learn to fly; its form was scorned. Have you ever seen the kingdom of the flys? I saw it stay in sovereignty. Have you lost the sense of touch? Have you ever turned to dust? Let's lift you up so we can see how fast you fall. We always thought that you could fly; now you'll crawl. The lack of loyalty you thought you once felt, now you're gonna feel it. Now show me how to shine.
Lyrics submitted by oofus
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This is a quite intresting song due to the way it is written. It probaly talking about his fustrations in relationships (a girl i presume). He probaly got hurt really bad and left him this emotion-less for a while. Now a little later he feels that revenge or hatred towards this person will bring out their "true self." I mean by saying their "old scares." This song can pertain to really anyone like a bitter eX relationship. Maybe even a bitter dispute with his parents. I need to do more research on other songs from AFI. Cya!
sure wish I could make some sense out of the whole fly insect thing going on in the chorus.
i believe its a twisted example of what hes trying to say and he is relating the person hes talking about to an insect
This song isn't one of my favorites on the album, it is still pretty good though, I think there is definately some bitterness in the lyrics and the music. The seeing an inscet learn to fly thing doesn't make too much sense to me but for some reason it seems like, seeing an insect learn to fly is something that is never really meant for human eyes....it is a basic instinct that is necessary for survival, however, I know that birds learn to fly by falling, and they either have to start flying before they hit the ground or they die...so maybe it is possible to see an insect learn to fly, and it could be a once in a lifetime experience...anyway, I don't know what that has to do witht he song, but that's what the insect makes me think of.
You see this is what makes this song special to me: I interpret Davey to have fucked with a couple of bugs in his life......sota like ripping their wings off and such.
Well in this song....Davey is watching the bugs get back!!! Also it says about "Show me how to shine now" So maybe it was a lighning bug.
Anyway....davey observes the blodbath ensuing ;-) and even shows compassion for them
Good For The Bugs :-)
Ps. I am not on drugs.....High on life :-D
Insects molt, so in order to fly one has to shed it's form, thus it being scorned. Which then makes it seem like an allusion to him "shedding" a past item (like a girl, or even better... their old guitarist Mark?) and being scorned in the process. As for the rest of the song, it's obviously just malice, I beleive it could be simply an anthem of Davey's feelings against Mark, along with Lower It. And asking him to show him how to shine is like thinking once Mark left "now what do I do? Tell me how we're to recover from THAT"
Another great song from AFI. I have no clue what the song's meaning is. Davey sure can twists things around...
There's a lot of pain and anger expressed in these lyrics. The first part seems to be about Davey talking to someone, calling that person selfish for trying to hurt themselves just for attention. The fly whose "form was scorned" when it was learning to fly probably meant that it was doing it wrong right from the start and that it could never learn how to fly because of this. The last parts of the song seems to express how that person thought everyone was against her or him and therefore, made it come true in the end. Sorry just my little interpretation. Love the song, though.
I think it
s very easy to point out that a person (probably Davie himself) is focusing in on another person and just the way they are as a person and that person is either someone he is not or hasnt seen the light of day when it comes to real emotions, or being himself and letting everyone know who he really is. 'Let's tap your heart so we can paint the walls and see if anybody likes the tone or the pain' - Basically saying let`s let everyone know how your heart really feels and see if anyone accepts you for that. 'Open your veins so we can make a pool and bathe and see if anyone complains of the stain' - Also saying the same thing but not fixating on the heart as the heart refers to feelings.this song is hard to explain and intrepret. "I saw an insect learn to fly; its form was scorned. Have you ever seen the kingdom of the flys? I saw it stay in sovereignty" not many people pay much attention to flys, but he took the time to whatch it learn to fly, he also looked at the kingdom, that insect stayed in rule. of what?
"Let's lift you up so we can see how fast you fall. We always thought that you could fly; now you'll crawl" put the insect thing and this togther you could say he's not talking about insects at all. something that was scorned, stayed in rule. iam sure you hear of fallen angels. and intresting thing is after Satan decived man in the Garden, God told Satan that he would be forced to crawl ("now you'll crawl") on his belly and eat the dust (have you ever turned to dust?)
"Now show me how to shine" Satan shined and Davey whants to know how.
"The lack of loyalty you thought you once felt, now you're gonna feel it" Satan probly felt betrayed because things didn't work out how he whanted to. and now Davey demanding to know how to shine is going to acheive (wishfull thinking mabey?) what Satan did not.
and by the way i think that none of AFI's songs are about love because in the song "smile" he says "i'll light the world on fire, and in the burning light i'll write my first love song." well the world ain't burning yet, nor are his followers many enough to make light with the fire inside them.