Stay Away From My Friends

I really think this song is symbolic for Depression and all the illnesses that come with it. I don't agree with those who say it has any part to do with sex.

"Waking up your neighbors downstairs, I've been inside your bedroom a thousand years. And as you tie me to the bed for good I say that I want you in the most unromantic way."

This part is about Depression itself. It's bothering the neighbors because maybe he can't sleep at night so he plays music. Or maybe he's tried to commit suicide and the police sirens wake them up. It's been inside his bedroom for a thousand years means he just can't get rid of it. It feels like it's always been here and he doesn't think it'll leave. The bed part is not about sex. It's about the way depression ties you to the bed. When your depressed you don't feel like getting up or doing anything so this commits you to your bed. Vic saying he wants it in the most unromantic way might sound a little messed up but it just simply means he wished it would stop leading him to the bed. I guess that does include a sexual reference but he isn't talking about it that way. He is simply staying stop keeping me in the bed (be=romantic vic wants unromantic) and let me do something. Let me be motivated.

"Louisiana, you're torturing me with a beautiful face. Ana come on, I thought we had a damn good thing. A penny in the couch and a diamond ring."

This next part is about Anorexia/self-image issues. It seems like is is for a girl named Ana but since he first said Louisiana and most girls aren't named Louisiana, he probably means the shortened name for Anorexia that a lot of tumblr or instagrammers use. "You're torturing me with a beautiful face" The image of a beautiful person is torturing him because he feels he can never be that beautiful. "Ana come on i thought we had a damn good thing" He must have started eating normally again and this upset him because he thought him and "Ana" were good together and it was working to make him "beautiful" "A penny in the couch and a diamond ring" These are symbols for things to make him beautiful. Money and Jewelry.

"I don't know how you got into me, down my throat and made a home in my veins. They used to be the rivers that would take us away, but now you only call me every Christmas and my birthday. I still can't believe how you look next to me, just like a strip club bedroom scene."

This is talking about all the Mental Illnesses together. He doesn't remember how any of this started or how it got into him and made a home in him. (The word veins is probably used to elude the next verse which has to do with self-harm) I think with the next line "they"= his friends and "us"= the illnesses. And he has distanced himself because of these thoughts so much that his friends can't even help him anymore.They only call occasionally and that's not enough. The next line "you"= the illnesses. When most people think of a strip club bedroom scene they think of chaos and such. He is saying that he use to be normal but ever since these illnesses started following him he is starting to look chaotic and crazy.

"But you don't know what it's like to wake up in the middle of the night, scaring the thought of kissing razors. This blood evacuation is telling me to cave in. Stay away. Oh no. Just stay away from my friends."

This one is about Self-harm and suicide. He is saying that no one understands what he is feeling. How he wakes up in the middle of the night and goes straight for the razor to get rid of his thoughts or nightmares. He cuts the pain away and bleeds out the bad. But there is so much bad he's afraid he's going to bleed out all the way and "cave in" I'l explain the next line along with the chorus.

So baby stay away from my friends, 'cause I need them to carry me. When it's over I'll count back from ten, and you can listen to glass hearts shattering./and you can listen to something that you've never heard before.

He is telling these illnesses to stay away from his friends. He knows how terrible and draining these can get. He doesn't want his friends to have to suffer what he is going through. He also needs them to be happy because that is what is keeping him sane right now. Them helping and laughing and smiling with him. If they were taken over by what he has he wouldn't be able to go on. The first time the chorus happens he counts back from ten (a stress relieving technique) and you can heard glass hearts shattering. Meaning you can tell it's not working and he is just getting worse and worse and his heart is breaking. The second time I interpret as "Something you've never heard before"= suicide. I think this line eludes to the fact he is going to kill himself once he counts back from ten and that's where the last verse that talks about caving in comes in. He one last time says "Stay away from my friends" and i think that's a sign he is now gone (again using the context clues in that verse) but he still wants his friends to stay okay. I hope this made sense c:

The lines

"But you don't know what it's like to wake up in the middle of the night. Scaring the thought of kissing razors. This blood evacuation is telling me to cave in" ,

I think are definitley a reference to self harm.

Beautiful song. <3

This is my favorite song on the album, I kinda teared up at the part when he says "I don't know how you get into me,down my throat and made a home in my veins. They used to be the rivers that would take us away. Now you only call me every Christmas and my birthday. I still can't believe how you look next to me, just like a strip club bedroom scene."

Thanks guys :)

I was pretty close!

that line about glass hearts shattering, i just could not understand what he was saying the first half of that line. ha

I'm pretty sure Lousiana (Ana) isn't a girl. ANA is commonly known as anorexia. The vein and strip club scene is the use of drugs and its addiction. And the kissing of razors is cutting. So there was a few comments here of people referring to Ana as a person, but in general, if I'm right, the song is saying that these "friends" to carry him are his addictions or any kind of addictions: cutting, drugs, eating disorders, etc. Lousiana represents loved ones who are trying to take away his friends.

absolutely beautiful

"This is about my ex-girlfriend trying to stay in close contact with my friends even after we had broken up. We all need our friends to be there for us and help us out during hard times. I wrote the piano parts in my living room at home in San Diego. We wanted to challenge ourselves with this song and make it as different as possible from the rest of the album. We threw it right in the middle of the album as a sort of a breath of fresh air. My friend Dave Yaden played all the keys on this record, as well as on [2007’s A Flair For The Dramatic], and that took everything to the next level."

Guys. This song isn't about a break up or anything. You have to really look and understand the lyrics ._.

I feel like Louisiana, or short for Ana, isn't a girl. The name represents I'm guessing a razor. I'm not sure. I didn't write the song. But I know it's not about a girl. Maybe anorexia. And he says "You're torturing me with a beautiful face" ... many people struggle with cutting all the time. So he's just looking at the razor, really want to cut himself, but he knows he shouldn't.

He sings "Stay away from my friends because I need them to carry me". I feel like he's saying "I shouldn't cut, because I need my friends to be there for me for every other problem I have."

"I don't know how you get into me. Down my throat and made a home in my veins.They used to be the rivers that would take us away." (He doesn't know why he's so addicted to cutting. The "rivers" is the escape from the cutting that took him away from all the metal pain)

"I still can't believe how you look next to me. Just like a strip club bedroom scene." (He can't believe that he cuts himself. I believe that he's trying to tell us that the blood is going down his veins and "strip club bedroom scene" means that it's intense.)

But you don't know what it's like to wake up in the middle of the night. Scaring the thought of kissing razors. This blood evacuation is telling me to cave in, stay away, oh no, Just stay away from my friends ("But you don't know what it's like" ... he's explaning to people that they don't understand. "Kissing Razors" is about cutting. "Blood evacuation, cave in" ... He really wants to cut, and he's about to but he remembers his friends.)

I'm not sure ... I'm not 100% ... But I honestly believe it's not about a girl. It's such a beautiful song. I spent about 20 minutes studying the song. This isn't a breakup song. I know for a fact it's about self harm. It's beautiful. One of my favorites. I hoped this helped a little <3

This is probably one of the few songs that can make me cry I dont know if its the lyrics or the rhythem or maybe its everything and how its put together but really this song jsut made me cry :)

But you don't know what it's like to wake up in the middle of the night. Scaring the thought of kissing razors. This blood evacuation is telling me to cave in. </333