The Will to Death

"Have you put them aside Your crazy thoughts and dreams No they're a part of me And they all mean one thing"

That verse keeps is what keeps me going every day. I believe a "will to death" is the concept of living life to the fullest, where death is always "one step away".
The last verse about the cars makes the analogy that people that pass you by at high speed in life - are like cars that don't notice a thing but the road. This verse dabbles a bit on relativity.

I love this song. It definitely has the same philosophical vibe as the majority of the album. I really like the last verse - it's such an obvious concept but Frusciante definitely adds something to it.

I like the contrast between this song and the first one on the album where he says: "You never set a limit" and "Don't ever set a limit" A change has certainly taken place between those two songs as he now says "Limitations are set / only then can we go all the way."

Imo, ist's about how you`ll be able to get away from thoughts evoked from (by? sorry: i'm german) depression. Knowing the pattern of their (the thoughts!)destructive work is a good precondition to defeat them and to circumvent their cruel mind by invertion of their original intention.

Am I the only one who gets the picture of angels? The song is all about the will to death and Frusciante speaks of things that people think are lies but he has seen them. Also he says they are formless and beat pain, but I don't know its just what the song conjures for me I guess

One of my favorite songs.

I know what it means but it's so hard to say...

I honestly think it better to not try, you can't do better than John. He's the man.

I love Frusciante's work. i love to take his songs and interpret them in my own way and how they aply to my life. good feeling =D especialy love this one. respect to all Fru fans

OK, this song, as far as just the title goes, is about, of course, 'the will to death'. TWTD is what John came to call the spirits in his head that made him do all the drugs he did and quite the chili peppers from '92-'97. As for the song itself, it's kinda tricky and very subjective as John is notoriously esoteric. 'they're thought to be lies', is, presumably the spirits and whta they told him to do. 'We looked right in their eyes/ right at them' is, again most likely, the time when John came to his senses and cleaned himself up, seeing the error of how he had been living the past 5/6 years of his life. 'they run out of gas'- possibly how they ceased to be negative and became positive, as John says he still has these spirits in his head, about 250/400 of them depending on which interview you hear with him. 'Have you put them aside/ your crazy thoughts and dreams. No they're a part of me'. Put aside his crazy thoughts and dreams of being in the peppers and getting laid all the time and hetting high etc etc. John consistantly states that he doesn't regret his past as such as it brought him to where he is today but he does not like it and is not proud of some of the things he has done. His mindset in the late 80's/ early 90's will always be part of him, yes, but they all mean one thing- they culminated in 'the will to death' as all of the drugs and women and fame lead to his quitting the band and all that bad stuff. There is a definite theme of coming and going and instabillity in the lyrics as death is 'one step away'. This theme is not one made explicit through words but it is present,hopefully you can sense it.

Quoted from John Frusciante himself:

"The phrase The Will To Death refers to the underlying, predominantly unintentional, organization in works by artists who love and are devoted to the creative force, but hate what they see of the life force and its ways. It is a set of abstract principles which may be applied in the creative act. In artistic symbolism, one comes close to death, and not only does he not die, but he lives more fully for having had the experience. It may be conceived as a set of musical/mathematical formulae which the musician utilizes without knowing it."

here's the rest of the entry: johnfrusciante.com/article/the-creative-act

I'm guessing this song/album must be about this. Even though his lyrics are hard to understand at times and so is the link, I've noticed his songs have a lot of meaning behind them. Very spiritual. Very Buddhist in particular.

''And they're thought to be lies But we saw them, saw them We looked right in their eyes Right at them, at them''

He looks at his dark side, his unconscious, and sees how every self supressed aspect is lying to himself..trying the hide. He was trying to face himself anyway and looked at ''them'' (fragmented pieces of himself).

''Pinning space to the world We slaughtered, slaughtered Not a sound to be heard We're awful, awful''

He is trying to get rid of his lower self or his uncontrollable thoughts and ''slaughtered''. Trying to make space.. Basically he just hated himself or that part of his personality and longed for.. something like Nirvana (echo death/enlightenment)

''And have you seen How they run Out of gas They beat the pain They sing in the rain Endless and formless They fly to the end And back to the Beginning again''

Looking at himself more and more he sees his lower selves running out of gas (lacking power to act) and they beat the pain which means they become more accepted (even when it rains they're still singing). He is integrating his dark side with acceptance. This becomes an neverending repetition of development because you are never sure if you completely know yourself let alone your dark side. (Endless, formless to the end and back to the beginning again)

''Have you put them aside Your crazy thoughts and dreams No they're a part of me And they all mean one thing''

Becoming free from his suppressed and wounded self he experiences possibilities which until then were unseen. The journey hes traveling is endless though completed when he is dead.

I hope make English is clear.