Satisfy

Imo, this is about the feeling of unfairness one - desperately in love - has. It's a feeling hard to understand, as the one he loves cannot be obliged to feel the same way about him. Nevertheless, he has a deep feeling of injustice, as though he is mistreated, because he cannot accept that his love is in vain. However, this is extreme: pleading for mercy he asks as a last thing to know if he should live (in hope that his love will eventually be requited) ...or get on with dying.

I'm not really sure though... I could be wrong.

Y\'all. This is ALL about Jerry talking to Layne. He\'s seeing Layne for what he really is: someone who is so talented, and who burns very brightly, but is really messed up, and so is taking down everyone around him, including Jerry. \n\nHe\'s seeing Layne\'s selfishness & self-centeredness more keenly as he spirals downward, wondering if Layne really ever thought of him as his friend, as they ran "a race of one" (meaning they were a very tight knit team creating all the songs for AIC)....or was he just a means to an end as he became "Layne the Legend." (remember, Layne was supposed to be in rehab, yet went and joined Mad Season, and didn\'t include or ask Jerry to join, which really pissed off Jerry, like a wayward girlfriend). \n\nEven though Layne saved Jerry from his "hard times as a refugee" he keeps "sidesteppin over me" always seeking his next fix, and in the process becomes more insular, turning his heart to stone, where he has no more life. And his drug-fueled antics were an embarrassment for Jerry & the rest of the band ("head hung high in shame")--he can\'t show publicly his true feelings about their situation. \n\nBut still, he loves Layne, and while he doesn\'t want him to die, he\'s sick & tired of his long drawn out slow suicide, so at the end of the song, he begs him to make a decision: choose to LIVE...or hurry up and die already. Because they\'re all going through torment waiting & watching. \n\nMANY of Jerry\'s songs reflect his thoughts and his anger toward Layne. Just the song titles alone give us all clues: Anger Rising, Psychotic Break, Hurt a long Time, Give it a Name, and Bargain Basement Howard Hughes and others, all reflect his not-very-hidden feelings about the most intense platonic relationship he probably ever had in his life. Everything about that time helped to shape who he is today. \n\nLayne Staley was an amazing human being, but he sucked everyone around him into his own black hole of self loathing, and left a long trail of pain and metaphorical blood behind him. I can\'t imagine the pain Jerry suffered, especially after losing his mother & grandmother...to lose the one other strong influence in his young life had to have been absolutely devastating.

First of all, you left out the last lyric. The last lyric is "or get on with dyin'." it is actually misprinted on the cd sleeve also. Listen and you can here it. Also, several of the lyrics come from the last narrative by Morgan Freeman in Shawshank Redemption at the end of the movie. Pretty cool fact.

I think it's just about being infatuated with someone, and the feelings aren't reciprocated. A very relatable feeling.

I think the refugee in question here is the author, trying to flee from the thoughts/feelings about this girl that crush him. Other than that I think the lyrics are fairly straightforward.

I agree with the comments before mine- maybe because I can relate. But lately I’ve been thinking a lot about Layne, and can’t help but tie this to him as well. Boggy depot came out in ‘98 do he was still alive but the heroine addiction was certainly prevalent. The opening lyrics about caging a bird to show your might... i guess I relate to that, too... like putting yourself theories by more shot to show your strength because you handle it.. even if in a maladaptive way. And then if you think of Layne as the refugee, he barred himself off and isolated himself in some sort of escape.. and didn’t let his closest friends in.. and it sounds like Jerry misses him.. “tell me once again, that you’d like to be my friend, while we run, a race of one (the band).” And Then the end is about seeing a friend in danger of death, and wanting them to choose life, because you miss them and you live them, but ultimately it is their choice... and if they are going to choose death to get it over with because it’s all so painful, this all-consuming fear in anticipation. So, I see it both in relation to Layne or a relationship. It all sort of blends in relation to my last relationship and the aftermath and fears, anyways.