True Faith

New Order

I feel so extraordinary
Something's got a hold on me
I get this feeling I'm in motion
A sudden sense of liberty
I don't care 'cause I'm not there
And I don't care if I'm here tomorrow
Again and again I've taken too much
Of the things that cost you too much
I used to think that the day would never come
I'd see delight in the shade of the morning sun
My morning sun is the drug that brings me near
To the childhood I lost, replaced by fear
I used to think that the day would never come
That my life would depend on the morning sun
When I was a very small boy
Very small boys talked to me
Now that we've grown up together
They're afraid of what they see
That's the price that we all pay
And the value of destiny comes to nothing
I can't tell you where we're going
I guess there was just no way of knowing
I used to think that the day would never come
I'd see delight in the shade of the morning sun
My morning sun is the drug that brings me near
To the childhood I lost, replaced by fear
I used to think that the day would never come
That my life would depend on the morning sun
I feel so extraordinary
Something's got a hold on me
I get this feeling I'm in motion
A sudden sense of liberty
The chances are we've gone too far
You took my time and you took my money
Now I fear you've left me standing
In a world that's so demanding
I used to think that the day would never come
I'd see delight in the shade of the morning sun
My morning sun is the drug that brings me near
To the childhood I lost, replaced by fear
I used to think that the day would never come
That my life would depend on the morning sun
I used to think that the day would never come
I'd see delight in the shade of the morning sun
My morning sun is the drug that brings me near
To the childhood I lost, replaced by fear
I used to think that the day would never come
That my life would depend on the morning sun


Lyrics submitted by numb, edited by tetsuo29, DMC12

True Faith song meanings
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61 Comments

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  • +17
    General Commentthis is from the songwriter, Bernard Sumner himself, during an interview for Q magazine in 1999.

    "(True Faith) is about drug dependency. I don't touch smack but when I wrote that song I tried to imagine what it's like to be a smackhead and nothing else matters to you except that day's hit. There's a line in the song, 'When I was a very young boy, very young boys played with me/Now we've grown up together, they're afraid of what they see." The original was, 'Now they're taking drugs with me,' but Stephen Hague our producer made us change it because he said it wouldn't be a hit if we kept that line in. He was right. It was a very big hit, but we chickened out. I change it back sometimes live."
    fieroavianon June 08, 2003   Link
  • +9
    General Commenti can only interpret this song in a very personal manner. after a very bad childhood i feel extraordinary because i survived and my life now depends on MY day to day life (the morning sun) instead of what happened to me in the past.

    for me it is a song of great hope.

    i have very much enjoyed reading the other opinions, and can especially see how one could relate this song to drugs, even if it does not seem that way to me.
    shellydageson November 19, 2009   Link
  • +4
    General CommentIt has already been validated from Bernard Sumner himself that this song is about drug addiction. Here is the breakdown.

    > I feel so extraordinary
    > Something's got a hold on me
    > I've got this feeling I'm in motion
    > A sudden sense of liberty

    The singer is getting high.

    > I don't care 'cos I'm not there
    > And I don't care if I'm here tomorrow
    > Again and again I've taken too much
    > Of the thing that costs you too much

    The singer is quite carefree now, but the drug is costing him too much probably in both time and money.

    > *I used to think that the day would never come
    > I'd see the light in the shade of the morning sun
    > My morning sun is the drug that brings me near
    > To the childhood I lost replaced by fear
    > I used to think that the day would never come
    > That my life would depend on the morning sun

    He never thought that his life would be totally dominated by drugs.

    > When I was a very small boy
    > Very small boys talked to me
    > Now that we've grown up together
    > They're afraid of what they see

    Actually, a neighborhood friend of mine turned into a drug addict and changed dramatically. He was no longer the same guy we knew, and the others was pretty shocked at what happened to him. It's quite a transformation.

    > That's the price that we all pay
    > Our valued destiny comes to nothing
    > I can't tell you where we're going
    > I guess there's just no way of knowing

    The price of drugs is that you have no future. There is no way for them to know precisely what their future is anymore ... if any.
    ckdamascuson November 21, 2004   Link
  • +3
    General CommentEven though the songwriter has commented, it's important to remember that even the maker of a thing isn't in control of it's meaning; either the meaning it takes through nuance when it's first created, or the meaning it takes through time as different people interpret it. Or was everyone happy with George Lucas' Star Wars prequel trilogy?

