I Confess Lyrics
"Because I didn't care till I found out that one of them was mine." Sounds like a man who lives life by just having fun by going to clubs and having intercourse with randoms. Then one day he finds out that he is a father.
"Still wasn't right fight after fight" I think this bit means he got together with the woman who was the mother of his child but she didn't want to be with him, and he is really making an effort to be with the son.
"Sometimes it's right to say goodnight" I think at this part he means that maybe it'd be best for the child if he stopped trying, and maybe he's only causing pain for everyone?
"Always searching for paradise" Going back to my initial idea of him being a careless bachelor.
"If it's all the same to you I'll stay indifferent" And now I think this is his message to the woman saying, "If you don't want this to go anywhere it won't"
"Out like a light, another boy who's given up trying" I think this part is later on, and the boy's opinion of this whole matter is that he's not something to be angrily fought over.
That's my interpretation of it, to me it's either that or something relative to trying to commit suicide to prove a point. (Only because of all the references to death)
I still interpret this song exactly as I did when I first heard it. It was 1993, I was 19, and in a dysfunctional relationship. It did what all truly great songs do: which is be vague enough, and also use specific enough wording that the song relates exactly to you and your situation. When I hear it even now, over 30 years later- I am catapulted back to my younger self. Crying over the unrequited love that this song helped me through.
The song works because it represents a true breakup feeling. There is no one feeling just an avalanche of emotion. When you breakup everyone gets hurt or dead, including your self. During the relationship you compromise 50/50 trying hard to make it work. Then the end where you give up trying. The "confession", the admonishment to get out of my life. The old life dying, the other person hitting back like a gun with their remembered promises. You admit your clueless when it comes to life. Through all this you worry about breaking their heart, because you know how drastically for the worst your life will change. Sometimes the dying in a relationship is twice as bad as he solitary end. Also key is the fact that all relationships affect more than one. Relatives, new loves, friends, yourself will all be terribly scarred. Ah but he is mature enough to know that the freedom will be laced with an almost never ending pain, and quiet desperation. The balance between the sensitivity and the angry bravado to make the change make this song a forever hidden classic.
Awesome song. I'm not even sure where to start interpreting this one. It seems that by this time, the Beat were talking less about typical ska themes (unity, politics, etc) and more about relationships, love, women, etc. (other songs on the album include End of the Party and Jeanette). If I had to take a stab at this one, I'd guess that it's about a guy who is unwilling to open himself up to the women he is involved with, and ultiamtely he doesn't care. The nature of this being a confession, however, suggests to me that these feelings are deeply rooted under the surface of an otherwise 'normal' man.
this is such a sad song, (which i loved to dance to happily/cluelessly as a teen) i think its definitely guy who had a child with a girlfriend who they had a tumultuous relationship and he bailed and later maybe years? The mom told the child his dad died and thats why hes not around, thinking hed never show up, now he has feelings of regret for himself and realizes how selfish it is to not really care about how the mom and kid feel/felt, but admit hes apathetic/selfish and lame, he never called or made any attempt to contact the child but the knowledge doesnt make him actually change his feelings, so he says listen im here right now, and i admit im not capable of this real love, and hes "good as blind" like he hasnt a clue about raising a kid or being a husband, so its probably easier if i just bail anyway and let the kid still think im dead, cuz i dont really care...ugh what a bonehead. i hate apathetic people more than jerks.
Sad story. Great song from a great band.
simply put, he was cheating and infected others including his lover(s), so he feels terrible but doesnt care because he feels so bad he feels like dieing. but hes speaking for his lover whom is to blame. notice there is no mention of a woman!
Assuming that one of the three people is the girl involved, maybe the third person is the man (doesn't have to be a specific person; it could be any man) who is missing out on this girl because the narrator has her. He is completely apathetic about being with her, and he knows she could do better. This is why he says that their love is a sort of punishment. I don't know; it's a thought.
Ok, I know I'm going to hear a lot of disagreement...but I signed up for this JUST to state my interpetation of this song. haha
I feel like there's a guy who's in a relationship and he's partying a bit too much for his own good. He cheats on his girlfriend and there are some dire consequences (disease? pregnancy?).
"No-one wins and there's no denying Don't pretend like you don't know why Just a little word here a little push there Darling I confess look I confess that I don't really care"
She has probably told him many times "I will you'd just die! I hate you! Go away!" He can't take the arguing, the stress, so he decides to go "out like a light, another boy who's given up trying" it would be best to kill himself.
"Being dead don't hurt No only dying Cards on the table time Sometimes it's right to say goodnight"
He is admitting to cheating on her and knows that he "deserves to be punished:, but can't deal with the consequences so he just offs himself. He finally finds "paradise" and release in death. It's as if it's from his point of view afterwards. It's just how I always imagained the story. Not a concrete meaning.
To summarize the above.....a guy has an affair because he's unhappy in his current relationship, partly because he has too high expectations & is prone to complaining. He does not care about the feelings of anyone involved or the consequences of the affair. His confession is an inevitable culmination of everything, and everything ends in a big, dramatic fight. Now he cares because he's realized he was a victim of his own actions, but he's trying to stay indifferent to it all because it won't solve anything to care now.