Five A.M. on the bathroom floor from the night before
Do you find me dreadful?
What a shame such a sad disgrace,
Such a pretty face, but she's not regretful.

Am I beautiful?
Am I useable?

It's killing time again
Put on your face and let's pretend
These killing lights won't kill us all again.

Three A.M. on the city street,
When the air is sweet
i have had my mouthful.
But it seems that outside the screen
Such a pretty face up in will look dreadful

Am I beautiful?
Am I useable?

It's killing time again
Put on your face and let's pretend
These killing lights won't kill us all again
It's killing time again.
Cover your face and we'll pretend
These killing lights can't kill us all again.

You see, they always remember,
They never forget a face

When they cut, cut you up. They remember

It's killing time again.
Put on your face and let's pretend
These killing lights won't kill us all again.
It's killing time again.
Cover your face and we'll pretend
These killing lights can't kill us all again

All again
All again
It's time again
It's killing time


Lyrics submitted by Word_up

The Killing Lights song meanings
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76 Comments

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  • +2
    General Comment

    I think you're taking the vampire theme too literally, I believe the 'vampire' is supposed to be Davey's allegorical way of portraying lovers using and hurting each other, used throughout the album.

    mashwon June 10, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    this is my favorite off the new cd! i love the

    "when we cut cut cut cut cut cut cut you up, cut cut cut cut cut they remember.

    cut cut cut cut cut cut cut you up. cut you uppppppppp." part

    softball14luveron May 23, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Personally, I think it's a little chunk of Straight-Edge commentary, about the whole scene of being in the City and hitting clubs, doing drugs/ drinking, and randomly hooking up. "The killing lights" are a euphemism for the club, what with the strobe lights and such, and "5 am on the bathroom floor, from the night before, do you find me dreadful?" is a pretty obvious implication about a hangover, or some Afterglow. "Such a shame, such a sad disgrace, such a pretty face, but she's not regretful" is about a beautiful girl who's throwing her life away, but she doesn't care, because it's fun. "Am I beautiful? Am I usable?" seems to imply the various hooking-up done on a night out- this beautiful girl giving herself away for nothing. "Three AM on a City Street"- after the clubs close, "Where the air is sweet, and I've had my mouthful"- in the fresh air, she's done for the night, "but it seems that outside the screen", or once she is too old, or whatever, to party anymore, "such a pretty face often will look dreadul". The "Cut you up" bit, i think is either a reference to a hangover, and the immediate downside to partying too hard, or (I like this one better) he's talking about an Autopsy, cutting up the body of a Clubber who OD'd or otherwise got killed in a manner relative to substance abuse.

    .....xXx.

    hyperviewon June 11, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    I completely agree that it is about the the opposite of straightedge..."such a pretty face such a sad disgrace" ...I think it's talking about the demoralization of youth today and how we are careless and reckless with out bodies and minds..trying to fit into "killing time" ..letting the "killing lights" draw us in and disappear into it's world...also reminded me of a quote by davey...

    1. Personally I have never found the practice of recreational drug use appealing. In fact, I have always found the lifestyle and the people who surround it to be abhorrent. I never quite understood why anyone would risk sacrificing their bodies, minds, and relationships at the expense of a quick damaging high. I grew up in a small town and at my high school, like every high school, everyone's recreation of choice was drug abuse. I never understood it.

    and

    2.Hate humanity? Yep, sure do. There's such a lack of responsibility for one's actions in the world, a selfishness, and a great destruction in the way people live their lives. It's all instant gratification, and who cares how my instant gratification affects those around me, or on a small personal leverl or a global level. The way people treat each other is truly disgusting, and we've created an environment through advances in science and technology that allows for a very septic society to thrive.

    btw, I'm new to this site...and I think it rocks that people come here to ponder afi's awesomeness :>

    Lucid_Dreamon July 22, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    For me, this song is about a celebrity scandal.

    Five A.M. on the bathroom floor from the night before Do you find me dreadful? What a shame such a sad disgrace, Such a pretty face, but she's not regretful. At the beginning, she obviously show that she likes partying, but knows that she shouldn't do it because others would think she's wrong because she should behave correctly. They must have found out, but she doesn't hold any regrets about it.

    Am I beautiful? Am I useable? You can manipulate people with beauty, or manipulate others by using their beauty. She knows it and asks about it openly because she might feel sick about it. The killing time can refer to all the star gossiping in TVs or magazine.

    Three A.M. on the city street, When the air is sweet i have had my mouthful. But it seems that outside the screen Such a pretty face up in will look dreadful She feels like she can only exist in TV/movies, as if she could only be a fake and couldn't be herself. She appreciates small things in life, but feel like she can't show her real self because medias would show her as being an horrible person. But she did it and figured out.

    Cover your face and we'll pretend These killing lights can't kill us all again. You see, they always remember, They never forget a face When they cut, cut you up. They remember She must have failed before. I think the "they" refer to the public. She must be afraid of failure and put all her self-esteem on her apparence because she thinks that's the only thing that count, the "public image". But she knows too that they remember about the scandals. She pretend she's strong, but she feels threatened by it.

    All again It's time again It's killing time The same thing as before is happening : she's failing. They found out her mistakes, she's being "dreadful". Celebrity gossip must be killing her... the killing time. :/


    I have tried, at least. XD

    bloodtieon August 31, 2008   Link
  • +1
    My Interpretation

    Pretty much agreed with hyperview. The song seems like a straightedge commentary. Basically, it serves its purpose as a warning for those who wanna get into the current partying lifestyle.

    '5am on the bathroom floor, from the night before, do you find me dreadful?' ~ yeah, this line is the most obvious. When I first heard it I thought it was about suicide or self-harm, but after finding out more about Havok I think he's probably disapproving of whatever lead to a hangover, or maybe the character in this did a guy in the bathroom or something. Also, 'do you find me dreadful?', I don't know if that's from the perspective of the character or from Havok, asking if his listeners find him 'dreadful' for criticising this kind of activity.

    Also, 'but it seems that outside the screen, such a pretty face often will look dreadful' ~ I think this is trying to convey that if you're wise enough to not be caught up in the facade of popularity, having to drink in order to have fun, etc, and you're 'outside the screen' in that sense, you'll find that their life isn't glamorous, but self-damaging.

    'You see, they always remember. They never forget a face when they cut you up' might be referring to gossip and rumours that get passed around social circles about things that happen when the character gets drunk, so they cut up her sense of self by telling other people about the things she does whilst under the influence of drink and drugs that she wouldn't do while sober.

    Apart from this, hyperview basically just said it for me.

    jajangsonyeoon March 26, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Amazing song.

    NirvanAFIon May 23, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Decemeberunderground is such a beautiful album. Anyone else been noticing how much Cure influence seems to be in the album? This song really reminds me of Kyoto Song.

    XcrowfeatherXon May 26, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Five a.m. on the bathroom floor from the night before, do you find me dreadul? What a shame such a sad disgrace. Such a pretty face but she's not regretful. Am I beautiful? Am I useable? It's killing time again. Put on your face and let's pretend these killing lights won't kill us all again. Three a.m. on the city street (when the air is sweet.) I have had my mouth full but it seems that outside the screen such a pretty face often will look dreadul. Am I beautiful? Am I useable? It's killing time again. Put on your face and let's pretend these killing lights won't kill us all again. Cover your face and we'll pretend these killing lights can't kill us all again. You see, they always remember. They never forget a face when they cut, cut you up. They remember.

    thebagelofdeathon May 28, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    ok so I'm not the only one who thought of the cure while listening to some stuff. This is a beautiful song.

    Destrion May 30, 2006   Link

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