Sinking fast, the weight chained to my feet
No time to argue with belief
I'm not alone, a thousand others dropping
Faster than me
What put me here?
Nothing to hold on to
Nowhere to brake

[Chorus]
Where is the ripcord, the trapdoor, the key?
Where is the cartoon escape-hatch for me?
No time to question the choices I make
I've got to follow another direction (although fall down is much cooler)

The last thing I remember was climbing up the stairs
I threw the window open in challenge and despair
I don't know what I needed
I needed time
I needed to escape
I saw the future turn
Upside-down and hesitate.

[Chorus]

Accelerate

The vista I see now is changing
Uncertainty is suffocating
Our hope has never felt so great and
Lit up down
A pounding pulse
To make it go
Make it slow down,
Go.

[Chorus]

The city's burning, it's like it's ready to explode
Accelerate to make it slow
Make it go
Accelerate to make it slow
Make it go
I'm incomplete
I'm incomplete
I'm incomplete


Lyrics submitted by kierra

Accelerate Lyrics as written by Mike Mills Peter Buck

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

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Accelerate song meanings
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  • +1
    Song Meaning

    Yeah it's true that REM is very political but I don't think everything they write is Bush-bashing, as fashionable as that was a few years ago. I think this song is more personal than political, and I think that it's about suicide. The protagonist of the song is climbing to the top floor of a building and "I threw the window open in challenge and despair". He's thinking about throwing himself out of the window and ending whatever pain he has. As he's ready to accelerate downwards, he thinks about what circumstances have brought him to this point "What put me here?". He knows that there's no easy way out of his troubles "Where is the ripcord, the trapdoor, the key?", and so is forced with the decision of ending his life or climbing back down the stairs and trying to change things the hard way. The ending is a little ambiguous as to whether or not he actually jumps. All of the imagery of high places seems to me to fit a lot better with suicide than with a political song. Just my 2 cents.

    mrjones1on August 08, 2009   Link

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