Eden

i love this song and have always thought of it as a "fuck it" song, where something happend and you stop caring and just focus on yourself and what makes you happy. but i know it's deaper then that, anyone care to explain?

This is a song about yes, being selfish and caring about only yourself, but i find in this song...some reasons for being like that. For instance..."If you break me down," all you see is selfish desire because there is no other choice (desperate times, desperate measures) and i'm not ashamed of this choice, because i had to take it. I didn't always feel this way, i chose this path among many. If i were to open myself and my dreams to you, you would count them all as lies. Maybe they are lies, but their still my dreams. I could let you in on my feelings if it's convenient for me, and it's going to help me in some way, but it's to no avail, everytime i try that it doesn't help me.

Then the song takes like a completely new twist in my mind, and i really don't understand why, but it makes me think that something in my interpretation is wrong, but i don't know what. For the last part of the song, i interpret it completely different, and i've never been able to tie the two together. I'll interpret line for line what i think the last part means to me.

I took a cane from a blind man (I've committed small sins) I've tasted the fruit in the Garden of Eden (I've committed the largest crimes known to man) When I walk out of here (When I ask for forgiveness) I know I'll stand clear (I know that I'll be forgiven of everything) But the taste in my mouth still remains (But I still feel the guilt from all my sins)

Yeah, completely different...so i don't know, but yeah, there's my interpretation.

i agree with most of the interpretation about becoming self concerned. the end of the song it kind of the insight as to why he feels this way though. it seems he was once blind and euphoric(in the garden of eden, with ignorance) but he tasted the fruit, ie gained knowledge which i think means there was some great pain he can never forget(the taste remains) as he is leaving his once euphoric state. standing clear seemed to imply he'll never let himself be hurt like that again(he seems mournful to say so)

my second intepretation is this a commentary on the nature of humans, our tendoncy to be selfish and it all dates back to 'original sin' which we can never repeat but never escape

I feel this song is about someone who keeps making the wrong decisions, taking advantage of people, and he ends up becoming selfish, only for himself.

"If you break me down Selfish desire is all you blame" Meaning that if he gets shot down by someone, his own selfish desire is the reason

"Cause desperate times Call for desperate measures And I am not ashamed" sounds like he's trying to make himself feel better about being selfish by saying this to himself.

I think Kinger2713 is on to something with the cane part, but I think that the cane and the fruit symbolize that he feels he did selfish and heinious things. The cane, because he took something that person NEEDED and he just wanted. The fruit is basically symbolizing the fact he did something he never should have and he feels as if he got kicked out of society.

"When I walk out of here I know I’ll stand clear But the taste in my mouth still remains Still remains "

It means that even though you may be in the clear, and no one will ever find out what grave..Sin, shall we say, you have commited, it will continue to haunt you.

From the perspective of one who has been convinced (probably of their own views, not as a cult way) to live for themselves, to indulge for themselves of the world, and to pay others no care. He knows he's going to have to die one day, so he may be considered subject to judgment, but sinning is worth the experience, he'll remember his pleasures in hell.

I know that this isn't what they meant, but this fits so perfectly with how I felt when I left my last job.

"You can rattle off your talk. All that matters is what I see." They were always promising me a promotion and raise, but in the 5 years I worked there, I never once saw it.

"Oh it took me a long time to come to this" It took me a very long time to get the nerve and just quit. I hated going to work every day knowing that I was busting my butt for a company that didn't even attempt to show me that it was grateful for all my hard work.

"When I walk out of here I know I’ll stand clear, but the taste in my mouth still remains" I knew that when I left I would be better off and I would be rid of that company forever, but the resentment would stick with me for a long time afterward.

I think this song is about the devil because of these lyrics:

"If you break me down Selfish desire is all you blame Cause desperate times Call for desperate measures And I am not ashamed Oh it took me a long time to come to this And I have chosen my path I am only for me All my dreams are so closed If I open them to you You can count them all as lies You can believe me or you can believe the truth But I could let you in Put your feelings on the shelf There's only room cause it helps myself "

And also because he said "I took a cane from a blind man" and "I tasted the fruit in the garden of Eden" And also because in the Bible after Adam and Eve tasted the fruit in the Garden of Eden them and Satan (who was a snake at the time) were banished from the garden:

"And I've tasted the fruit in the garden of Eden When I walk out of here I know I'll stand clear But the taste in my mouth still remains Still remains"

That's just my take on it. Everyone has their own opinion.

To me, this is about "coming out" with a Naturalistic worldview. This may have to do with Christopher Hitchens's recent death, or the crazy fundamentalist revival in The States, but it fits. He says that "all that matters is what I see". All his detractors can "rattle off [their] talk," but it isn't going to change his mind. "If [they] break [him] down", all they can fault him with is a "selfish desire", because they have nothing else with which to criticize him. Hence "desperate times call for desperate measures" and "I am not ashamed [of who I am]." "It took me a long time [...] and I have chosen my path." He needs "them" to come to terms with it. The revelations he's undergone will be seen by believers as lies, if he tries to explain them to the believers, so he (sarcastically?) tells them they can go back to their "truth". He says "[he] could let [the believers] in", but they would need to set their feelings aside and look at it from a reasoning standpoint. "[He] only listens [to reason, to the spokespeople of atheism, agnostics, etc.]" because it helps his own peace of mind, not because it would actually "convert" anyone away from religion (he knows it wouldn't help break them away). "I took a cane from a blind man" can refer to the usual radical atheist (thank Douglas Adams for that one) practice of trying to remove the crutch of belief from someone who can't see their life without it (blind) and doesn't see the world for what it is. "And I've tasted the fruit in the Garden of Eden" can refer to the fact that he's gained knowledge that cannot ever allow him back into the Garden. He's seen the world in a much grander light, and can no longer believe. "When I walk out of here, I know I'll stand clear": after arguing with this person, he'll keep his mouth shut... "But the taste in my mouth still remains" but that doesn't mean the believer has won; he still has this "bad taste" from the former belief and though he may not complain directly, he can't ever go back to the way things were.