From Now On We Are Enemies

I believe the song to be about the movie "Amadeus", the movie about the life of Mozart and the possible murder of him by a fellow composer, Antonio Salieri, who is very jealous that he is unable to compose as well as Mozart.

There is a quote from Salieri in the movie that makes it quite obvious that this is what the song is based on:

"From now on we are enemies, You and I. Because You choose for Your instrument a boastful, lustful, smutty, infantile boy and give me for reward only the ability to recognize the incarnation. Because You are unjust, unfair, unkind, I will block You, I swear it. I will hinder and harm Your creature on earth as far as I am able."

Salieri is pretty much thumbing his nose to God because he hates Mozart, but his music is God's gift to man.

Any, you need proof from the FOB song so... um...

"Lunatic of a God, or God of a lunatic" --> Mozart did have a pretty loony personality, but his music? Incredible. Is Mozart crazy? or God?

"Composer but never composed" ---> obviously Mozart, he was always child like, never tried to act "proper."

"Symphonies for the overdosed" ---> He wrote symphonies for the rich "higher" class. (get it, higher class.... yeah maybe not my best connection."

and of course, he was what 3 and 1/2 when he was writing these symphonies. "Fit the crown to my head but I was only a kid"

and of course, the man on the balcony saying no one will remember him, is our very own Antonio Salieri. You poor bastard.....

Okay so the whole song is about this intense rivalry between Mozart and Antonio Salieri.

The first verses,

"I just want to be better than your, your head's only medicine A downward spiral just a pirouette G-g-getting worse til there's n-n-nothing left What good comes of something when I'm Just the ghost of nothing, nothing?"

This whole verse is talking about how Mozart wanted to speak to people through music, but then through the pollution of alcohol in his mind, he began crashing towards the ground, until he was so polluted that the alcohol killed him.

"I'm just the man on the balcony singing, "Nobody will ever remember me," Rejoice, rejoice and fall to your knees"

At the beginning of the movie Amadeus, a movie based on this epic rivalry, Antonio is seen singing on his balcony about nobody will remember him because of how popular Mozart has become.

"(For! A!) Lunatic of a god or a god of a lunatic? Oh, their faces are dancing They're dancing 'til, 'Til they can't stand it"

This God line is interesting cause it has a double meaning. In one sense, it's a play on how religious Antonio was, and through the movie he loses his faith in God, and curses him for giving Mozart such talent. On the other hand, it could be Pete simply asking out, "Is God crazy? or are we crazy for not understanding God?"

"A composer but never composed Singing the symphonies of the overdose A composer but never composed Singing, "I only want what I can't have" "I only want what I can't have" "

Here Antonio is grieving in these lines, and the line "singing the symphonies of the overdose." is referring again to Mozart succumbing to alcohol, and yet still everyone knows his music and not Antonio's. Obviously "I only want what I can't have." is talking about how Antonio want's Mozart's genius, but can't have it.

"Heralded as a king before I had a birthday With double (double) digits (digits) Fit the crown to my head but I was only a kid Yeah I was only a kid! Yeah I was only a kid!"

This verse talks about how Mozart was famous before he was even 10, writing his first masterpieces at 4-6. "Fit the crown to my head but I was only a kid" explains why Mozart wasted himself with alcohol, because he was a child and didn't know any better.

i need this now! 11 days :)

"I just want to be better than your head's only medicine." After reading everyone else's interpretations, I kind of felt almost mediocre in comparison. I only have to offer this one line! But, that line, to me, kind of sounds like he wants to be better than just who you listen to when you're feeling lonely or sad. You know? Because, a lot of FOB fans, myself included, find comfort and solace in their songs. But Pete wants to be better than that. Maybe, he wants to be a friend to his fans? Or, maybe, he wants to be better than something that makes you happy. See, it kind of splits into two different meanings there, doesn't it?

This is by far my favorite song by FOB (like my username?), and it's probably their most well-composed.

