This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Driving home she grabs something to eat
Turns a corner and drives down her street
Into a row of houses she just melts away
Like the scenery in another man's play
Into a house where the blinds are closed
To keep from seeing things she don't want to know
She pulls the blinds and looks out on the street
The cool of the night takes the edge off the heat
In the Jackson Cage
Down in the Jackson Cage
You can try with all your might
But you're reminded every night
That you been judged and handed life
Down in the Jackson Cage
Every day ends in wasted motion
Just crossed swords on the killing floor
To settle back is to settle without knowing
The hard edge that you're settling for
Because there's always just one more day
And it's always gonna be that way
Little girl you've been down here so long
I can tell by the way that you move you belong to
The Jackson Cage
Down in Jackson Cage
And it don't matter just what you say
Are you tough enough to play the game they play
Or will you just do your time and fade away
Down into the Jackson Cage, let's go
Baby there's nights when I dream of a better world
But I wake up so downhearted girl
I see you feeling so tired and confused
I wonder what it's worth to me or you
Just waiting to see some sun
Never knowing if that day will ever come
Left alone standing out on the street
'Til you become the hand that turns the key down in
Jackson Cage
Down in Jackson Cage
Well darlin' can you understand
The way that they will turn a man
Into a stranger to waste away
Down in the Jackson Cage
Turns a corner and drives down her street
Into a row of houses she just melts away
Like the scenery in another man's play
Into a house where the blinds are closed
To keep from seeing things she don't want to know
She pulls the blinds and looks out on the street
The cool of the night takes the edge off the heat
In the Jackson Cage
Down in the Jackson Cage
You can try with all your might
But you're reminded every night
That you been judged and handed life
Down in the Jackson Cage
Every day ends in wasted motion
Just crossed swords on the killing floor
To settle back is to settle without knowing
The hard edge that you're settling for
Because there's always just one more day
And it's always gonna be that way
Little girl you've been down here so long
I can tell by the way that you move you belong to
The Jackson Cage
Down in Jackson Cage
And it don't matter just what you say
Are you tough enough to play the game they play
Or will you just do your time and fade away
Down into the Jackson Cage, let's go
Baby there's nights when I dream of a better world
But I wake up so downhearted girl
I see you feeling so tired and confused
I wonder what it's worth to me or you
Just waiting to see some sun
Never knowing if that day will ever come
Left alone standing out on the street
'Til you become the hand that turns the key down in
Jackson Cage
Down in Jackson Cage
Well darlin' can you understand
The way that they will turn a man
Into a stranger to waste away
Down in the Jackson Cage
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The Night We Met
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Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
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Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
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Can't believe no one has commented on this one...
This, to me, is one of the few standouts off of the Boss' double-album "The River". The lyrics are gut wrenching... the song seems to tell the story of a woman who cannot escape from the enviornment in which she lives - The Jackson Cage. I guess it's open to interpretation as to what the "Jackson Cage" really is. I like to think of it as a city where all of this happens. My favorite lyric is in the chorus: "You can try with all your might But you're reminded every night That you've been judged, and handed life Down in the Jackson Cage" That line about being "handed life" kinda sums up the life that the two characters are living in this song.
@springseger Yes, that line (“you've been judged, and handed “life”) is a killer, that’s a “Songwriter’s” lyric, which may seem a silly thing to say, but Bruce and other greats who obviously work at their craft day-in day-out, toss lines like this in their sleep, while there are other acts whose entire career highlight would be if they could come up with a lyric like that. But I digress…<br /> <br /> That line, which is kinda just “lost and floating” around the fuckjn middle of the song, when it’s good enough to be a CAPPER, the kind of line that ties it all together…(sorry, this is what I care about, and I am subject to reveries and tangents. Deal with it ????)…<br /> <br /> Ok, anyway, two points:<br /> 1) “life”, of course, means a Sentence Passed, but it’s also demonstrative of how “life”, that which all humans will struggle before losing, is really a double-edged sword; yes, you can’t do SHIT if you don’t have “life”; By the same token, when “life” isn’t going well, if we find ourselves “out of step”, feeling like we don’t “belong” anywhere, the very fact that you have “life” can also make you wish you didn’t…<br /> <br /> 2) she/they have judged THEMSELVES, in that they have taken the opinions others (they believe) have of them and just accepted it, therefore condemning themselves…<br /> See, she/they are so DOWN on themselves and life in general that they believe they’re MORALLY CULPABLE, i.e., “I DESERVE this”, an easy trap to fall into, as I’m sure you all already know…they’ve been taught that people get what fate they “deserve”, which is of course a huge lie, but HUGE LIES/ MYTHS/RELIGION are all tools used to keep you guessing… It might SEEM as though these little<br /> Nuggets of wisdom like “Everything happens for a reason” are there to help you - And maybe that was their original intention - but that’s not, generally, how people USE them, no, people use those sayings to MUDDY the waters, not make things Clearer for you…Which Is how we begin to DOUBT ourselves…<br /> <br /> Whenever I hear anybody say “Everything Happens For A Reason”, I start fuckin SWINGING, like Slapsy-Maxie hearing the bell ???? to begin the next round, I can’t help myself…absolutely RUINED Christmas of ‘92…but I digress…
