Change (In the House of Flies)

My InterpretationA lot of people have told me a lot of different meanings.. But what I always took away from this song, was that it's about changing someone for the worst, and feeling so guilty you want to die.

For example, let say you had a drug habit, but never got yourself into a bad situation, just recreation and that it. But you turned someone onto this drug, and they turned into a major junky. "I watched you change into a fly" To me is like "I watched you become this filthy creature", and "it's like you never had wings", Maybe it's like "i used to see you as an angle, now I see you as a fly". Tearing off the wings, making this person this broken, damaged creature. And all you have left if your guilt for letting this happen to someone.

That's what I took from this.

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General Commentthis song is about watching a person slowly change into someone you don't even recognize, and even as much as you try to turn them back into who they were it won't help. Eventually then "blow you away" and continue to be someone they aren't!

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General CommentDefinitely a twisted and sinister song clearly illustrating the inner-workings of man who actively seeks to destroy the object of his desire to both be redeemed and feel powerful.

I watched you change
Into a fly

* As a fly on the wall, he watches and observes the "change." Here, there is a strong indication that he is perhaps watching a young girl change into adolecence, but that is an entirely different interpretaion that I may attempt later and isn't exactly the point. The most significant revelation to You, the audience, is that HIS mentality is changing, yet he blames it on us, the audience. Watching a human being, a woman, change into a fly, reveals that he views her as a creature...no...not even a creature...a fly...he has successfully dehumanized the listener which is the foreshaddow of what is to unfold.

I looked away
You were on fire

* Notice the shif of blame, again. Fire is universally associated with hell; consumation; desolation; and he attributes that to the woman (or the listener) which is the first inclination of guilt...he looked away.

I watched a change in you
It's like you never had wings

* "As if you never had wings," I believe, indicates that he once idolized or adored the woman, which both surmount to objectification and delivers nicely the distortion of his perceptions; idealized to dehumanized.

And you feel so alive
I've watched you change

* Here he withdraws from his connection to the audience; where You was first, the listener, he now is admitting the spark within himself, the seed of hate for the woman and it makes him feel alive. [I believe the different usages of "you" to be correct because he cannot feel her alive, it's within himself and as he watches her change, he is witnessing himself change]

I took you home
Set you on the glass

* "I took you home," suggests ownership. Think of it this way; when you replace you with her, what does that suggest? "I took her home," creates the idea that he is taking her to her home, but you is synonymous with it; "I took you home," "I took it home." Anyhow, "set you on the glas," as if on display...it...an object.


* Side note: I feel as though the electronic distortion of his voice also parallels the distortion of his thinking, adding to the morbid complexity of the song.


I pulled off your wings
Then I laughed

* This is the major transition and is the most riveting [chills], where he first allows us to glimpse how he successfully abolishes his own inner-tormoil...by pulling off her wings. While in the begining he watched the change within himself, he conquers this emotion by eradicating the defining symbol of demoralization; the wings. Since wings are usually associated with angels or with freedom, this illustrates that now she is completely defiled and imprisioned...he has gained control and feels guilty about it, internally hates himself for it, and then has to laugh [tranferrence of his own emotions onto his object to relieve any guilt, for he must see himself as human in order to maintian control.

I watched a change in you
It's like you never had words

* Now, he completely dominates and feels as if a king; as emporer. By subtracting value from the woman, he is adding value to himself, where none was before. Not even her words matter. She is mute; deleted.

Now you feel so alive
I watched you change

* "You feel so alive," is now identified as being the woman. He wants to believe that the pain and suffering he inflicted upon her makes her feel alive, as if he is responsible for "breathing life" into his object.

* The instramentals through the entire song and especially here really do suggest a sultry/sexual tempo and is significant, but I won't delve into that here.

I look at the cross
And I look away

* His guilt finally catches up with him and is awful. He cannot accept it nor face it, so...

Give you the gun
Blow me away

* He allows her to hurt him, he begs of it so that the cycle may repeat, for in order to maintain control, he MUST hate.

Blah, there it is, although there are so many differnt subtle themes and metaphors that I didn't cover but can see. Anyhow, while I usually like songs that are dark, this one totally freaks me out, and that's probably the point.

