Naked

I've listened to this song for 30 years at this point and still haven't grown tired of it! It takes on a new meaning of regret for me now.

To me it's a lamentation of the "could've been" (or even the "never been, never felt, never thought I'd say a word"). You had some passion that you didn't pursue because it didn't seem like a good/safe investment. Now years later, that talent, that passion, that dream deferred, that spirit suppressed is fading... and it calls out. The person you've become just ignores it because they've chosen a different life... "no one hears me." And as the suppressed spirit beholds the corporate drone in which it now resides, "Now I'm hiding in the fallout... now I'm wasted. They don't need me don't want me don't hear a word I say..."

Even the "weighed down/safe now." Weighed down by responsibility and expectation from elders, friends, society... you chose the safe path. The safe career with a predictable future. But in that muted character, you've given up the adornment of personality. You might as well be naked inside your fear of failure. Can't take back all the years you didn't commit to your dream; attempts to are just shots in the dark from empty guns (holy crap that hits hard when I pick up my guit today).

I definitely think this song is about being alone as well... Alone and insecure... It is known that dreaming about being naked represents insecurity so that definitely relates... But the fact that it's about someone that's just dying to be noticed and screaming for attention.. Especially the "inside your head- no one's there- and i dont think i'll ever be- and i dont care" i think that's amzing because it's just a complete turning point for the entire song... The guy wants t be noticed throughout the whole song and at the end its almost like "who cares if u dont notice me? screw you!" i can definitely relate... but i dont think it's necessarily about a boy and a girl.. i mean it could be about friends or family or anything really.. that's what i love most about the goo goo dolls... not all their songs are love songs if u know what i mean... ;)

I think people are not considering crucial information in the lyrics. "Now I'm faded", "now I'm wasted", and "can't take back all those years". To me this is clearly to at least some extent about drug and/or alcohol abuse. It could be partly to deal with loneliness but I think the song is more so talking about John crying out for help either for his substance abuse or for the reason he is drinking or taking other substances, possibly both, and nobody is doing anything to help him or doesn't really care. Possibly also touches on suicidal ideation, maybe even failed suicide attempts with the line "shots in the dark from empty guns" but I think more likely that's metaphorical. Definitely themes of loneliness and depression, but I'd say just more about struggling with mental health and reaching out for help but not getting it.

I think this song is about being alone, as most of the things mentioned in the song point to this.

People who are alone are often not noticed and fade from the world, like the shots in the dark from emptied guns they are not heard and their attemps are pointless, you can't take back what you have become and how you got there.

I think Shezzie is right. It is about being lonely. It seems like the person tries to bond with someone, but he/she keeps being rejected and ignored, to the point he/she gives up.

yeah... i think he really likes someone who doesnt even know he exists... i love how he writes "inside your head, no ones there and i dont think ill ever be. and i dont care." it interests me because he says "and i dont care." so i guess he doesnt care that hes nearly invisible to her. ~Me

amazing song :) I'm going to see them tonite for the 2nd time & I can't wait :D!

Actually, it sounds like he's been rejected by everyone. It reminds me of high school, with those who didn't conform to the social groups of high school were rejected and ignore. And no matter how this person tries to fit in, these people still reject him. It's like he's crying out for help to these people but they ignore it. I get that bit from the part that says, "shots in the dark from empty guns, never heard by anyone". It sounds almost as if this person can't catch anyone attention, no matter what. Of course, that's just my thoughts. I could be wrong.

to me this song is simple about a person thats lost inside them self. there lost and there afriad, hence there naked inside there fear.

i dont think it has to do with other people. I think its all about someone lost within themself. and how they are nothing to themselves, not necessarily the world. Through the song how he whispers some of the lyrics... its like hes fading out in his own words, and that makes him lonley. To know that his own words can not be heard my himself therefore no one else can hear them. On the outside he puts up a front and hes 'clothed' to prevent people from seeing the real him. and when hes naked inside of himself he can see through everything and see the bare and true him. and that is scarey. It seems as though toward the end of the song hes giving up. whether or not its on himself or on listening to what others say i cant tell. but either way- excellent song. i love it.