    It's kind of funny how no one's really tried to synthesize the two common interpretations- substance abuse and organized religion. The song is about addiction more than it's about drugs- and the highs produced by fervent religious faith are little different than those produced by chemical use. Really, any addiction or controlling behavior could apply to this song... or anything that takes away one's innocence and one's destiny. As much as anything, to me, this song is about growing up and trading away dreams for short-term happiness.
    Arafelison August 02, 2006   Link
  • +2
    General Commenthow could no one have commented on this yet? this song is so awesome.

    what it's about..i don't know. i guess just how he had a rotten childhood and then someone came along and he became a stronger person...but then the person left(took my time and you took my money) but he's still a stronger person because he was left standing..
    not_blondeon July 03, 2002   Link
  • +2
    General CommentI find that this song has highly depressing undertones. The subject, possibly Bernard, has lived a life full of fear and emotional pain. The following lines seem to support this assumption-

    "I used to think that the day would never come
    I'd see the light in the shade of the morning sun
    My morning sun is the drug that brings me near
    To the childhood I lost replaced by fear"

    "A sudden sense of liberty"

    This person has lived in a prison of his own fears and has discovered a drug that finally makes him feel free and OK for the first time in his life. It could be ecstasy, but that's not the big picture. However, these lines make me think ecstasy:

    "I feel so extraordinary
    Something's got a hold on me
    I've got this feeling I'm in motion
    A sudden sense of liberty"

    Not only does taking ecstasy makes you feel euphoric, but it makes you feel like you're in motion, which is why people refer to the experience as "rolling". It gives you a feeling of emotional freedom and was used for psychotheraputic purposes before it was made illegal.

    "Again and again I've taken too much
    Of the thing that costs you too much"

    Clearly these lines can be interpreted to mean drug use. Bernard Sumner has said in interviews that this song is about drug use, and the lyric "Now that we've grown up together
    They're afraid of what they see" was originally, "Now that we've grown up together
    They're all taking drugs with me". This doesn't really change the meaning of the song though, it only serves to make it more subtle. These "boys" are in that prison of fear and they're using drugs in an effort to make themselves feel OK.
    raid357on November 27, 2006   Link
  • +2
    My InterpretationClearly the drugs interpretation is right, but I had a different idea for the chorus.
    I hear it as:
    "I used to think that the day would never come
    I'd see the light in the shade of the morning sun
    My MOURNING SON is the drug that brings me near
    To the childhood I lost replaced by fear"

    I understand it as a guy who sees the reaction of his own son to the effect drugs are having on him, and this is the thing that shakes him out of it. It's the one thing that reconnects him to the time before drugs were in his life. In this sense, thinking that "the day would never come" means that he never thought this day would come, where he finally gives it up.

    Weird, eh? :-)
    Tobycekon August 24, 2010   Link
  • +2
    General CommentWow, it seems obvious now that this was written about drugs, but I had no clue. I was crazy about this song but lately could not recall the name or the group, finally did just now. Back when this video was running on MTV, I somehow suspected it was about a person with emotional trauma getting to the source of his pain through therapy, the "morning sun" being a positive image, light at the end of the tunnel, etc. And the "I feel so extraordinary" part, I thought of as positive emotions related to an emotional breakthrough or recovery. At first I actually thought they were saying "my morning sun is the TRUCK that brings me here", but after I realized it was DRUG, I thought they were referring to a person undergoing a drug therapy to recover lost childhood memories. And I also thought the lyrics were saying "I took your time & you took my money" rather than "YOU took my time & you took my money" - I thought this might have referred to, the patient taking the time of his therapist, and the therapist took his money, with a sort of reference to being kind of left out there on his own, feeling abandoned in the big bad world that is "too demanding" now that the therapy is over. A friend went thru years of psychotherapy for serious childhood abuse issues, probably why I thought that - funny how you can read what you want into anything -
    peejakerson January 02, 2011   Link
  • +1
    General Commenti think it's obvious what this song is about by the title alone. it's about the perception of faith in the world. does a supreme omnipitent being exist and does believing in him/her/it bring enlightenment during and after death.

    the "I feel so extraordinary..." verse is feeling that feeling somehow and the chorus goes on into how he couldn't believe he of all people would feel whatever feeling it is described by others but he feels it now. and how that feeling he has now is carefree and enlightening, much like the feelings he had as a child.

    the second verse talks about how the people around him have reacted to him differently because of his enlightenment. they don't know how to react. even he doesn't. he's not sure if there's infinite life after this feeling or if everything told to him is really true.

    The last verse seems like a condemnation of organized religion and how his enlightenment didn't come from going to the church and adding to the collection plate every sunday. and all the rules established by the church have made him an outcast, even though he has experienced true faith.

    of course that's just my opinion, i could be wrong.
    Illneroon April 03, 2003   Link
  • +1
    General CommentOpiate addicts live for the morning sun because that's when the first fix is.
    activex101on January 12, 2010   Link

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