Out Of My Mind

When I was in concert and he was singing this song it was awesome... my favorite song to begin with. it was really quite funny cause he made the audience do the dada dadaduhdaduh part over and over again, and then he kept just radomly throwing in "I'm out of my mi-nd" with his eyes all bugged out and creepy smile on, like he really was out of his mind.

but anyways, in the concert at the end he kept repeating "I don't know what it means" or "even I don't know what it means" or somthing along those lines. Which is making reference to the song telling you to "hold his eye and see what it means". I thought i should post it, cause it kinda puts a spin on to it. That maybe he doesn't know where his life is heading, or why the music industry is treating him like this. It almost leaves it open to speculation, like if he doesn't know then who does? you know. Or that he is out of his mind and really doesn't want to think at all anymore.

I dunno, just thought that it was interesting that he sang that in concert!

Well, I partially agree with some of the comments here, but here's what I think.

I believe this is about how James thinks of what he's doing at that time in his life. He is playing into the world of glamour and fame, to get his name out there, to spread his thoughts and music, but he knows he must be careful not to be consumed by it. It's easy for a real artist to be bastardized by the world they get caught up in.

The first two lines (and the repetition of them in the second verse) are indicative of how the world today works - everything comes down to how people view you in the world, and that modern civilization worships outer beauty above all else. If you're not defined by your beauty you're not defined at all generally.

The phrase 'monkey on my shoulder' (usually 'monkey on my back') refers to an addiction or an obsessive need. Definitely something that wants to consume you or overtake you. But James knows the story here - he knows the monkey is there, and he knows how the world works. They will take anything they can and leave him barren and empty. And still he knows he must move forward, and so he will make no excuses, he will do what he must. Even if it means bending to the will of the world. He must play the part of the puppet and do as others say for the time being. But as he states in the second verse "I won't be your concubine - I'm a puppet not a whore", he won't let it go farther than that. They can tell him where to sing and when perhaps, but they can't change who he is or the message he has to tell.

The final two lines of both verses are James' plea to the public to hear his music and understand what he is trying to do here. His music is his heart and that is what he's trying to share.

The whole song is tied together with the line "I'm out of my mind". James doesn't like these games anymore than anyone else does, but it is the way the world works.

Everybody's comments and interpretations are very interesting and i agree with parts of them. But this is my interpretation of the song.

'Judging by the look on the organ-grinder' - As the other comments explained, by the 'organ grinder' he is meaning societies face in general.

'He'll judge me by the fact that my face don't fit' - James is basically saying that in this world everyone's judgments are based on vanity, you have to look like societies idea of perfection to 'fit in', and he doesn't think he does.

'It's touching that the monkey sits on my shoulder' - he still has a friend left that's got his back and hasn't turned against him like everybody else.

'He's waiting for the day when he gets me' - Everybody is waiting for the day that his only trusted friend, 'the monkey' turns against him too.

'But I don't need no alibi - I'm a puppet on a string' - He doesn't want to make any excuses for himself, he admits he is playing along with what society wants and he is being the 'puppet', but he is aware of that.

'I just need this stage to be seen' - He is playing societies puppet because he knows he needs their help to get what he wants, to be noticed.

'We all need a pantomime to remind us what is real' - Meaning that there has to be something fake to remind us what is really reality, something that we can compare.

'Hold my eye and know what it means' - Try to look at life as if you were him and you will understand.

'I'm out of my mind' - This could mean anything really, he either feels insane, or he could be referring to how he doesn't feel like himself anymore due to pretending to be a puppet for society for such a long time.

'But I won't be your concubine - I'm a puppet not a whore' He may be pretending to be a puppet but he is not going to be payed into doing something for other peoples entertainment or enjoyment, he has more dignity than that. He is being somewhat rebellious.

'Will you be a friend of mine to remind me what is real?' - He has been engrossed in societies falseness for so long that he is struggling to see what is actually fake and what is actually real anymore, he needs someone real to save him.

'Hold my heart and see that it bleeds' - He's crying out for help, he needs someone to see that he is actually hurting inside.

Ok so this is just my opinion on the lyrics, i hope you understand where i'm coming from :-)

wouldn't kick him out of bed.

I beg your pardon?

perhaps it may be about how he feels he was being treated like "a puppet on a string" in the war? He fealt like he was in a "pantomime" it fealt so unreal. He fealt he was being used, "a concubine", will be made to fight until it's been seen that his "heart bleeds".

It seems to me that it's about Blunt's attempts to become successful, say at some form of open mic night.

"He'll judge me by the fact that my face don't fit"

It seems to me that it's about Blunt's attempts to become successful, say at some form of open mic night.

"He'll judge me by the fact that my face don't fit"

It does seem to me to be about his career. I've heard that he wrote poetry for a while, and his lyrics also have that kind of style - you have to really take the lyrics apart and search for the meaning. "I won't be your concubine; I'm a puppet, not a whore/ I just need this stage to be seen." Those lines, to me, seem to sum up the general gist of this song - he's prepared to put up with the crap that the music industry puts you through in order to do what he loves, which is to make and perform music. It's sort of a statement that he's going to try not to be changed for the worse by the commercialism and the 'back-stage' politics of music executives - or organ grinders - but that he will use these people as much as they are using him to get what he wants.

I'm trying to pick the words apart and read this from the inside out. I feel like his message is so simple, but just beyond my grasp at the moment. I think I'm just going to get in better reading shape before I come back to this, and try again to read into what he means.