This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Every time you shake someone's hand and it feels like your best friend,
Could it be that it's only superficiality?,
Without regard to well-being, without an inkling of compromise,
Handshakes are nothing but a subtle "fuck you",
Contracts determine the best friendships
This is the way of the modern world, everyone's vying for patronage,
This is the way of the modern world, and something has gotta give
Every time you shake someone's hand,
And you share neither color or creed,
You gotta overcome the obstacles of history,
There is restrained passion, mistrust, and bigotry
And these have created the new foundations of society,
There's no harmony just class and race
This is the way of the modern world,
Everyone's fighting for dominance,
This is the way of the modern world,
And something has gotta give
Now I believe in unity, and I am willing to compromise,
But I'm not gonna lie or sell my soul
Every time you shake someone's hand,
It determines where you stand,
And if you won't uphold your side then it's better to
Fend for yourself, and shun the handshake,
Someone's gotta give
Could it be that it's only superficiality?,
Without regard to well-being, without an inkling of compromise,
Handshakes are nothing but a subtle "fuck you",
Contracts determine the best friendships
This is the way of the modern world, everyone's vying for patronage,
This is the way of the modern world, and something has gotta give
Every time you shake someone's hand,
And you share neither color or creed,
You gotta overcome the obstacles of history,
There is restrained passion, mistrust, and bigotry
And these have created the new foundations of society,
There's no harmony just class and race
This is the way of the modern world,
Everyone's fighting for dominance,
This is the way of the modern world,
And something has gotta give
Now I believe in unity, and I am willing to compromise,
But I'm not gonna lie or sell my soul
Every time you shake someone's hand,
It determines where you stand,
And if you won't uphold your side then it's better to
Fend for yourself, and shun the handshake,
Someone's gotta give
Lyrics submitted by punk_in_drublic99
The Handshake Lyrics as written by Greg Graffin
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I think it's about false friendships and niceties built upon a contract (handshake) that can't and should't govern such things.
Brothers don't shake hands, brothers gotta hug!
no. its about the adult world of cynical patronage and everyones just looking for thier own way up. get to who they need to know, for their own ascent.
the part about not lying and selling your soul is great. b/c.. its basically portraying the general working class christian buiseness man or what not.
just like yea... Ima be selfish and reckless and ignorant.. but then again... Im morally centered.. and have christian values... and... its basically just portraying the stereotypical morally centered christian man of the status quo. contributing to all these horrible things but when scrutinized, maintains constant stubborn conservative or christian moral values...
its not difficult to see
its irony or sarcasm. and the fend for your self part.. people get all vivacious and supportive when that part plays, but its irony or sarcasm. cuz thats just the general outlook of everybody. everyman for himself out here in the jungle. justified... nobody's willing to help anybody else because their scrounging for themselves.. and yea... someones gotta give..
Hahahaha @ BobbyBouche
To me this song means watch out for youself, don't sell your soul, watch out for shady motherfuckers.
This song is one of my favorites, it's about how false and full of mendacity the handshake is. Fuck handshakes, give someone a hug...
If you accept a handshake, you are supporting, accepting, or allowing a shallow, purely capitalistic relationship with someone. The handshake does not symbolize anything other than a deal being made.
A song about a handshake may seem trivial, but Bad Religion is a punk band. Don't ignore things. Pay attention to what's going on around you so you can fight things like this. This is why I love punk rock. These artists think like me, so I get more things for my free mind to question.
Nice Tommy Boy reference, Bobby Bouche. I really always thought this song was dumb. I just don't really think that the lyrics are very strong.
this song is great musically, i think - it has good moments. the lyrics, arent as good as some other BR songs, but they are alright.
I disagree, really, that the lyrics are sub pair. There is a lot of truth in these lyrics, I like them a lot. But there is not much to say about interpretation, it is pretty clear what it is about.
"without regard to well-being, without an inkling of compromise" - I think those lyrics run pretty true. It's a good song, and about time a band wrote about something like this. Shun the handshake!!