In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
Paint my face in your magazines
Make it look whiter than it seems
Paint me over with your dreams
Shove away my ethnicity
Burn every notion that I
May have a flame inside to fight
And say just what is on my mind
Without offending your might
'Cause this life is too short
To live it just for you
But when you feel so powerless
What are you gonna do?
So say what you want
Say what you want
I saw her face outside today
Weatherworn, lookin' all the rage
Took her passion and her gaze
And made a poster
Now it's moccasins we sport
We take the culture and contort
Perhaps only to distort
What we are hidin'
'Cause this life is too short
To live it just for you
But when you feel so powerless
What are you gonna do?
But say what you want
Say what you want
Say, say
Hey you, the one, the one outside
Are you gonna get in, get in?
Hey you, the one that don't fit in
How you, how you gonna get in?
Hey you, the one outside
Are you ever gonna get in with your
Broken teeth, broken jaw, broken mojo?
Yeah, this life is too short
To live it just for you
But when you feel so powerless
What are you gonna do?
'Cause this life is too short
To live it just for you
But when you feel so powerless
What are you gonna do?
'Cause this life is too short
To live it just for you
But when you feel so powerless
What are you gonna do?
Say what you want (life is too short)
Say what you want
Say what you want (just for you)
Say what you want
Say what you want (feel powerless)
Say what you want
Say, say, say, say, yeah (gonna do)
(Life is too short)
(Just for you)
(Feel powerless)
(Gonna do)
Make it look whiter than it seems
Paint me over with your dreams
Shove away my ethnicity
Burn every notion that I
May have a flame inside to fight
And say just what is on my mind
Without offending your might
'Cause this life is too short
To live it just for you
But when you feel so powerless
What are you gonna do?
So say what you want
Say what you want
I saw her face outside today
Weatherworn, lookin' all the rage
Took her passion and her gaze
And made a poster
Now it's moccasins we sport
We take the culture and contort
Perhaps only to distort
What we are hidin'
'Cause this life is too short
To live it just for you
But when you feel so powerless
What are you gonna do?
But say what you want
Say what you want
Say, say
Hey you, the one, the one outside
Are you gonna get in, get in?
Hey you, the one that don't fit in
How you, how you gonna get in?
Hey you, the one outside
Are you ever gonna get in with your
Broken teeth, broken jaw, broken mojo?
Yeah, this life is too short
To live it just for you
But when you feel so powerless
What are you gonna do?
'Cause this life is too short
To live it just for you
But when you feel so powerless
What are you gonna do?
'Cause this life is too short
To live it just for you
But when you feel so powerless
What are you gonna do?
Say what you want (life is too short)
Say what you want
Say what you want (just for you)
Say what you want
Say what you want (feel powerless)
Say what you want
Say, say, say, say, yeah (gonna do)
(Life is too short)
(Just for you)
(Feel powerless)
(Gonna do)
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i so agree with GracieGurl... i believe artists these days just lose the "soul" that should live in their music. i fell in love with this song in 6th grade, and still love it. i think most music has sadly intentionally become another way to sell and advertise. "Promiscuous Girl" was her lowest point in her music. it really shows in our music today, how society's morals and requirements have become so screwed up. if sexy is about being promiscuous, i'd rather not be sexy.
anyway, i'll try to explain the meaning to this song.
this song is clearly about the media taking away what makes us all the individual, original people we are, and replacing it with what they believe should be the "ideal" to the public. it's about the media taking away your soul for the sole purpose to sell.
very ironic, no?