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A Song From Under The Floorboards Lyrics
I am angry I am ill and I'm as ugly as sin
My irritability keeps me alive and kicking
I know the meaning of life, it doesn't help me a bit
I know beauty and I know a good thing when I see it
This is a song from under the floorboards
This is a song from where the wall is cracked
My force of habit, I am an insect
I have to confess I'm proud as hell of that fact
I know the highest and the best
I accord them all due respect
But the brightest jewel inside of me
Glows with pleasure at my own stupidity
This is a song from under the floorboards
This is a song from where the wall is cracked
My force of habit, I am an insect
I have to confess I'm proud as hell of that fact
I used to make phantoms I could later chase
Images of all that could be desired
Then I got tired of counting all of these blessings
And then I just got tired
This is a song from under the floorboards
This is a song from where the wall is cracked
My force of habit, I am an insect
I have to confess I'm proud as hell of that fact
My irritability keeps me alive and kicking
I know the meaning of life, it doesn't help me a bit
I know beauty and I know a good thing when I see it
This is a song from where the wall is cracked
My force of habit, I am an insect
I have to confess I'm proud as hell of that fact
I accord them all due respect
But the brightest jewel inside of me
Glows with pleasure at my own stupidity
This is a song from where the wall is cracked
My force of habit, I am an insect
I have to confess I'm proud as hell of that fact
Images of all that could be desired
Then I got tired of counting all of these blessings
And then I just got tired
This is a song from where the wall is cracked
My force of habit, I am an insect
I have to confess I'm proud as hell of that fact
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
"I am an insect" does not refer to Kafka - anyone who's read 'The Metamorphosis' will recall that the main character was displeased to be an insect.
The lyrics are a summary of many of the points of 'Notes From the Underground', in which the main character debates the concept of free will, regrets his lack of direction in life, and glorifies himself as a product of society, in turn condemning that society.
It's about someone who was angry, who was ill and was,apparently, as ugly as sin.
I think it is Howard Devoto showing off his literary influences. I have heard that it is a paraphrasing of Dostoevsky's "Notes from Underground". Also, the words "I am an insect" possibly allude to Kafka.
The song lyrics do NOT indicate a man who "pleased" to be an insect.
Like the narrator of Dostoevsky's "Notes from Underground", the singer is also filled with self-loathing. As is indicated throughout when he refers to himself.
"My force of habit, I am an insect I have to confess I'm proud as hell of that fact"
is therefore meant to be amgious
The song lyrics do NOT indicate a man who is "pleased" to be an insect. And the reference to Kafka is then quite obvious.
Like the narrator of Dostoevsky's "Notes from Underground", the singer is also filled with self-loathing. As is indicated throughout when he refers to himself.
"My force of habit, I am an insect I have to confess I'm proud as hell of that fact"
is therefore meant to be ambiguous, containing the words "confess" and "hell".
Where Howard Devoto's song goes beyond both Dostoevsky and Kafka - the real beauty and creative genius of the song lyrics - is the real affirmation of truly transcendent qualities of "beauty"; "the highest and the best".
And most obviously the MUSIC of the song is full of lyrical beauty. As well as Magazine's signature discordance.
It is only that the singer is always dismayed at his failure to be worthy of these transcendent aspects of the world.