Warren wanted a Beach Boys thing for this one, and Carl Wilson and Billy Hinsche came in, with Carl arranging the vocal parts. The other harmony vocalists (credited as the "Gentlemen Boys") were Jackson Browne, J.D. Souther, Zevon's longtime backers Waddy Wachtel and Jorge Calderon, and Linda Rondstadt/Stone Poneys guitarist Kenny Edwards.
Am I Alive? I look the part but im dead inside.
I will not accept. I cannot forget. Condemed.
I am not alive. Now you see that im dead inside.
What i say is not what i feel. I miss your misery.
This chill i get is a constant reminder that i can't change a thing and that is the horror that i must learn to live with.
I will not accept. I cannot forget. Condemed.
I am not alive. Now you see that im dead inside.
What i say is not what i feel. I miss your misery.
This chill i get is a constant reminder that i can't change a thing and that is the horror that i must learn to live with.
Lyrics submitted by xantos
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Spirit Within
Bertoldi Brothers
Bertoldi Brothers
Show Me a Little Shame
Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals
Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals
He certainly did earn that reputation.
Grand Theft Auto
Insane Ian
Insane Ian
The way this song speaks to me🥺🥺when I sing it I feel like I relate
Battle Royale
Word Alive, The
Word Alive, The
This song is def a twin to "Unfair" (a song she has been quoted as saying is about falling in love with someone who is already in a relationship) so it is presumably about the same person. Given the references to buying an apartment and not being able to see her love interest "after tonight," it's most likely that she's moving away and she'll "wait a day to break the bad news" (i.e. notifying him that she's leaving once she's already gone).
And, of course, the fact that she sees in him a fellow "idealist" and "dreamer" (terms commonly given to people with the INFP personality on the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)) portends that she'll always be left wondering if they would've been perfect together.
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
Failed relationship? I dunno, but "What i say is not what i feel. I miss your misery. " is the best part of the whole song (aka Breakdown)
I'm pretty sure this song is about the feelings of someone whose lover left them. He may be alive and breathing, but he feels dead inside, drained of all hope and strength from losing the one he loved. He doesn't want to accept the fact that it's over, and he can't just forget about it, but he still realizes, painfully, that it's over, that he can't change that, and that he has to live with that fact.
I like to think about this song from the angle of the title. "The answer", as if all the lyrics are a response to something. The ending makes it apparent that it's about a failed relationship though. Great band, wish their name wasn't so stupid so I could find stuff about them online easier.