Here by my side an angel
Here by my side the devil
Never turn your back on me
Never turn your back on me again
Here by my side it's heaven
Here by my side you are destruction
Here by my side a new color to paint the world
Never turn your back on it
Never turn your back on it again
Here by my side it's heaven
Careful, you be careful
This is where the world drops off
Careful, you be careful
And you breathe in and you breath out for it
Ain't it so weird how it makes you a weapon
And you give in and you give out for it
Ain't it so weird how it makes you a weapon
Never turn your back on it
Never turn your back on it again
Careful, you be careful
Here by my side the devil
Never turn your back on me
Never turn your back on me again
Here by my side it's heaven
Here by my side you are destruction
Here by my side a new color to paint the world
Never turn your back on it
Never turn your back on it again
Here by my side it's heaven
Careful, you be careful
This is where the world drops off
Careful, you be careful
And you breathe in and you breath out for it
Ain't it so weird how it makes you a weapon
And you give in and you give out for it
Ain't it so weird how it makes you a weapon
Never turn your back on it
Never turn your back on it again
Careful, you be careful
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To me, this song is about love. Plain and simple. Love is confusing and contradictory and way too intoxicating, and you should never turn your back on it or anyone who is in it. Love is the ultimate motivation for everything we do (we breathe in and out for it, we give in and out for it), and we would do anything in the name of it - kill, maim, betray, abandon. It makes us a weapon.
And Matthew's only advice is: "Be careful. You be careful."
"Pat,
Couldn't sleep again last
night. It's been like that
lately. don't know why
really. Haven't really been
bothered by it for a while,
so it's back to the ceiling
watch and the numbers
and the remembrances of
faces that I've lost. Why
do I do that do you
suppose? Just like I think
of you."
"When you're at the top there's nowhere left to go but
down. That's been said in a million country songs. It's
true. As true for nations as it is for their citizens. For
when you are at the top you aspire to attain that which
cannot be attained. And in doing so achieve the ruin of
all that you have built."
"Pat,
There's no way to know where to go from here. It
seems to me I've been thinking about it all these
years you've been gone, like there was some big
mystery out there coming for me. But the longer I
sit here and wait for it the more I realize that it's
never going to come. That it was up to me to go
and dispel the myth of it myself. But having
realized that, It's like my feet are stuck in cement
and I can't move. You know Chris has kids now, a
boy and a girl and you'd love them. Tamer than we
were when we were little. I look at them and think
that maybe Chris had it figured out a long time ago.
That he went searching and figured out that there's
just some old man behind a curtian pulling ropes
and levers. Sometimes I want to ask him about it
but I can't bring myself to do it. What would he think
I wonder? Who would be the failure then?"
Anyone think that might have anything to do with the song?
-----
When I listen to the song, "Ain't it so weird" stands out to me. It basically points out that the basic properties we have as humans make us a weapon(The greatest weapon that will ever exist, except maybe a more ridiculously malicious alien race from beyond...).
As humans we'll raise effigies of peace, preach equality and say the future is bright. We'll say that we can make the world balanced and peaceful. This is all possible in my mind. Peace can be achieved through everyone being willing, everyone unifying. Something so close and so far away. Hence "Here by my side, an angel/it's Heaven"
I believe George Orwell brings hits us with a depressing reality though. There is light in the hearts of many, but just the same there's evil, and it's far easier to give into destruction than it is anything else. People will ever more give into greed and lust, seek power and money. Security through evils(Oddly enough only creates paranoia.). Just look at Lord of the Flies; Handed paradise, only to have it daunted, and destroyed by a few corrupted hearts. This though, can just as easily happen in life outside novels. One sadistic world leader, one miscommunication, one assumption, one bad decision, and all we ever knew could change drastically, or simply shatter, leaving us bloodshot in the shards of our own demise. All thanks to the little perverted voice in the back of every humans head. The little guy on everyone's shoulder. Hence, "The Devil"
Because of this, we should never turn our backs on ourselves, because we are our own worst enemy. The only thing other than a meteor or supernova that capable of killing us IS us. So, never turn your back on it.
"A new color to paint the world" can simply be seen as the desire felt on both sides, felt by the light and dark in the hearts of everyone.
"Be Careful" is a warning, that it's completely up to you which plane you'll walk, whether you're part of the solution or problem, good or not good, essentially.
As for the world dropping off? I would say that it's realising everything I've written above, that we're fully capable of an entire spectrum of things, and it's up to us what happens. "The world" being the very foundation of our existance implies that the fall is of massive proportions, and realising that we're down the darker path as of now, dropping off the world is but the bitter truth.
You've fallen off a planet, you'll be falling for a while. you've got time, breathe in and out, gather yourself. So? Ain't it so weird how being human makes you a weapon?
-----
There could be a great deal of political meaning too, dealing with situations during and following 9/11.
It could stretch into numerous things though. The comment made earlier about relations between the United States and Canada is a new one to me. It could mean love, dealing with arms, running a nation. It can so easily be interpreted in many ways, so we'll just have to trust Matt's on it's originally intended meaning, which is given to you in my very first quote.
Though, like all other songs it still retains the ability be translated in different ways to different people.
That's my 2cents. Anyone, what you think ???
Matthew Good is a genuis, honestly.