Don't Talk To Strangers

Its about overprotectivle parents, and how stupid that is. "Don`t talk to strangers cause their only there to do you harm" well how are you gonna get to know other people? "Don't dance in darkness You may stumble and you're sure to fall" thats typical parent stuff. its ment to make parents see that their kids should be put in the real world, and not be afraid of everything. :D

I think the general meaning of this song is not, be anti social and a recluse, but to stay away from the illusions in life that fool you into destructive behaviors. There are many things that bring instant temporary gratification, but only leave you to suffer, in microeconomic terms, the opportunity costs.

When you have that bag of horribly processed bag of Doritos, jack off, then call it a night and go to bed instead of working towards a healthier life style by working out or doing some meditating, you bit the dust.

You might think that the first choice was the one that brought the greatest satisfaction, but it was much more temporary than the latter choice and it will also bring suffering both mentally and physically.

This is especially true when it comes to the biggest deficits that one has in their life. Everyone has their short comings, and these conflicts are difficult to resolve as there was something to cause this in the first place.

The song is filled with internal conflict and to me, the solo greatly reflects that. It represents to me the battle against the shadow within in my subconscious mind.

I always got the impression that it was supposed to be satan or a demon talking, telling a person to block out everything but themself, taking over the person's soul by convincing them to seal it off to everyone else

so basically, satan trying to take someone's soul by sealing it off from Good

Don't talk to strangers, don't trust a living thing, don't make any wishes, and for the love of all that is unholy, do NOT embark on any kind of soul-searching journey... That, to me, is what this song is about... I can't help but feel like there's just a touch of sarcasm to this song, though... But it's probably just me.

Basically, you should not try to do anything at all... Yes, leave everything the fuck alone.

I just felt like I had to add that part. :P

it sounds to me like an abusive father forcing his way of thinking on his son.he tells him the things that hurt him(heaven=god;flowers=beauty;and of course women) are all bad. the boy, not understanding,sees the things his father rages about differently. "dont ride in starlight" dont be happy, "dont hide in doorways..." he hears things standing at his fathers door that hurts him, and "dont dream of women..." is pretty straight forward.his father is abusive because he "hears" him telling him that "im the stranger"he tells him that "im darkness, im anger, im pain". "im master, the evil song you sing inside your brain" is the boys hateful thoughts about his father. i accept no other explanation.

Wow I can't believe no one has said anything about this song! It's one of Dio's greatest. This is a very dark song, but very beautiful. Don't trust anyone. Wow... I'd like to know who was thinking what when this song was written, cuz man it's dark.

Someone else mentioned sarcasm, but wasn't as confident as they should have been when sharing this factor. This song uses the word "Don't" a lot. Let us count the ways: Don't (1) talk to strangers (2) write in starlight (3) stand in doorways (4) dream of women (5) smell flowers. All of these 5 subjects are essentially neutral, but can be positive or negative depending on the situation. They can lead to your downfall, or they can lead to happiness. These are our desires, or a romantic way of actualizing/visualizing your goal (writing in starlight.. something most civillized humans wouldn't do, as what does it accomplish?) You won't write in starlight unless you are truly serious, devoted, trill, legit, etc about your goal. So what do we do? Live in a state of paralysis and fear.. afraid to do anything to talk to anyone, everyone is now a stranger, no girls, emptiness loneliness.. or .. the contrary, actually live and enjoy it. Yes, Dio is quite facescious in this song. Btw, I notice a lot of people confused over Dio lyrics. If they were easy to figure out, then what fun would that be? Sometimes songs have a personal, individual interpretation aswell, that only the listener feels .. ---Law of the Trap

the other feeling i got from it was that he was giving advice to someone to block out evil, and then when the tempo picks up it is the 'stranger', or satan talking

basically the ongoing struggle inside a person to resist evil, even though it is so tempting

In my view, Aegipan got it right. This song is obviously about how we try to avoid the things in life that cause us pain, but as a result forgo that which makes life worth living.

The "don't"s vary from the apparently reasonable, "Don't talk to strangers". to the absurd, "Don't smell the flowers". These, however, are presented with equal seriousness in the song to show us how far we already have fell into the trap of Stranger Danger and the like, living in a world where men exist only to molest children and women to break the hearts of men.

The change of perspective in the song only further underlines that. While the narrator does not try to deny that he is "danger" he adds that "I'm forever the one that lets you look and see". The key that opens up the soul, so to speak, as the joys of life go hand in hand with the darker side.

The repeated allusions to insanity, however, do suggest the bipolar interpretation suggested by The Oracle, but to me the other seems more convincing.