Like a lot of the other comments are saying, I think this mainly about voyeurism. If the song was about his girlfriend, then why would he use the word spy. If you are a spy it means you shouldn't be caught, that is kind of the whole point, and if you are a voyeur, the whole point of the pleasure you get from it, is the fact that the other people don't know you are watching them. See a bit of a connection there?
""Into this world I came Filled with fear Crying all the time I guess my birth Left a great scar On my heart and mind Now I hand-pick cotton And struggle to sing \""I am happy and I do what I like\"" But my voice breaks And I start to hate My singing And simply everyone Mama told me Be good Work hard And love Mr. God Every Sunday I lie Trying to realize why Ain't nothing more to say Your Honor Don't look at me like that The truth is I am a free man But I can't enjoy my life I came to a standstill With lies and hopes inside my head Always seemed too late to turn And too soon to understand No I don't have a stomach ache It's just my face... I got stuck I ran aground I got used to spewing bile I wonder whether all those years Hadn't been a waste of time So how am I doing? Oh I CAN complain Smoke too many cigarettes But I don't care...""
Lyrics submitted by Octavarium64
New Generation Slave Lyrics as written by Michal Lapaj Mariusz Duda
Lyrics © Reservoir Media Management, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
The Spy
Doors, The
Doors, The
Standing On The Edge Of Summer
Thursday
Thursday
In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
...and not a damned thing has changed. Some could use the same calandar from the year they were born, turned 10, turned 16, turned 21, turned 30 etc and it would look and feel the same. The only ring in ones throat is attached to young habit; self-loathing; shame; and all the other stuff that keeps ya warm and imprisoned. Carry on, Soldier. It's been working so well for ya all these years...
I believe the song is saying FUCK OFF
The overall theme is obviously the ambiguous feeling of slavery and lack of purpose derived from contemporary life and work. Here's my take on it:
"I guess my birth left a great scar on my heart and mind"
The voice is pretty much saying that he was born "different"; he feels like he's permanently hurt emotionally and thus he will see the world in a different manner.
"Now I hand-pick cotton and struggle to sing "I am happy and I do what I like" But my voice breaks, and I start to hate my singing and simply everyone"
At some point he lies to himself saying that he is happy performing some purposeless and menial job-task, but then he sees reality and with it he hates his previous self-delusion; and everything and everyone that surrounds him.
"Mama told me be good, work hard, and love Mr. God Every Sunday, I lie, trying to realize why"
This pretty much confirms the previous: he discovers that the things he made himself believe are simply lies. Religious faith seems to be a common theme in the path to self-discovery: when one realizes that there is no such faith but only forced belief, and doubt hidden behind, despise and hatred commonly follow.
"I came to a standstill with lies and hopes inside my head Always seemed too late to turn and too soon to understand"
Then comes the point in life when not knowing what to believe, he feels stuck or lost, without a purpose or aim: lies surround him still, and delusional hopes are in his mind.
"I got used to spewing bile I wonder whether all those years hadn't been a waste of time"
Spewing disdain and hatred, despising everything: tormented by the thought of wasted time.
I guess that in the end, even if he says he can't complain, the voice seems restless: he knows that he is a free man, but somehow, the creeping feeling of being a slave overwhelms him, and thus he cannot enjoy life.