Skin

This song makes me cry. They played this in Grey's Anatomy when Teddy was with Henry's body after he died.

So I know this is probably not the real meaning of this song, but you can understand the lyrics in a way where it's about self harm.

safety net don't hold me now: it's dangerous to do, bad for your health, but you don't want to think about that.

in this hole i've fallen down: You're going through a bad time, it's dark and seems hopeless. You can't be happy, you're down all the time.

secret home i've made and found: it's something you feel good about, an addiction you created your own, but it makes you feel better: ''save,'' and nobody can find out.

a new way to breathe: a new way to cope with stuff, a way to survive.

skin come off skin come off i've had enough, ooh ooh skin come off:

the part when you actually harm yourself, you've had enough, you're damaging your skin. in fact it does come off a little bit if the cut is bad.

and in the sickness, you have faith:

when you're physically ill, you have faith, you believe you will get better. it's really the only good thing about it. but when you are, like, depressed, you have no faith. everything seems hopeless.

and in the thickness you'll find me finally:

I don't really know what she means with ''thickness,'' but I kinda see it as a big, sticky, thick mess that consists all your problems. You're drowning in them, like quicksand or something. ''Finally'' is like in a negative way, you've given up the fight against them.

in the city, you find pain and the people you see there that remind you of your own let it go:

seems obvious I think. in the city, where are a lot of people, you find (mental)pain. It hurts to see them, what can have several reasons. they somehow remind you of yourself, in a negative way. Maybe because you find people selfish, but you are not better than them. But you know you have to let it go because you have more important things to think about.

you don't have to beg you'll find me:

maybe there are people who want to bring you down, hate you for some reason, or, no reason at all. You're just saying they've won.

The thickness, it can maybe also mean that even though you're feeling bad, you are there for other people. They can find you in the ''thickness,'' when things get hard. No matter what, they can find you and count on you. But it wouldn't really connect to the other parts of the song.

Anyways, it's just how I see it.

The way I understood this song was that it was about suicide. To be quite honest, it was a little gruesome for me because my dance teacher initially taught us a choreography to this song, I loved it, then I went home to look up the lyrics. Here's how I saw it:

safety net don't hold me now in this hole i've fallen down

*'It's like even though there might be something or someone (the safety net) that tries to pull me out of this shit I'm in, it just gets worse and worse. They can't do anything about it.'

secret home i've made and found a new way to breathe

*Like what the person above me (gomenasai) had said, this is the one place/thing that she loves. 'Even though I know in my heart that I should get out of whatever this bad thing is, I like it. A lot. It's new way to finally relax, and actually feel happy--even if it's just temporary.'

skin come off skin come off i've had enough, ooh ooh skin come off

*This is like her 'old skin' coming off, she's reborn again. 'I've had enough of not letting others hear me out, I've had enough of others judging me, I've had enough of others hurting me, I've had enough of always being the codependent one, I've had enough. I am no longer that person, I am now me. I am now who I want to be. I am now happy.'

and in the sickness, you have faith and in the thickness you'll find me finally

*Like gomenasai had said, it definitely means that when someone is sick (whether it be physically or not) they usually have faith, that they will heal. 'But I had no hope, no faith. I couldn't see the light, so I just ended my life...when you eventually die, you will find me in the one place where time is slow (because thickness)...where there is no time at all. Endless, but not. Endlessly happy. Finally.'

in the city, you find pain and the people you see there that remind you of your own let it go

*This part is pretty self-explanatory. You start seeing so much crap and pain that these people carry all over the world, and it reminds you of how much more imperfect you are than they are....and then 'let it go' is like saying 'I give up. I don't have to deal with this anymore. I'm free.'

you don't have to beg finally

*Her loved ones are begging her not to go, but she's implying that she'll be fine. 'You'll find me after death. We'll be united once again, except this time, we'll be happy. Finally.'

Like I said, it was kind of a shock to me the way I perceived this song. Perhaps it's because I'm able to relate to the song a lot--I don't know. But in any case, this song is hauntingly beautiful. Typing all of my personal interpretations out like this will help me out a lot in my dance piece to this song. Woo hoo! So, thank you. :-)

I absloutley love this song because it played in the trailer for my all time favourite movie, Romeo and Juliet, the 2013 movie. My thoughts on this song is that I think it really is based for a sort of Romeo and Juliet love story.

"Safety net don't hold me now" This might be in Romeo and Juliet's case. When Romeo finds out Juliet "died" he didn't warn to live anymore, his only love was gone. He doesn't want to be saved, he just wants to be with her.

