Was it a huntsman or a player
That made you pay the cost
That now assumes relaxed positions
And prostitutes your loss?
Were you tortured by your own thirst
In those pleasures that you seek
That made you Tom the curious
That makes you James the weak?
And you claim you got something going
Something you call unique
But I've seen your self-pity showing
As the tears rolled down your cheeks
Soon you know I'll leave you
And I'll never look behind
'Cos I was born for the purpose
That crucifies your mind
So con, convince your mirror
As you've always done before
Giving substance to shadows
Giving substance ever more
And you assume you got something to offer
Secrets shiny and new
But how much of you is repetition
That you didn't whisper to him too
That made you pay the cost
That now assumes relaxed positions
And prostitutes your loss?
Were you tortured by your own thirst
In those pleasures that you seek
That made you Tom the curious
That makes you James the weak?
And you claim you got something going
Something you call unique
But I've seen your self-pity showing
As the tears rolled down your cheeks
Soon you know I'll leave you
And I'll never look behind
'Cos I was born for the purpose
That crucifies your mind
So con, convince your mirror
As you've always done before
Giving substance to shadows
Giving substance ever more
And you assume you got something to offer
Secrets shiny and new
But how much of you is repetition
That you didn't whisper to him too
Lyrics submitted by pat_rulz69, edited by phantom309
"Crucify Your Mind" as written by Sixto Diaz Rodriguez
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
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I feel that this song is about a girl who doesn't have a lot to offer, but keeps Dating the same sort of "player" over and over, expecting a different outcome Each time (This sort of like Einstein's definition of insanity!).
I tried to transpose this tune like a poem and this is what I came up with:
Was He a predator or a player
Who made you care for him then he left you
Assumes it all meant nothing
Only every saw you as sex (prostitutes = sell for inferior purpose)
Were you tortured by your own thirst
In those pleasures that you seek (affection, love, sex)
That originally made you curious
That now has made you week
You Say you're special
You say you're unique
But you know inside that your not special
As the tear roll down you cheeks
(now we're a little back in time - from the point of view from guy)
Soon you know I'll leave you
And I'll never look behind
It's just my nature
To tear up your heart/mind
Go convince your mirror that your special
as you've always done before
Giving substance to a vague image of how you'd like to be seen (Shadows is used because you cannot define a shape from its shadow, therefore it has no full "substance")
Giving substance as you've done before
You assume you have something that will make this relationship different from past loves
Secrets shiny and new
How much of was is the same?
Was there anything different?
It's probably what it means for you, and in a way it is surely one way of seeing it, but the EGO interpretation sounds very much like what I feel about it.
Plus, AMG156 explaned it very well.
to me it says this:
Who was it that broke your heart?
was it your own needs that made it happen?
You pretend you are over it but clearly you are not.
Now I'm going to do the same as all the others and it will repeat once more.
Then you will think you've found the answer but it will just repeat once more.
Apparently,Sixto really sees through this woman,who is nothing,substanceless !
This could also be an allegory for modern,superficial meaningless life...
These lyrics make you think - Right On Sixto !!!
Here's how i break it down.
Was it a huntsman or a player
- This bit of the verse is talking about the time the girl first fell in love and had sex. "Huntsman or player" - What type of man was it? (i guess huntsman means predator as someone else said, and player means cheater).
That made you pay the cost - "Cost" refers to the girl's virginity.
That now assumes relaxed positions - 'Relaxed positions' means sex (the man is now having sex with her).
And prostitutes your loss? - So the "loss" is the girl's virginity and remember it's the "hunter/player" who's prostituting it. If you prostitute something you make money or benefit from it. So the man is benefitting off the girl's virginity(cause he gets to have sex/pleasure)
Were you tortured by your own thirst - You couldn't stop yourself....
In those pleasures that you seek - From seeking love/affection.....
That made you Tom the curious - That made you curious
That makes you James the weak? - That now makes you weak
And you claim you got something going - You're telling me you have a good relationship going now with a new person
Something you call unique - You think the relationship/love is unique and new, not like your previously bad relationship
But I've seen your self-pity showing - But i've seen the reality. This relationship is bad like the others and you're feeling sorry for yourself.
And the tears rolled down your cheeks.
Soon you know I'll leave you - We've moved ahead in time. Switched to the perspective of her current boyfriend. He's gonna leave her like all the ones before.
And I'll never look behind - He doesn't care.
'Cos I was born for the purpose
That crucifies your mind. - Because guys like him are players/predators, and they will always hurt girls like her.
So con, convince your mirror - Convince yourself
As you've always done before - Like you always do
Giving substance to shadows - That our current relationship (the shadow) is meaningful
Giving substance ever more. - And keep on doing this with all other guys you meet.
And you assume you got something to offer - You say you have some good things to offer men.
Secrets shiny and new - You have new ideas to make your next relationship work
But how much of you is repetition - These next two lines are pretty important as it doesnt make much sense at first. But imo he's saying your life is just repetition. Your making the same mistakes with each relationship...
That you didn't whisper to him too - ...And you didn't tell the last guy about this problem, just like you didn't tell me.
If you don't mind I'd like to give my interpretation as a reply to yours due to many similarities. In fact I may copy and paste many of your lines because I like the way you phrased the lines that i agree with.
First I differ in my interpretation because I feel that she was cheating on her man with someone else, and he knows.
Now here is how I break
Was it a huntsman or a player- (the man she ends up cheating on)
That made you pay the cost- cost being cheating on the narrator
That now assumes relaxed positions - 'Relaxed positions' means sex (the man is now having sex with her).
And prostitutes your loss? - So the "loss" is the girl's loss of the current relationship she is in. I believe that the narrator are together through the end of the song, however once you've cheated on your spouse or significant other you lose something speacial that you once had. and remember it's the "hunter/player" who's prostituting it. If you prostitute something you make money or benefit from it. So the man is benefitting off the girl new special relationship(cause he gets to have sex/pleasure).
Were you tortured by your own thirst - You couldn't stop yourself....
In those pleasures that you seek - From seeking love/affection.....
That made you Tom the curious - That made you curious
That makes you James the weak? - That now makes you weak
And you claim you got something going - You're telling me you have a good relationship going now with a new person
Something you call unique - You think the relationship/love is unique and new, not like your current bad relationship
But I've seen your self-pity showing- I can tell that that your hiding something from me by the way that your acting.
And the tears rolled down your cheeks.- and now i can tell that you feel remorse "because she's crying"
So con, convince your mirror - Convince yourself,
As you've always done before - Like you always do
Giving substance to shadows -
Giving substance ever more. - (repetitious line)
And you assume you got something to offer - You want to with me but i want to leave.
Secrets shiny and new- trying new things
But how much of you is repetition-
that you didnt whisper to him to- your telling me the exact same thing that you told him
This is one of my all-time favourite songs, it's beautiful.
I'm pretty sure that this song isn't directed at any one specific person, but to society as a whole. How we all think we're so unique, and our thoughts are so original, but they are not our thoughts at all, just drummed into us by countless religions, governments and organisations.
This song speaks to me on very personal level.
The words are so powerful & it is a DAMN shame that no one really knows of Rodriguez
-huntsman or player(in the old days"vikings"/woodsmen, etc went for prositutes as did the men of 60's and 70's, "players" etc
-con, convince the mirror- obviously these women are cons and also convince the mirror daily that what they do is ok and they look good enough to feel confidence
-most use "substances" cocaine/amphetamines, etc, you could only IMAGINE what hooker street life might have been in late 60's, in detroit.
-think of the repeition it must be to tell different men daily the same thing, or act out in sex, and would "whisper to" all the others