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Stay Vicious Lyrics

Now I feel just like a stranger.
I don't sleep at all anymore.
And the arms that used to hold me, well, now they've done me harm.
And I feel just like a murderer.
And I feel just like a gun.
And I been shaking in the hands of somebody who's finally had enough.

As you step out into the city, no one to find you or recognize.
As your black heels kick out the beat of my heart in perfect time.
Singing, la la la la la la la la.
Look at you saving my life.
Singing, la la la la la la la la.
Tonight you're saving my life.
Yeah.

Now I've had the saints and patience.
And I wait on the telephone.
I have pills for this, and tabs for that.
And something that used to resemble a soul.
So won't anybody take my hand?
And won't anybody ease my ache?
I still love rock n roll, and I still call somebody baby.

As you step out into the city, no one to find you or recognize.
As your black heels kick out the beat of my heart in perfect time.
Singing, la la la la la la la la.
Look at you saving my life.
Singing, la la la la la la la la.
Tonight you're saving my life.
Yeah.

As you step out into the city, no one to find you or recognize.
As your black heels kick out the beat of my heart in perfect time.
Singing, la la la la la la la la.
Look at you saving my life.
Singing, la la la la la la la la.
Tonight you're saving my life.

Singing la la la la la la la la.
Leave it on the end of the knife.
Singing la la la la la la la la.
Tonight you're saving my life.

Yeah.
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Cover art for Stay Vicious lyrics by Gaslight Anthem, The

With a little imagination, this is what I think the song is about:

The guy just lost someone special to him, presumably his wife or girlfriend. So he's talking about how he can't sleep anymore in the arms that used to hold him, and how he feels like a stranger.

The second verse is again describing what he's been going through and how he feels. He just wants help.

The pre chorus and chorus is what's very interesting to me. I think he meets someone new, with black heels clicking in rhythm of his heart.

The whole "look at you saving my life" is interesting given how the music sounds. It's very melodic and sad. It's like she's helping him at first, until he reveals the lyric "leave it on the end of the knife" which could mean a few things:

  • She has made excellent points on how he needs to feel better and move past the past, so he sees it as her saving his life with harsh words that cut like a knife.

Or

  • she's literally killing him. Maybe she was hired by him to take him out, to "save his life" and his hurt by being stabbed to death. And when she's doing it, all he hears is "la la la la lalalala" while he's thinking "tonight you're saving my life".

My take. I listened to this song hundreds of times when I was being divorced, so I could be biased.

My Interpretation
 
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