Matthew Good Band – Load Me Up

Picture yourself
Sleeping on a plane
There's something ticking in the overhead
And inside your brains
There's bodies in the water
And bodies in your basement
If heaven's for clean people, it's vacant

And hey, are you, are you, are you, are you, you know?
Hey, are you, are you, are you being careful?
Hey, are you, are you, are you, are you lukewarm?
Hey, yeah, you are

I'm frantic
So load me up
Whatever puts me all the way out
Whatever puts me all the way out

Picture yourself swimming in an ocean
A million miles from nowhere and the nearest phone
There's bodies in the water
Floating all around you
And all of them are talking, and they're comedians

And hey, are you, are you, are you, are you, you know?
Hey, are you, are you, are you, are you special?
Hey, are you, are you, are you, are you deformed?
Hey, yeah, you are

I'm frantic
So load me up
It seems so practiced
Me fucking this up
Whatever puts me all the way out
Whatever puts me all the way out, yeah

Picture yourself at the MGM grand
Murphy's fighting Hokem
You're in the stands and
There's somebody in the water
In the middle of the ocean
A million miles from nowhere
And they're alone
I'm there alone
So, so deformed
So, so deformed
So, so deformed

I'm frantic
So load me up
This seems so practiced
Take me and take me, and take me
All the way out
Whatever puts me all the way out
Whatever puts me all the way out
Whatever puts me all the way out


Lyrics submitted by Little Butcher Boy, edited by FirstNorman

"Load Me Up" as written by Ian Browne Dave Genn

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

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Load Me Up song meanings
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26 Comments

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  • +2
    General CommentPretty sure people are right-on with the paranoia/anxiety themes.

    He kinda lays it out in the first few lines:

    "Picture yourself
    sleeping on a plane
    there's something ticking in the overhead
    and inside your brains"

    He's referring, it seems, to paranoia of danger and things going wrong and how it's built up inside our own heads, especially for those of us with anxiety disorders.

    Again, as someone pointed out, he mentions a battle of "Murphey vs. Occam" [which is misspelled in these lyrics. It's spelled either Occam or Ockham]. This is certainly referring to Murphey's Laws, the most famous of which being "whatever can go wrong, will go wrong" (paraphrased) and Occam's Razor which states that when all options are equal the simplest explanation tends to be the correct one.

    If you think about it, or if you know anyone with an anxiety disorder, this is the battle that's raging inside their heads all the time. These people are constantly worrying that everything will go wrong and have to calm their thoughts with the logic of what is most likely to actually happen.

    I agree "load me up" might refer to drugs. Another idea I have is that it may refer to one's surroundings (like the media) constantly feeding the paranoia.
    Imion June 14, 2010   Link
  • +1
    General CommentI think this song is about realizing that everyone is evil in certain ways (there's bodies in your basement, if heaven's for clean people it's vacant).
    And I should also mention that while the band left, Matt Good is now solo and still going strong.
    OrangeSteamboaton June 17, 2002   Link
  • +1
    General CommentAcrually if you read the lyrics, it sounds like he was in a plain crash, and he survived but he's trapped in the middle of the ocean. And he slowly dies and he thinks about how fucked society is
    Binskon July 20, 2002   Link
  • +1
    General CommentThis is not so much to do with the lyrics of the song as much as the video. I heard that Matt Good suffers from panic attacks, so it comes to mind whenever I watch the video. He is being chased and he ends up alone because the rest of the band is attacked by disgruntled institutionalized teenagers (which could probably have some symbolism in itself). So he's all frantic, running away, by himself and realizes the only way to stop this panic is to give in and run into the persuing kids and let them rip him to shreds. "what ever puts me all the way out", to get away from all of the danger that is around every corner.

    About the lyrics though. Every piece of imagery used, "picture yourself..." begins very calm and pleasant but then changes to something dangerous (not to mention very unlikely). I feel that way a lot. Taking a simple situation and overanalysing it, calculating the worst possible scenerio... "it seems so practiced, me fucking this up", again assuming the worst in every situation, paranoid that you will fuck anything up, because it seems to always end up that way.

    I think that this song is for anybody who thinks too much.

    "load me up" could very well be with drugs of whatever form, sleeping pills makes sense. From the video though, I kind of saw it as facing the thoughts head on by building up your energy enough to jump into the situation. But that's a bit obscure...I suppose.
    CÆTon November 14, 2004   Link
  • +1
    General Commenta little note. i just caught this yesterday. in the third verse matt actually sings "murphy's fighting occam", a reference to murphy's law (if anything can go wrong it will) and occam's razor (if all else is equal the simpler of two explanations for something will be the truer). i'm not sure if this has any deep significance, but it's a funny thought, at least. i mean, well, i'd go watch them fight.
    idyllwildon February 10, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General CommentThis is a cool song, it's my favourite by MGB. Matt Good is cool. One of my teachers actually looks like him. Anyways, I hope they haven't really broken up. Notice how their new CD price has gone up!
    walking-catastropheon April 30, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Commentthey did break up...
    *cries like a baby
    sumoon May 12, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Commentgreat song one of matt good's better songs, i dont really know what its about anybody wanna help? it sucks they broke up i just started to get into them ... damn me
    LiveUrLifeon May 24, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Commentapparently, says the band I believe, Load me up is about sleeping pills and all that stuff.
    TypewriterMonkeyon June 20, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General CommentIn this song Matt seems to think that he's isolated from the rest of society,"a million miles from nowhere.." and because of this isolation he feels "frantic," and "so, so deformed." To combat this feeling of isolation he turns to drugs "load me up," and "Whatever puts me all the way out." thats what I think anyway.
    blenderon August 22, 2002   Link

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