Both as a standalone and as part of the DSOTS album, you can take this lyric as read. As a matter of public record, Jourgensen's drug intake was legendary even in the 1980s. By the late 90s, in his own words, he was grappling with massive addiction issues and had lost almost everything: friends, spouse, money and had nearly died more than once. "Dark Side of the Spoon" is a both funny & sad title for an album made by a musical genius who was losing the plot; and this song is a message to his fans & friends saying he knows it. It's painful to listen to so I'm glad the "Keith Richards of industrial metals" wised up and cleaned up. Well done sir.
A cripple walks amongst you
All you tired human beings
He's got all the things a cripple has not
Two working arms and legs
And vital parts fall from his system
And dissolve in Scottish rain
But vitally, he doesn't miss them
He's too fucked up to care
Well is that you in front of me?
Coming back for even more of exactly the same
You must be a masochist
To love a modern leper on his last leg, on his last leg
Well I crippled your heart a hundred times
And still can't work out why
You see, I've got this disease
I can't shake and I'm just rattling through life
Well this is how we do things now
Yeah this is how the modern stay scared
So I cut out all the good stuff
Yeah I cut off my foot to spite my leg
Is that you in front of me?
Coming back for even more of exactly the same
You must be a masochist
To love a modern leper on his last leg
Well I am ill but I'm not dead
And I don't know which of those I prefer
Because that limb which I have lost
Well it was the only thing holding me up, holding me up
Well I'm lying on the ground now
And you're walking through the only door
Well I have lost my eyesight like I said I would
But I still know
That that is you in front of me
And you are back for even more of exactly the same
Well are you a masochist?
You love a modern leper on his last leg
And you're not ill and I'm not dead
Doesn't that make us the perfect pair?
You should sit with me and we'll start again
And you can tell me all about what you did today
What you did today
All you tired human beings
He's got all the things a cripple has not
Two working arms and legs
And vital parts fall from his system
And dissolve in Scottish rain
But vitally, he doesn't miss them
He's too fucked up to care
Well is that you in front of me?
Coming back for even more of exactly the same
You must be a masochist
To love a modern leper on his last leg, on his last leg
Well I crippled your heart a hundred times
And still can't work out why
You see, I've got this disease
I can't shake and I'm just rattling through life
Well this is how we do things now
Yeah this is how the modern stay scared
So I cut out all the good stuff
Yeah I cut off my foot to spite my leg
Is that you in front of me?
Coming back for even more of exactly the same
You must be a masochist
To love a modern leper on his last leg
Well I am ill but I'm not dead
And I don't know which of those I prefer
Because that limb which I have lost
Well it was the only thing holding me up, holding me up
Well I'm lying on the ground now
And you're walking through the only door
Well I have lost my eyesight like I said I would
But I still know
That that is you in front of me
And you are back for even more of exactly the same
Well are you a masochist?
You love a modern leper on his last leg
And you're not ill and I'm not dead
Doesn't that make us the perfect pair?
You should sit with me and we'll start again
And you can tell me all about what you did today
What you did today
Lyrics submitted by indierocker13, edited by 121345
The Modern Leper Lyrics as written by Scott John Hutchison Grant David Hutchison
Lyrics © DOMINO PUBLISHING COMPANY
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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
Step
Ministry
Ministry
Techno Ted
Audioslave
Audioslave
Techno Ted may be a person who caused Chris incredible emotional pain & trepidation as well as moments of peace & happiness but now is removed and awaiting his fate. Darling may be a different person who is also free of him and can live her life free of Ted's tyranny. "In between all the laughing, and daydreams ... lies: a desert of truth" Lies are like a desert or the omission of Truth: Where there were Lies then Truth was absent. The song, "Techno Ted", may be a cathartic celebration of the downfall of this person.
Holiday
Bee Gees
Bee Gees
@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Wow...it's been so long since a song has hit me so hard on the first listen. This song is surely about mental illness, specifically depression. The modern leprosy, because people so often don't know how to deal with it so they just isolate the people who have it. Depression makes you numb, you don't care what happens to you. You push away the people who care the most about you, and you hurt them, but you're also weirdly distanced from what you're doing because of your illness. At the same time, the person who keeps trying with you has sometimes got their own issues too. In this song he just wants to start again every time, but he'll keep on hurting her.
I can't really describe how beautiful I think this song is and how much I can identify with it.