@springseger Yes, that line (“you've been judged, and handed “life”) is a killer, that’s a “Songwriter’s” lyric, which may seem a silly thing to say, but Bruce and other greats who obviously work at their craft day-in day-out, toss lines like this in their sleep, while there are other acts whose entire career highlight would be if they could come up with a lyric like that. But I digress…<br /> <br /> That line, which is kinda just “lost and floating” around the fuckjn middle of the song, when it’s good enough to be a CAPPER, the kind of line that ties it all together…(sorry, this is what I care about, and I am subject to reveries and tangents. Deal with it ????)…<br /> <br /> Ok, anyway, two points:<br /> 1) “life”, of course, means a Sentence Passed, but it’s also demonstrative of how “life”, that which all humans will struggle before losing, is really a double-edged sword; yes, you can’t do SHIT if you don’t have “life”; By the same token, when “life” isn’t going well, if we find ourselves “out of step”, feeling like we don’t “belong” anywhere, the very fact that you have “life” can also make you wish you didn’t…<br /> <br /> 2) she/they have judged THEMSELVES, in that they have taken the opinions others (they believe) have of them and just accepted it, therefore condemning themselves…<br /> See, she/they are so DOWN on themselves and life in general that they believe they’re MORALLY CULPABLE, i.e., “I DESERVE this”, an easy trap to fall into, as I’m sure you all already know…they’ve been taught that people get what fate they “deserve”, which is of course a huge lie, but HUGE LIES/ MYTHS/RELIGION are all tools used to keep you guessing… It might SEEM as though these little<br /> Nuggets of wisdom like “Everything happens for a reason” are there to help you - And maybe that was their original intention - but that’s not, generally, how people USE them, no, people use those sayings to MUDDY the waters, not make things Clearer for you…Which Is how we begin to DOUBT ourselves…and out ourselves “in jail”, or “time out”…<br /> <br /> Whenever I hear anybody say “Everything Happens For A Reason”, I start fuckin SWINGING, like Slapsy-Maxie hearing the bell ???? to begin the next round, I can’t help myself…absolutely RUINED Christmas of ‘92…but I digress…<br /> <br /> I suppose if I have a final point, it’s that, it’s HARD to get truly FREE in life, The human mind is a maze, haunted house, porn film, SNUFF film, The source of all the good in the world and also the source of all the evil out there (and, maybe, in your heart ????) so be careful not to shoot before aiming, you might just be shooting yourself…BUT, if you figure out HOW to keep your mind together enough to learn exactly who’s fucking with you, and you’re 100% sure you will only be shooting THEM, I say fire away ????…<br /> <br /> Idk how I wound up here, I jist follered mAHHHHHNNNND
@springseger Yes, that line (“you've been judged, and handed “life”) is a killer, that’s a “Songwriter’s” lyric, which may seem a silly thing to say, but Bruce and other greats who obviously work at their craft day-in day-out, toss lines like this in their sleep, while there are other acts whose entire career highlight would be if they could come up with a lyric like that. But I digress…<br /> <br /> That line, which is kinda just “lost and floating” around the fuckjn middle of the song, when it’s good enough to be a CAPPER, the kind of line that ties it all together…(sorry, this is what I care about, and I am subject to reveries and tangents. Deal with it ????)…<br /> <br /> Ok, anyway, two points:<br /> 1) “life”, of course, means a Sentence Passed, but it’s also demonstrative of how “life”, that which all humans will struggle before losing, is really a double-edged sword; yes, you can’t do SHIT if you don’t have “life”; By the same token, when “life” isn’t going well, if we find ourselves “out of step”, feeling like we don’t “belong” anywhere, the very fact that you have “life” can also make you wish you didn’t…<br /> <br /> 2) she/they have judged THEMSELVES, in that they have taken the opinions others (they believe) have of them and just accepted it, therefore condemning themselves…<br /> See, she/they are so DOWN on themselves and life in general that they believe they’re MORALLY CULPABLE, i.e., “I DESERVE this”, an easy trap to fall into, as I’m sure you all already know…they’ve been taught that people get what fate they “deserve”, which is of course a huge lie, but HUGE LIES/ MYTHS/RELIGION are all tools used to keep you guessing… It might SEEM as though these little<br /> Nuggets of wisdom like “Everything happens for a reason” are there to help you - And maybe that was their original intention - but that’s not, generally, how people USE them, no, people use those sayings to MUDDY the waters, not make things Clearer for you…Which Is how we begin to DOUBT ourselves…and out ourselves “in jail”, or “time out”…<br /> <br /> Whenever I hear anybody say “Everything Happens For A Reason”, I start fuckin SWINGING, like Slapsy-Maxie hearing the bell ???? to begin the next round, I can’t help myself…absolutely RUINED Christmas of ‘92…but I digress…<br /> <br /> I suppose if I have a final point, it’s that, it’s HARD to get truly FREE in life, The human mind is a maze, haunted house, porn film, SNUFF film, The source of all the good in the world and also the source of all the evil out there (and, maybe, in your heart ????) so be careful not to shoot before aiming, you might just be shooting yourself…BUT, if you figure out HOW to keep your mind together enough to learn exactly who’s fucking with you, and you’re 100% sure you will only be shooting THEM, I say fire away ????…<br /> <br /> Idk how I wound up here, I jist follered muh mAHHHHHNNNND