When You Don't See Me

This is clearly sung from Von to his fans. But it's not angry or spiteful, indeed it's sort of an inside joke at this point, since Von already told people once with First and Last and Always. Hence the almost amused arrogance present in the track.

uh, i think its more about someone expecting too much of one person, and then expecting it to behave all the time just the way he does when he is with her .... "you bought the mask, i put it on.. you never thought to ask me if i wear it when you're gone" ... she expected him to be something he is not, and he tried that, but only when he is with her...

i think this song isnt about cheating at all. More about passion between the couple, and he acts like a better man when she's around, but with this song hes basicly saying hes much much worse (throwing off the shadow of a better man), and that she should find someone else (get real, get another)

Because of my own experiences, I think of this song as the story of someone whose famous for being someone they're not, but no one knows who they really are. It's a confession, saying "no matter how close you think you are, you know nothing about me."

ooh shes cheating, isnt she?

i think HE'S the one cheating

Good call Merlock, that makes sense. And it is totally in tune with the attitude he gives in this interview: http://www.spookhouse.net/tsom/mastersvoice.html.

-Disecting Andrew's lyrics is so much fun!

The chords for the chorus remind me so much of Dio's "Rainbow in the Dark". The same violin arpeggios in "Rainbow..." would go so well with this. Anyway, the lyrics are amazing. They're about projection and I totally agree with Merlock on this being about the singer and his fans. But the same dynamics can exist in personal relationships as well. This is a sardonic song about the person reclaiming themselves in a humorous, defiant way.

I like to take this song literally and picture it as a ghost (of a dead friend, relative, lover, whatever) talking to someone who's hallucinating them. The song then takes on a kind of creepy, angry tone; the ghost both wants to relinquish the curse of afterlife, but is also terrified of when the person he's haunting doesn't want to see him, and he ceases to exist.

Line by line reasoning: *'It's not a matter of going to grow/ It's not a matter of time or how I feel'. In other words, the person who the ghost's being seen by won't grow for as long as they're stuck in the past, whilst the ghost has no decision as to whether it wants to ruin the person's life.

*'I'm throwing off the shadow of a better man now'. The ghost is simply a poor replica of the man it imitates. 'Throwing off the shadow' is perhaps a reference to how shallow the ghost is; it doesn't even have a shadow.

*'What you see is what you never had/Get real/Get another'. The ghost is bitter, and makes the person doubt the initial relationship they had the person when they were alive.

*'You can make believe when we're apart'. When the person's not seeing the ghost (when they're talking to someone else, for example), they pretend that they haven't got a problem.

*'You never learnt/You bought me/Everything and less'. The person never learnt to get over their loss. Furthermore, the deadman, who's been bought to life, has been given 'everything' (life) but with a price: their loss of freedom.

I think this song may be a reference to Eldritch's attempts to overcome his amphetamine addiction. Famously, some of the long and short term effects of meth abuse are hallucinations and mental instability, which would key in with some of the below ideas.

'I'm throwing off the shadow of a better man now'

Amphetamine use may increase the user's sense of self worth and make performing on stage easier, so Eldritch is suggesting his drug-addled self is a 'better man', but that he hides in its shadow out of necessity.

'I don't exist when you don't see me I don't exist when you're not here'

I think the 'you' in this song is Eldritch's drugged-up version of himself. So, in this context, he has become vacant of his old self to the point of reliance. I also like to imagine it may be a reference to his hallucinations.

'You can lease the peace of mind'

Probably the biggest indication that this song may be about drug usage. A lease is a time-limited agreement, and it has to end at some point. Equally, drugs feel good, but there comes a point where you either have to stop, or give in.

'You never learned You bought me Everything and less'

Crucially, the word 'bought' is used here, not 'brought'. As in, the narrator has been purchased by somebody else, becoming 'everything and less'.