Matthew Good

What If I Can't See The Stars Mildred?

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What If I Can't See The Stars Mildred? Lyrics

I start the day
Picture a house on fire
Inside,these guys, they try to put it out

I go downstairs, rub my eyes and stand there
Wonder why I can't just kick them out
If I'm the crazy one, then what the fuck's with everyone else?

Gotta, gotta wait for it
Wait for it
Wait for it
Wait
Gotta gotta wait for it
Wait for it
Wait for it
Wait
Gotta gotta

Do you walk out the door?
Walk out the door
Walk out the door
Walk out the door
Do you walk out the door?
Walk out the door
Walk out the door
Walk out

Baby you gotta do, oh what you've gotta do
Baby you gotta do, oh what you've gotta do

What if I can't see the stars, Mildred?

I end my day
Picture a house
On fire, on fire
On fire, on fire

Submitted by

sublime. On Jun 06, 2011

Lights Of Endangered Species

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sigmaquadrant

2015-05-19 02:44:11

Sublime.

Submitter

2011-06-06 06:20:49

1 Meaning

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by Nshore3

15y ago

"I start the day Picture a house On fire Inside"

-The house/body/mind is on fire, that is, undergoing upheaval of many discomforting thoughts as you start the day and enter the world, entering all that is uniform while trying to hold on to what is individually you.

"These guys, they try to put it out I go down the stairs, rub my eyes and stand there Wonder why I can't just kick them out If I look crazy Wonder what the fuck's with everyone else"

-it could mean society, mostly capitalist, trying to put the fire out by brainwashing us to conform to consumerisms, fads, beleif systems etc. Dumbfounded (rubbing eyes standing there), you wonder why you cant fully (if you try) escape the compulsion to conform to that norm and society expectation. Their in your head now! Or in otherwords, your persona's taking over more than your comfortable with, and you wonder why you have so little individual control despite living in a democratic society.

"If i look crazy"- how you will be the outcast if you do not conform and behave and look just like everyone else.
"What the fucks with everyone else"- really, its them who are so fucked up and lost. Unaware of their lack of self, individuality etc. Zombies, robots, walking dead etc. Empty on the inside

"Gotta, gotta wait for it Wait for it Gotta gotta"

-keep waiting buddy as nothing looks like it will be changing anytime soon

"Do you walk out the door?"

-Should you just be your own self and follow your own path?

"Baby you gotta do what you've gotta do"

-Maybe you gotta fluctuate between yourself and your persona to function in this world

"What if I can't see the stars, Mildred?"

-But if you dont strive for your individuality, you might get lost?

"I end my day Picture a house on fire on fire on fire on fire "

Refers to living with this so called "mental instability", as just being yourself could be "mental instability" relative to the way of the day and the peoples of our society . And the debate goes on, as that is life, and jungs individuation or Nieztches eternal recurrance.

"I start the day
Picture a house
On fire
Inside"
 
-The house/body/mind  is on fire, that is, undergoing upheaval of many discomforting thoughts as you start the day and enter the world, entering all that is uniform while trying to hold on to what is individually you.

"These guys, they try to put it out 
I go down the stairs, rub my eyes and stand there
Wonder why I can't just kick them out
If I look crazy
Wonder what the fuck's with everyone else"

-it could mean society, mostly capitalist, trying to put the fire out by brainwashing us to conform to consumerisms, fads, beleif systems etc.  Dumbfounded (rubbing eyes standing there), you wonder why you cant fully (if you try) escape the compulsion to conform to that norm and society expectation. Their in your head now! Or in otherwords, your persona's taking over more than your comfortable with, and you wonder why you have so little individual control despite living in a democratic society.

"If i look crazy"- how you will be the outcast if you do not conform and behave and look just like everyone else.  
"What the fucks with everyone else"- really, its them who are so fucked up and lost. Unaware of their lack of self, individuality etc. Zombies, robots, walking dead etc. Empty on the inside

"Gotta, gotta wait for it
Wait for it
Gotta gotta"

-keep waiting buddy as nothing looks like it will be changing anytime soon

"Do you walk out the door?"

-Should you just be your own self and follow your own path?

"Baby you gotta do what you've gotta do"

-Maybe you gotta fluctuate between yourself and your persona to function in this world

"What if I can't see the stars, Mildred?"

-But if you dont strive for your individuality, you might get lost?

"I end my day
Picture a house
on fire
on fire
on fire 
on fire "

Reason:

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by Nshore3 15y ago

thanks!

by yoguy 4y ago

@Nshore3 I think perhaps he\'s singing from the perspective of someone in a mental health facility where staff are always present and trying to "put out" the fire inside - both the self destructive but also the numbing effect of medication on the sensation of being truly alive. \r\n\r\n"If I\'m the crazy one" is both a defensive line and an indication that he\'s self aware enough to notice that other patients are in a far worse state mentally.\r\n\r\nI dare you to walk out the door - of the hospital. But what if I can\'t see the stars - an allusion...

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