Fuck You

Am I crazy or the only one on this planet who understands that this song is about self-hate? "When you look at yourself, do you see what I see - If you do, why the fuckare you looking at me" The guy is looking at himself in the mirror, and hating himself so much he has to separate himself from his reflection. Therefore this song is not cruel and mean but desperate and heartwrenching. Beautiful song.

Strong song about self hatred, that for some reason everybody things it goes for bush ... like archive care to wright a song about a bitch lol... why would they even bother ? and it says it right in: "Though we won’t ever meet I remember your name"(And actually all the first period is what i say to the mirror every morning) "Then you grew and became like the devil himself" points out he knew that guy forever aka himself, and the fact here is this key phrase :

When you look at yourself do you see what I see If you do why the fuck are you looking at me

I feel like the best songs are ones that leave room for interpretation, and this one, especially for being so initially straightforward, should not be considered worse (who's voting down these opinions that disagree with them, lol?) or less significant for imagining there could be something deeper going on.

If you've never been depressed or suicidal (or just really really hate someone and like to lash out to them vicariously singing along to this), looking at it from the outside I can see how it might be more difficult to believe this song is about self hate. But there is a lot of evidence that it could be. And honestly, I've probably spent a strange amount of time considering it, but the cd has been replaying in my car for awhile... ((can I just say how much I love Archive?? <3))

First, totally agree with stealtheharmony. I thought that was a very well thought-out comment so I had to vote it back up. ^^

There is a lot of rage/emotion in this song. Especially for someone he'll "never meet." It's personal. It's really, really personal and I just can't see having that strong of feelings for someone he admittedly has not met (ie a celebrity figure). Someone he's seen evolve and change ("you were once just like anyone else"), someone he hears "all the shit that you say." Someone he has not met but thinks he knows, and someone that consumes so much of his life, if "ALL I WANT is to see you in terrible pain"... seems like an awful lot to pin on a stranger, if so much of himself is focused around this person.

"Put a gun in your mouth"--that is a much more common method of suicide than a way to murder someone. There's something intimate about it.

"When you look at yourself... why the fuck are you looking at me?" That is the clear giveaway, IMO. The repetition really seals it, and like stealtheharmony said, with the loud crash of guitars and drums elevating its significance.

I've been there. This song really speaks to me, and once I read that theory I really latched onto it and can't hear anything else; I'll admit it. And everyone's experiences shape their own opinions, so who's to say anyone's is wrong? I'm certainly not trying to definitively declare what this song is about (nor do I think the songwriters should have to; that's part of the beauty of lyrics), but there is way too much evidence here to dismiss this theory outright. :)

I think the central point of the song is certainly that it can be about anyone, but certain clues point towards the fact that it may have originally been about/inspired by self-hate. Along with the things already mentioned, can I note how hard it actually is to sing this - the first verse, that huge chunk, is said in one gulp, there's practically no pause and you need really good timing and breath management to pull it off. Then at the end of the verse, the last line comes in with the heavy guitar and reinforcement : "why the fuck are you looking at me?"

It's then repeated and is the most prominent line in the song. It's meant to come as a surprise; after all, it's already been said that they'll never meet - so why INDEED are they looking at him? This is I think the biggest question to be settled. If we go with the celebrity theory, which is one of the many possible (not wrong) interpretations, it would have to be because they're looking at a picture/video of the person staring back at them. But that doesn't make any sense; it's really quite an ordinary thing, not deserving the loud crash of guitars and drums and such.

The only way it can make such a jarring psychological impact on the person writing the song is if it's a personal realisation - they've been hating this singular person/their faults so much, and finally they can bear to admit to themselves that it's actually self-hate.

i can't believe noone commented... gorgeous song and i absolutely love the lyrics

woow so much hate together! this kind of makes me think of my ex, he didn't want to keep in touch anymore he said I didn't mean anything to him anymore but now his friends always tell me he complains that I ignore him I just keep ignoring him 'so fuck you anyway'

This song is about self hatred and I think it's a very powerful song....how can you meet you...but you know your name.

This song has D.Trump written all over it. It's amazing it was written in 2004, and is so accurately describing Trump's behavior: comparing the person to a child, so much crap coming out of his mouth, even " the sin in your grin and the shape of your mouth" suits him so well, so does the "too slow brain". It IS time he should go and the world expects that. Rarely a song has been so well describing someone famous, and yet of course it wasn't the initial intention I understand the interpretation of self-hatred and looking at himself in the mirror, in fact I believe it is probably the main intent from Archive However I think that "When you look at yourself do you see what I see? If you do why the fuck are you lookin' at me?" could describe a TV showing angry-orangy-Trump speaking - who is so full of himself that he sees himself as a smart, rich, successful guy, and not as the world sees him through their TV

yeas, this is Archive's response to millions love songs. Like Porcupine Tree's "hatesong".

Am I crazy or the only one on this planet who understands that this song is about George W. Bush? 8-)