This Joke Sport Severed

I think this is about failure in relationships and failure socially. an admission of defeat, deciding that that area of one's life is just a lost cause, because all attempts end in hurt. Nicky said in a recent interview that in Richey's later lyrics, he seemed to have come to a lot of conclusions, and this is one of them. it's a side of Richey that you probably could have assumed was there, but he didn't dwell on it in his lyrics, so it's saddening to hear this and realise he was more affected by it than he had let on.

I love the disgust with which JDB spits out the first 'rejection'. Lot of feeling in this one. God this album grows on me more and more with each listening.

I think ElleVeeElle is correct. Also there’s a ton of references relating attempts at relationships to torture, which really shows you where Richey’s head was at. If The Holy Bible was a hellish view of the outside world, then Journal For Plague Lovers does the same for your own little world in a lot of lyrics. Leaders lie, lovers lie. And when you come to the conclusion that there’s no such thing as true perfection attainable whether in society or romance, it’s not an easy thought to take for idealists.

A lot of richey's later conclusions seem very pessimistic. I also think his idea that he didn't quite fit anywhere or couldn't reach perfection- as referenced in DitS (I can't seem to stay a fixed ideal - childhood pictures redeem- clean and so serene) is shown clearly in this. He seems to look at life as torture, but relationships, which could soothe him, instead only make him more aware of the things he dislikes about himself and about humanity.

Anyone know how the title is supposed to be read? I can't make heads or tails of it.

Noun = this joke sport (this sport, which is a joke -- referring to romance?) Verb = severed (cut, ending a romance?)

Kind of reminds me of 'Revol' a bit with the whole idea of failed relationships. It seems to be one of those ideas that Richey just couldn't seem to leave behind. Even though this song is short, it has a lot of true emotions to it - definitely one of my faves from the album.

I do think, personally, that the demo version was better.

good song, getting more into JFTPL today than when it first came out

It's jealousy "sows" rejection (according to lyrics book):P

But otherwise, just a beautiful insight into Richie's twisted but wonderful mind to me...