Dead & Bloated

The song is about insecurity and the ability to conquer it.

It's the same feeling you get the first time you show your naked body to a lover for the first time. It's the same feeling you get when people walk all over you. And the main message is that it's hard to discuss how you feel and how to people and a true friend giving you comfort is really the only thing that can stop this wave of thinking. When people you care about really give you love and comfort, it's usually in either really great times (birthday) or really bad times (deathbed) where you're unafraid of people who couldn't understand you and might be uncomfortable hearing your inner thoughts.

I think this song is about the anticipation of death. How, no matter how fast or far we run, where or how, we're all gonna die. It's only natural, and we may think that we're safe from death, but all of us could drop dead within the next millisecond, and it could swallow up what we're thinking like water/

That's my interpretation. Probably wrong.

its basically about life and death, and living life to its fullest and overcoming the depression you get from a nihilistic mindset

i am smelling like the rose that somebody gave me on my birthday deathbed: he feels like hes going to die soon or his lifes too short, he already has the smell of death on him. hes also blaming whoever created him, whether its his parents or God, because he feels like they gave him life just so he could die

cause im dead and bloated: like i said...he feels like hes as good as dead

and she says its natural: people tell him the cycle of life and death is natural

i feel ive come of age: he now has a better understanding of things

when she peeks i start to run, you cant swallow what im thinking: he doesnt let anyone know about this nihilistic view of life, he feels like no one will understand it

i am trampled under sole of another mans shoe guess i walked too softly: hes been stepped on all his life, now he has this better understanding of things and hes not gonna walk so softly

i run through the world thinkin bout tomorrow: hes been putting everything off til tomorrow when now he realizes he could die at any moment. time to start living in the present because every moment could be the last

I think this song is song is pretty deep, and it may be about some of his own self-realizations and regrets. ( Creep as well ) As for the heroin thing, I truely think that a lot of his lyrics have a little something to do with that, it did play a huge part in his life after all. though the smeel of a deathbed rose is quite an intriguing thought, he's quite a character.

blasting the horrible nature of humanity seems to be the recurring theme of stp's album, "core." i.e. sex type thing - the macho attitude many men have toward women. sin - an abusive husband/father naked sunday - the hatred and violence that religious fanatics carry toward people of different faith creep - how people can be so cruel to others who dont "fit in"

keeping this theme in mind, i interperet "dead and bloated" as a reminder of how truly f'd up the act of war is. it can be argued that war will forever be a part of life, it is natural, and that killing in the name of war is a just act. this may be a reasonable belief, but i think scott isnt making that judgement. it seems he is asking u to put yourself in the shoes of young soldiers chased by the terror of death.

"i am smelling like a rose that somebody gave me on my birthday deathbed" - it is a tradition for some to place flowers on the grave of a lost loved one. would-be birthdays, christmas, the anniversary of his or her death, or in other strange, artistic words, the birthday of the death. the griever placed a rose on the soldiers grave.

"and she says its natural, i feel i've come of age, when she peeks i start to run"- many people, especially military, feel its heroic and "natural" to die for one's country. "she" is referring to the soldier's home country or in our case, the U.S....but maybe this really isnt a feeling we should have... a young soldier with his life ahead of him probably doesnt feel this warm fuzzy 'natural' feeling on the brink of death. the coming of age may refer to the history of the draft and our nation's belief that 18 is about the right age to start dying for your country. in some countries it is much younger. scott is probably personifying death with the lyrics "when she (death)peeks i start to run"..at a young age, it's much harder to face death for a cause he probably doesnt understand yet, so his nature is to avoid it or "run". scott's use of "she" could refer to either death or the U.S. since the U.S. commands the soldier, and therefore is the 'deathbringer'.
"i run through the world, thinkin about tomorrow"- war is worldwide of course, and if you could be killed any moment, what is on your mind? will i make it to tomorrow? "i am trampled under sole of another man's shoe, guess i walked too softly"- these lyrics are my favorite.is it his turn to kill, or be killed? fate can be so cruel... this soldier isn't lucky and is killed in combat. walking too softly refers to the fact that he isnt as great of a soldier as his killer and consequently meets his doom. when i hear this i sympathize with the young men thrown into combat destined to die. this song is a great reminder how tragic it is that the innocent die for another's greed.

Personally this song will forever remind me of my late friend. He was a musician and had the kind of voice that could belt out some STP. But the intro - roses and birthday deathbed - this friend passed on my birthday. And he used to say to me "stop and smell the roses". Now on my bday I get an orange rose for him. And this is my birthday theme song.

"I run through the world, thinkin bout tomorrow" Definantly the story of my life.

i think itsabout scott doing heroin and how he goes through kind of a weird, but deep experience.

I agree with WinterOnyx. I love line on my birthday deathbed beings if you think about it when you're first born you technically start dying. Think about it.

I don't think the heroin thing is right. In an interview he said he didn't do heroin til after the release of core, i don't see why he would lie.