Half

Michiguy's Lyrical Analysis

Line 1: "When I hand my love in, I'll be done."

"When I"

An eventuality that will occur to this person as opposed to "if I" or "should I".

"hand my love in"

"Hand in" could mean to give or return something with the implication that it is somehow owed or due, similar to the term "turn in". i.e. "I must hand in the report to the teacher". In this case however I believe it is related to the act of relinquishing a duty, i.e. "When the sheriff quits his job he must hand in this badge".

"My love"

I believe this is referring to this person's emotion of love. However, it could be the object of love like a person, a pet, a physical object, or whatever someone might have love for.

"I'll be done"

This could mean that this person is finished with a task, however, I believe it is more personal though, like giving up a struggle as in "I'll be finished" or "done with" .

I see line 1 as a personal realization that the moment you give up on love, you are done resisting negative emotions like selfishness, greed and hate. Once you give up, the struggle is over and you are now done for.

Line 2: "A handed glove hides the doors."

Line 2 seems to be offering the reason behind the eventuality of line 1. i.e. "When I hand my love in, I'll be done." (Because) "A handed glove hides the doors".

"A handed glove"

I believe the glove represents authority, power, or both and the hand represents the action of manipulating, governing or directing the power.

"Hides the doors"

This part of line 2 seemed to mean that the governing power makes it impossible to find a way out of this situation.

Chorus: "Half a chance- Half a chance (Note: Sounds like "Have no chance"). We still have a chance."

I believe this means that until we, meaning all of human kind, give up our love, we still have a chance to resist evil and an opportunity to change the world for the better.

Line 3: "Mr. Full, Mr. Have, kills Mr. Empty Hand."

"Mr. Full, Mr. Have"

To me, this represents the rich and powerful elite with their political and corporate interests. Mr. Full, Mr. Have is the one wearing the glove that hides the doors.

"Kills Mr. Empty Hand"

This part indicates to me how the agenda of the rich and powerful end up abusing (literally killing) poor and disinfranchised people who are powerless to fight back. Mr. Empty hand isn't wearing a glove so he has no power, also he is empty handed, having nothing or offering no resistance.

The impression I get from line three is one of rich people living a life of excess on the backs of poor people dying in sweat shops and labor camps or of some multi-national corporation wiping out a population in order to gain their resources.

Chorus: "Half a chance - Half a chance. We still have half a chance."

The final chorus restates the urgency of having only a small opportunity left, half a chance, to change our collective fate.

The overall message I get from this song is that if we give up love, we give up the struggle against evil and lose everything but until we give up there is the smallest chance we can over come. We should show love and compassion to the powerless and defend them from "Mr. Full" and "Mr, Have" with their "handed glove" that is trapping people and perpetuating the evil.

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Is it just me, or does "Have a chance" sound like "People change"? Like, exactly. I swore for years that it was "People change." I seriously think that's it, or at least, that's what it's supposed to sound like. Would fit in with the rest of the album really well too. Oh and I really like this song.

that falseto voice has got to be one of the creepiest things I've heard in a long time

wow what a great song. you know, middle eastern riffs and sounds really get me man im a sucker for them. and album and this band like the middle eastern riffs, so i like them. shows off their led zeppelin influence.

This is, without a doubt, one of my favorite Soundgarden songs. I have no clue what about it makes me love it so much. I could seriously sit in one place for an entire day with this song on repeat.

This song gives me some weird emotions, too. Like, I don't know how to describe it. It's something like I've never felt before. Kind of like a mix of everything - love, hate, happiness, depression, laziness, anger, etc.., just boiling up into one huge ball of emotion.

I want to learn how to play it, though. I won't be perfectly happy until I can.

I love this song!

I have a theory that since this song was written by Ben, he threatened to quit the band if it didn't make the album. That's how such an assy song ever made it.

Influenced by Led Zeppelin's "Black Mountain Side"?

song was sung by matt

The music for the closing moments of the song are so gorgeous - it's the only time I could ever sense a "feel" in the studio, besides old Zeppelin sessions of course. But at 1:26, we hear "have a chance..." and the microphone is dropped (or bumped) and that majestic soundscape is painted for us therin. And I do have to kudos for the informal tribute to Zeppelin's "Black Mountainside".