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.
With the door closed, shades drawn, the world shrinks
Let's open up those blinds
But someone has to sweep the floor
Pick up her dirty clothes
That job's not mine
Now that everyone's an enemy, my heart sinks
Let's put away those claws
I don't blame them for their curtains-calls
Because I pulled the rope
I want to call them back out for applause
Spring and Thompson on the first of May is horrible
We hid in catacombs
So now I'm sleeping next to mousetraps
In a bed of all our clothes
While I hope that she won't come home
It was easier to lock the doors and kill the phones
Than to show my skin
Because the hardest thing
Is never to repent for someone else
It's letting people in
Well you can come inside
Unlock the door, take off your shoes
But this might take all night
To explain to you I would have walked out those sliding doors
But the timing never seemed right
When your helicopter came and tried to lift me out
I put its rope around my neck
And after that you didn't bother with the airlift or the rescue
You knew just what to expect
That with the door closed, shades drawn
We're dead enough
They don't open from outside
And someone has to speak with their teeth behind their tongue
To never let that right be denied
We can't rely on photographs and visitation time
But I just don't know where to begin
I want to bust down the door
If you're willing to forgive
I've go the keys, I'm letting people in
Don't be scared to speak
Don't speak with someone's tooth
Don't bargain when you're weak
Don't take that sharp abuse
Some patients can't be saved
But that burden's not on you
Don't ever let anyone tell you you deserve that
Don't ever let anyone tell you you deserve that
Don't ever let anyone tell you you deserve that
Don't ever let anyone tell you you deserve that
Don't ever let anyone tell you you deserve that
Don't ever let anyone tell you you deserve that
Don't ever let anyone tell you you deserve that
Don't ever let anyone tell you you deserve that
Let's open up those blinds
But someone has to sweep the floor
Pick up her dirty clothes
That job's not mine
Now that everyone's an enemy, my heart sinks
Let's put away those claws
I don't blame them for their curtains-calls
Because I pulled the rope
I want to call them back out for applause
Spring and Thompson on the first of May is horrible
We hid in catacombs
So now I'm sleeping next to mousetraps
In a bed of all our clothes
While I hope that she won't come home
It was easier to lock the doors and kill the phones
Than to show my skin
Because the hardest thing
Is never to repent for someone else
It's letting people in
Well you can come inside
Unlock the door, take off your shoes
But this might take all night
To explain to you I would have walked out those sliding doors
But the timing never seemed right
When your helicopter came and tried to lift me out
I put its rope around my neck
And after that you didn't bother with the airlift or the rescue
You knew just what to expect
That with the door closed, shades drawn
We're dead enough
They don't open from outside
And someone has to speak with their teeth behind their tongue
To never let that right be denied
We can't rely on photographs and visitation time
But I just don't know where to begin
I want to bust down the door
If you're willing to forgive
I've go the keys, I'm letting people in
Don't be scared to speak
Don't speak with someone's tooth
Don't bargain when you're weak
Don't take that sharp abuse
Some patients can't be saved
But that burden's not on you
Don't ever let anyone tell you you deserve that
Don't ever let anyone tell you you deserve that
Don't ever let anyone tell you you deserve that
Don't ever let anyone tell you you deserve that
Don't ever let anyone tell you you deserve that
Don't ever let anyone tell you you deserve that
Don't ever let anyone tell you you deserve that
Don't ever let anyone tell you you deserve that
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
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
When We Were Young
Blink-182
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
"Some patients can't be saved, but that burden's not on you.
Don't ever let anyone tell you you deserve that."
It's as if he's saying "Despite our best efforts, you're going to die. Our hours will be meaningless, but that isn't your fault."
And holy fuck I am crying like a three year old right now.