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Just a Man Lyrics
Dripping wet with practiced sincerity,
Cute slogans for intangible mysteries.
You reduce your god (pruned to profit your ego) to a tv commercial,
"Buy what I sell! (advertise, advertise!)" you scream,
"Purchase my lifestyle!"
I once held the key, but now I have nothing.
You are so naive.
I'm sorry for leading you along.
I'm just a man.
Wake me up and wipe the cliche from my eyes.
It's killing me when all I see is hypocrisy and lies.
I know that my faults bring me down, it's a constant battle.
That why I have to be honest with you now...
I'm not your saint, I'm not your savior
I once held the key to everything you ever dreamed of.
Now I have nothing.
I'm sorry for leading you along.
I'm just a man.
Cute slogans for intangible mysteries.
You reduce your god (pruned to profit your ego) to a tv commercial,
"Buy what I sell! (advertise, advertise!)" you scream,
"Purchase my lifestyle!"
You are so naive.
I'm sorry for leading you along.
I'm just a man.
It's killing me when all I see is hypocrisy and lies.
I know that my faults bring me down, it's a constant battle.
That why I have to be honest with you now...
I'm not your saint, I'm not your savior
Now I have nothing.
I'm sorry for leading you along.
I'm just a man.
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The meaning is pretty simple. It's about how society makes everything look pretty on the commercials and tv, but in actuality, it's not good for us at all. He gives into the temptation of following that craze because he's just a man. It ended up leaving him with nothing.
i think to sum it all up with what people say,
it talks of a man who was very rich and powerful. and now he has nothing because of the lies and hypocrisy he brought through tv commercials. then admitting hes sorry for leading all those people along, thinking he was their saint or savior. when he himself is just a man like everyone else
thats my take on it. thanks to many people above me too. :)
I think that the second line is intangible instead of tangible.
For the meaning I'd say everybody else hit it. I don't think this song is necessarily pointing toward God and that he is the real savior. I was wondering if this is supposed to be a concept album and I googled it and someone said that the singer said at a concert that the songs on the album are supposed to be about life, death, or the transition. Supposedly when you have a near-death experience and do the whole out-of-body thing you see yourself connected to your body by a silver cord.
Anyway, I'd say this guy is looking back on his life and how he made money off of religion and he's sorry about it. It's kind of a warning not to repeat how people idolized him.
I agree. This song is about a man who made himself a religious icon, thinking he could actually save people. It's a continuation of the first song on the Silver Cord, "The End," which talks about how "I am not worthy to be called your savior, I'm not going to catch all your pain, but to warn you, some may fall on my name." Now he realizes he's just a man, and people need Jesus because only Jesus is perfect. I love the first line, the practiced sincerity he's talking about is people who seem really genuine when they're just working up fake tears, something all those Christian Televangelists do sometimes.
at the end of the second verse, it should be "i'm not your saint, i'm not your savior"
i'm still working on the meaning right now though
"You reduce your god (pruned to profit your ego) to a tv commercial, "Buy what I sell! (advertise, advertise!)" you scream, "Purchase my lifestyle!""
this personally reminds me of christian televangelists.
that's what i thought as well.
that's what i thought as well.
This song makes a lot more sense to me now that you've said that (and thanks to some of the posts below as well).
This song makes a lot more sense to me now that you've said that (and thanks to some of the posts below as well).
True, but not just televangelists. Walk into a Christian bookstore and you'll find out a lot of companies sell out the Christian image. Cheesy T-shirts, cheesy movies, cheesy music. All cheesy products, companies sell to make mucho profits, not to actually spread the word. On Tv many televangelists like Joel Osteen promoting themselves instead of Christ with their feel good message of no consequences and the whole Prosperity Gospel, the idea that wealth is a good measure of God's favor. Companies scramble to sell their next Bible Translation by tearing at the last. And then sell them at ludicrous prices...
True, but not just televangelists. Walk into a Christian bookstore and you'll find out a lot of companies sell out the Christian image. Cheesy T-shirts, cheesy movies, cheesy music. All cheesy products, companies sell to make mucho profits, not to actually spread the word. On Tv many televangelists like Joel Osteen promoting themselves instead of Christ with their feel good message of no consequences and the whole Prosperity Gospel, the idea that wealth is a good measure of God's favor. Companies scramble to sell their next Bible Translation by tearing at the last. And then sell them at ludicrous prices to unsuspecting newbies who think everything needs to be explained at 2nd grade level for them to understand so they get versions that have commentaries that explain every redundancy and explain how the previous translators are stupid and how they are "experts". And then there are apologists that forgo their faith so they sound smarter. "God didn't really create life, we evolved" as some would say almost excluding his presence and calling God a liar without really looking at the evidence and making an opinion.
I Think the song is about that we should folow people who are rich and high on themself, we look at them as saints and savior, but really their just man. nothing more and one day they could lose everything. then who to you look up to.
One of my absolute favorite songs! And I think this song means we should stop looking up to the rich, powerful or famous people in this world because they are just men with faults and we're not looking up to the one we should be looking up to; God, our real savior.