"In this hole I've fallen down." The hole is their tradegedy. Their life. They fell in love and fell into a hole where they can't escape their forbidden love, and the consequences that come with it.

"Secret home I've made and found / a new way to breathe." Secret home, meaning their secret relationship. They made it and found it and it flourished over the course of three days. The second line could suggest that Juliet, being only the age of thirteen, found a new love. She suddenly wanted to get married, though she told her mother she never thought of marriage.

"Skin come off" This could suggest when Romeo is in the crypt with Juliet, he just wants to go, he can't go on and he wants to leave this world because she is not in it.

"I've had enough." Romeo could have had enough of the Montagues and the Capulets long lasting rivalry.

"And in the sickness you find faith" Despite Romeo being exiled from Verona, Juliet still believes he will come back to her. Also, it could mean "even in the bad things you find/have faith" meaning even in their secret marriage, they still hade faith they would be together.

"In the city you find pain." City meaning Verona. There is lots of pain in Verona because of the wars, and the shedded blood of Tybalt and Paris and Mercutio.

"And the people you see there / that remind you of your own / let it go." The people they see there. The Montagues and the Capulets. The last part to me, could have reference back to the balcony scene. Juliet wishes for Romeo to cast off his name, because names are just names, they don't have a strong hold on love. This part means that they should let go of both of their names (Montague and Capulet) and just be in love. They have to let go of the burdens, brought to them by their names. Let it go could also mean their deaths, they let go of everything and have no means to live when they find each other dead.

I think many of us who come here can at least agree that this song is beautiful, stunning, haunting.

But what does it mean?

Maybe ask, "What does it mean to you?"

Suicide/self-harm. Lost a friend, myself. Many, many have felt that hurt. See above. Does that mean that's what this song is about? No. Does it fit if you hear it that way? Without question.

Still a fan of Zeffirelli, but the 2013 version of Romeo and Juliet was lovely. Does that mean this song was written solely with Shakespeare in mind? Not necessarily. Does it fit? You bet it does. (The '96 version when Jules woke up... OMG!)

But what if it's something else? Something you don't immediately identify with?

How about: Heart-wrenching breakup. Retreating to a safe place. Lost too much of one's self. Have faith in recovering, breathing again, despite all the pain and misery at every turn? Yep. Song fits easily.

How about: Depression. Hiding away. Rubbed raw and disillusioned. People can sympathize, but can't really understand. Get help and try to fight through it, find yourself again. Yeah, there's this song.

How about: Severe illness. Life is different now. No going back. Everything is gonna change, and it won't be easy. But one day... Yep. Again. Song fits.

How about: Identity. Lack of understanding, loss of the familiar. Harsh treatment. Finding other people who are also hurt by the hatred of others. Letting go of an old family to embrace a new. Uh huh. Song still fits.

How about: Addiction.

How about: Bullying.

How about: A terror I don't have space to explain w/o an even bigger wall o' text l (school/grades, college choices, work/finances, retirement, etc)

There are so many categories. It's impossible to say "This song absolutely means...."

While we might sometimes prefer a simple, no-questions explanation, I think this song is gorgeous for its ability to encompass so much without being limited to one particular topic.

To me, it's a feeling, not necessarily a meaning. The beauty with which this song does that is simply amazing.

Do I sometimes desperately want somebody to tell me "This song means X!" ?

Yes. Yes, I do. This song tho...

You don't need an official script to tell you how to feel. Take it, run with it. Make it yours. This song is YOURS

(Thank you, Zola, for this gift)

This is the way I see the meaning of the song.

“ Safety net don’t hold me now In this hole I’ve fallen down Secret home I’ve made and found A new way to breath “ ————————————————— When you’re so deep down in your depression and sadness that you can’t see anything else than darkness. You build up this “ home “ and your depression makes you feel like you don’t even wanna try to get better so you find some kind of peace to it all.

“ Skin come off Skin come off I’ve had enough Skin come off “ ————————————————— You want to get better but your so tired right now, you can’t do this anymore. you’re tired of feel this way so you just want to leave your skin ( suicide )

“ And in the sickness you have faith And in the thickness you’ll found me Finally “ ————————————————— At this point you’ve given up. The only thing you think about is your depression and anxiety, it’s all dark now. You’ll find me in this darkness that I’m stuck in

“ In the city you find pain And the people you see there That reminds you of your own Let it go “ ————————————————— Even though there’s people around you, you still feel alone. It feels like no one will ever understand. They just reminds you of how lonely you are.

/Isabella