In The Pretend World

um....i'm pretty sure the song's called "In the Perfect World"

Nope it is "In The Pretend World".. love it :)

Hmmm. Wow. This song is about....superficiality? I'm not too sure

I just think it's about denial; They pretend everything is okay, but in reality, they're just pretending to be happy, or something that they're not. Just a guess.

I think its trying to make people aware aboout whats happening in the world. Like how we are so indulged in ourselves and how we look and so on and so forth when actually what we are dooing is killing the world and by doing this we are actually really ugly and sick for doing it.

I always thought about this song as being the malaise of a creative person. When they're writing/on stage/whatever, everything is perfect - but it's a pretend world. Back in the real world, there are real problems.

you see I never loved you no matter how you tried

in the real world there's no goodbye

I think this song is kind of an explanation for realizing you don't love someone. Like... uh... kinderXwhore... said, they are both in denial and putting off their problems. But the singer is coming back to reality and "cannot feel this" love. She's saying "well, you tried, and so did I, but I can't try any longer because it's not gonna happen, now gtfo nub."

The whole song seems to be a comparison — between what is real, and what isn't. It's quite simple really, but at the same time, there seems to be a complexity to the representation of each.

"in the pretend world we all are very awake in the pretend world we all look sterile and fake in this atmosphere we all could chatter for days in the pretend world we never admit our mistakes "

This is hinting at pretending to be perfect, awake, aware and intelligent. It's about being fake, not real, completely inhuman.

"but in the real world we're hiding alone and ashamed and we can't live well because we're addicted to pain"

Quite explanatory, and it seems to talk to the human condition — constantly looking at the negatives, focusing on our pain and suffering rather than our successes, thus not living fully. In the end, we're all alone with nothing to name, and because of the way society is structured, everyone is taught to be ashamed of themselves — we aren't perfect, not like in the pretend world.

"in the pretend world we gaze into empty eyes we amuse ourselves with tawdry tales and white lies"

This seems to be talking to the negatives of the pretend world — emptiness, shallowness and no substance. Everything that is said is just tasteless and trashy — but we try to dress it up, despite the truth behind it all.

"but in the real world we're fools tormented for sport we stitch up our mouths so we can't admit or retort "

This, again, seems to talk to the human condition — people tend to be cruel and vindictive. No matter how far up the food chain you are, we are all just 'fools'. Through this we silence ourselves, either through people not wanting to believe us, or through our own shame at saying anything worth while.

"you see I cannot feel this no matter how you try in the real world we can't deny

you see I cannot say this please don't ask me why in the real world we can't deny "

This two stanza practically say the same thing — someone wants the narrator to feel something that she doesn't, she doesn't want to tell the truth, but when it comes down to it, we can't pretend — we have to tell the truth, or it will come out. That is the real world, that is the real truth and curse of reality, truth and lies are always revealed.

"in my pretend world we all are very awake in this atmosphere we all look starstruck and vague" you see I never loved you no matter how you tried"

This entire stanza seems to be performing two functions — showing the downside of pretend, again, and also showing that reality creeps into the fantasy sooner or later. Even though she's struggling with the advances of this other person, both reality and fantasy bring about the same outcome.

"in the real world there's no goodbye"

This is kind of confusing, but to me, this could mean a few things. The first — you always have to return to the real world, there is no goodbye to the pain and suffering, no matter what, whereas the pretend world has an end, you can leave it behind. It could also mean that even if you say goodbye to person, they are still with you, so there is no real goodbye. It is the most confusing part.

All in all, the narrator seems to be showing that no matter which world you chose to exist in, there are always flaws, and the truth always comes out. At the end of the day though, reality will always win out.