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General CommentI take this song in a more drug-induced way. By the way, this is a great great great song. Everytime i lisetn to it i fall in love with it all over again. Such a dark sensual tune.
Anyways, these are my thoughts of the songs meaning:

"I watched you change, into a fly. I looked away, your on fire"
A girl who was once pure and innocent has changed because of personal issues. The only person she turns to is her friend whom she's known all her life. Yet he doesn't give her the help she needs. Instead, he hooks her on drugs and watches her crumble and become more of a mess than she already is. He looks away and does nothing leaving her to deteriorate.

"I've watched you change, It's like you never had wings, And you feel so alive"
She turns into a rebellious person enjoying the freedom she THINKS she posseses. Drugs become her escape because they make her feel "alive" and in a "much better place" then she would be if sober. She's in denial though, when confronted with the dramatic changes she's made even though deep down she knows she's getting hooked.

"I took you home, set you on the glass. I pulled off your wings and I laughed."
She is like an experiment to him- a bug that he is dissecting and is taking advantage of. She cries because of how helpless she is realizing how she has let herself go and changed for the worst. He had stripped her of her true identity and just laughs at her stupidity for being naive and letting herself go far too deep.

"I look at the cross and i look away. Give you the gun, blow me away."
Something most likely happened to the girl such as: she may have died, had a major overdose on drugs
and is being hospitilized, or is in a much worse state than before. Finally realizing the mistake he made, he is filled with guilt and anguish for ruining and betraying the girl who came to him full of trust (because of the long years she'd known him) and in need of help. The cross symbolizes good and he can't bear to look at it because of the shame he has brought upon himself. He feels that the only way to fix his mistake is if she does the honors of ending his life like he did to hers.

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My OpinionNot really sure what or who the artist is referencing in the song, but he makes it very clear it's about change, and because of how dark the song is, change for the worse.

In my opinion, I think this song is more about the narrator than a victim of the narrator (whether it be a virgin girl or friend-turned-junky or whatever.) I think the narrator is suggesting he is changing into something less than human (a fly, something everyone despises, swats at and kills without remorse.) I think the narrator feels he is somewhat messed up in the head, twisted and sinister: in the verse that starts with "I took you home..." I imagine the narrator capturing a bug outside (like a fly or a beetle) taking it home, placing it on a petri dish ("set you on the glass") and using tweezers to pull its wings apart underneath a microscope. Which he finds humorous.

It's kind of a sickening image but it fits perfectly with the tone of the song. I love the eerie instrumental that plays after the verses "you were on fire" and "then I laughed".) Unlike a lot of other interpretations, I don't necessarily agree that the narrator feels guilty about what's happening. I think he's accepting it; it's thrilling, it makes him "feel so alive". Which is the scary part. He's messed up, and not only does he know it, but he's okay with it (maybe even likes it)... "so, hell, blow me away."

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My InterpretationI feel the narrator is saying that he found someone and took advantage of them to get what he needed (drugs/money for drugs). He used them so much that he watched them change from a person to basically nothing (a fly). He exploited their weaknesses "Pulled off your wings" and felt no remorse. The fact that the fly he's referencing "Like you never had wings" makes me think it was too easy for him to capture/manipulate the victim. Later in the song he seems to have found forgiveness for himself "I look at the cross...". As well as remorse about using the person and seeks forgiveness "Then I look at you" and "Give you the gun ... Blow me away).

He found his victim, exploited them for his needs, and left them with an addiction that he cannot pull them from.

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General Comment"its a metaphorical song. you could take it in the literal sense of me watching someone turn into a fly and taking them home with me and pulling of their wings and laughing. its spawns from me being a complete asshole--and getting the complete repercussion for it by having my life taken away." - Chino

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General CommentYes, exactly sajinx4. Thats what I think anyway.

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General Commentgood thinkin flick. but i think its about having someone change & ditch you for other people and you tryin to stop it, but cant.

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General CommentI find it a song to be of the final stages of change that you go through, before you commit suicide. The changes make the person unrecognizable, thus turning into a fly. The line I find that most stands this out, is when it's going into the last chorus. "I look at the cross, then I look away, give you (or me, there's alot of different wordings) blow me away." He looks at the cross, which symbolizes hope, peace, love for you christians out there, of course that's not what it used to represent -_-, then he looks away, meaning he's turned his back on God, he's turned from love, he's lost all faith, and then of course "blow me away"

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