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Failures Lyrics
Don't speak of safe messiahs
A failure of the modern man
To the centre of our life's desires
As a whole not an also ran
Love in a hollow field
Break the image of your father's son
Drawn to an inner feel
He was thought of as the only one
He was thought of as the only one
He no longer denies
All the failures of the modern man
No, no, no, he can't pick sides
Sees the failures of the modern man
Wise words and sympathy
Tell the story of our history
New strength gives a real touch
Sense and reason make it all too much
With a strange fatality
Broke the spirits of a lesser man
Some other race could see
In his way he was the only one
In his way he was the only one
He no longer denies
All the failures of the modern man
No, no, no, he can't pick sides
Sees the failures of the modern man
Now that it's right to decide
In his time he was a total man
Taken from Caesar's side
Kept in silence just to prove who's wrong
He no longer denies
All the failures of the modern man
No, no, no, he can't pick sides
Sees the failures of the modern man
All the failures of the modern man
A failure of the modern man
To the centre of our life's desires
As a whole not an also ran
Love in a hollow field
Break the image of your father's son
Drawn to an inner feel
He was thought of as the only one
He was thought of as the only one
All the failures of the modern man
No, no, no, he can't pick sides
Sees the failures of the modern man
Wise words and sympathy
Tell the story of our history
New strength gives a real touch
Sense and reason make it all too much
With a strange fatality
Broke the spirits of a lesser man
Some other race could see
In his way he was the only one
In his way he was the only one
All the failures of the modern man
No, no, no, he can't pick sides
Sees the failures of the modern man
Now that it's right to decide
In his time he was a total man
Taken from Caesar's side
Kept in silence just to prove who's wrong
He no longer denies
All the failures of the modern man
No, no, no, he can't pick sides
Sees the failures of the modern man
All the failures of the modern man
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
Yes I believe that it is about the failures of mankind. It could be about Jesus. Basically I think it's about humans being imperfect and it's something that can't be prevented. Everything we create destroys us.
Could it be that basically that men have made so many mistakes that they are considered failures in life? Anyway this is a great Warsaw-era song.
the lyrics are lost on me but the music, it is SO brilliant. Guitar-tastic.
reminds me of Interzone from Unknown Pleasures
joy division playing hardcore
To me it seems, just like if he would describe the impossibility for modern man to choose or to control his own life and to pick sides eventhough he sees that our way of living is full of failures but and he no longer denies it, but he still has to life that way
The song is from 1978, a time in which the left wing hope for revoultion was coming to an end. On the other end there were a lot of economic crises. So the modern capitalist and the communist promise of happieness was dead. These are the messiahs who are dead. The song reflects that realization. Because of the failure of all utopias there is no side picking. What remains now is to tell this history and find out what this "other race" is.