"I just want to be better than your head's only medicine" He wants to outweigh (be better than) the drugs/alcohol they're taking (head's medicine)

"A downward spiral just a pirouette, getting worse till there's nothing left" They're not only going down, but they're getting there fast (pirouetting downwards), and they won't stop until they hit rock bottom (nothing left)

"What good comes of something when I'm just the ghost of nothing?" A double negative of sorts. Ghosts aren't really there, and so the ghost of nothing must really be practically invisible. In short, 'what good is trying to help if it's not going to do anything at all?'

"I'm just the man on the balcony, singing 'nobody will ever remember me', rejoice and fall to your knees" The man on the balcony is a reference to Romeo and Juliet, i think. 'Nobody will ever remember me' is when the two don't think they're very important, and won't be missed. When Romeo and Juliet die (fall to your knees), they are finally happy (Rejoice).

"For a lunatic of a god, or a god of a lunatic, oh, their faces are dancing till they can't stand it" I think this is a little more intricate. It's either a crazy dictator-type person with power or someone who can control someone with power. The people under their dictatorship have to feign happiness (their faces are dancing) under any and all circumstances (till they can't stand it).

"Composer but never composed, singing the symphonies of the overdosed" Not necessarily a music composer, rather someone who creates something (not particularly anything), who has no idea how to create that something (never composed). Also, it's not necessarily drug overdosage either, and could be just the overuse of something. And the 'composer' is the spokesperson for these overusers.

"Singing, 'I only want what I can't have'" In their case, composure, poise, and rationality (P!ATD reference, anyone?)

"Heralded as a king before I had a birthday with double digits" I think, as far as the 'storyline' goes, the head of house (i.e. possibly the father) died when they were young, and they have to take over in the father's place. Not techinically a 'king', but the leader.

"Fit the crown to my head but I was only a kid" They weren't ready to be the leader yet, and if they could, they would want the 'father' to be the king.

Only a few more days....But then it has to be shipped to me in England! NOOOOO! Gonna be ages. And this song is almost my fave already. Love it when Patrick sings 'I'm just the man on the balcony...'

When I read the lyrics a few times this actually reminded me of Michael Jackson or The Jackson 5. Like "I'm just the man on the balcony" and "Oh, their faces are dancing They're dancing til Til they can't stand it" because of their dad and also "Heralded as a king before I had a birthday With double digits Fit the crown to my head but I was only a kid" As he was known as 'The King of Pop' but his dad kinda forced it all on him when he was younger

I dunno, just a guess

Wentz was talking about it in an interview saying that this song is about two different people: one is a king, rich, etc and the other is poor and unfortunate.

Honestly, what I think is that these two people are Wentz before fame and Wentz after fame. Basically, when he wasn't a big rockstar, he wanted to be one. And now that he is, he doesn't want to be.

Or, about him having like, two personalities, but not really. Like, two different moods that he often goes through. One, being confident, self-sufficent and comfortable with his life. The other being the other side of himself saying, "What are you doing with this life?" and like, him thinking that what he does amounts to nothing.

That's just my say. I do like lolcat's interpretation.

I really love this song, I would have prefered it as a single over Alpha Dog. Not sure what it's about though, but my guesses would be consumerism, fakers and selfishness (as per usual of Pete Wentz's lyrics).

I think this song is about FOB taking a break, and possibly not being happy about what they've done with the band so far. "I'm just a man on the balcony singing, 'Nobody will ever remember me'." could be referring to them no feeling sufficent in the music industry, like they aren't making their mark. "Lunatic of a god or god of a lunatic?" could be referring to them constantly touring and recording albums, nonstop. Doing this just sets a band up for self destruction, so they are asking, "Are we crazy for moving so fast, or can we handle it?" "Their faces are dancing, they're dancing, til they can't stand it." could possibly be meaning the fans. "Their faces are dancing" could mean the fans enjoying music, and at concerts, the joy in fans eyes of seeing them play live. And the "til they can't stand it" could be referring to the music style of FOB changing, and how some fans aren't fans anymore because they do not enjoy, or they can't stand, the music FOB is now producing.
"A composer but never composed." means, simply, that they compose their own lyrics and music- but they can't compose themselves due to all of the chaos. "I only want what I can't have." about them wanting to take a break, but not being able to because of their large fanbase- they don't want to let them down.

I could be totally off, but that's my point of view.