I don't want to spend the rest of my life
Starin' at a man, Looking down a line
What's he say? ot my style?
Just a stylized version of an obsolete file

I don't want to spend the rest of my time
Lookin' for the words I'm never going to find
You read them in a book and apply them to your life
But how can I be as pretty as she writes?

I know I'm all right. Because
The needle can't burn what the needle can't find

She don't want to spend the rest of her heart
Waste it on a job, and never get a start
Part of her says she should be herself
And part of her says she should be with someone else

I don't want to spend the rest of my life
Looking for a girl I'm never gonna find.
Starin' back at me when I come home at night
But how can she be as pretty as I write?

It will be hard, but I know I'm all right,
Because the needle can't burn
What the needle can't find
And the money won't save what the money
Can't buy

And part of me is safe
And part of me is lies
So be mine tonight.


Lyrics submitted by black_cow_of_death

Needle Can't Burn (What the Needle Can't Find) Lyrics as written by Jason Ross

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management

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Needle Can't Burn (What the Needle Can't Find) song meanings
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6 Comments

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  • +1
    General Comment

    damn im so dissapointed to see basically NO COMMENTS on seven mary three songs =( they are easily the most under rated band of the 90s im telling you people if your into 90s you will love this band go buy american standard... this one isnt off that album but its my personal fav from 7m3

    SmashingPumpkins500on June 21, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    This is my all-time favorite Seven Mary Three song. I cannot even begin to express how this song effects me. I know it's all up to the listener's interpretation, but what do you all think it means?

    pointclickkillon June 26, 2003   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    i dont really know, but seeing as how no one else will comment on the song ill give it a go...

    i think the song is about not wanting to live the average life. dont want to waste your life serving "the man" who doesnt give a crap about you.

    thats just my take... more people need to comment on 7m3 songs.

    PearlJamRuleson July 16, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I think he's singing of the life/woman of his dreams in an ideal sense. He doesn't want to settle for mediocrity but he also realizes his expectations aren't reality and could never happen how he imagines it. In his own hypcocrisy he cannot reconcile the two.

    I don't understand the 'needle' aspect though, which would seem to be large part of the interpretation.

    Shanneff22on January 03, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    i think 'needle can't burn what the needle can't find' is referring to not being able to be hurt by love if you never find love.

    mkt314on May 05, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I think I can give you some insight into the needle maybe and this may tie it together for you. I feel the song is about suppression. I think the narrative in the song is a woman who is starting to see her, thought to be, idea world as a surpassed one and she has allowed it.
    The first verse talks about being suppressed by her husband. The lines, "what’s he say? “Not my style” Just a stylized version of an obsolete file," refers to his taste as what the couple accepts. She, being his partner, has been submissive to these things, such as the house he wanted or to be friends with the people he wanted to be friends with. The second verse gets into to the submission of her thoughts. I think that there is a reference to the self help crazy that has happen over the last 10 years in the book industry and the thought that this has suppressed the individual's own thoughts process when it comes to working out our problems for yourself. The third verse is referencing her job and maybe the fact that she wanted to be her own boss or open her own business. But because of the security of money, she hasn't. The last verse is about wanted children. For whatever reason she hasn't. The last line in the verse, " but how can she be as pretty as I write?" Could refer to a journal or diary that she has kept and recorded her thoughts in.
    There are some lines attached to the chorus at the end that allude to the fact she has realized that what she has stride for wouldn't help her heart and isn't her true self. Now the line, "Because the needle can’t burn what the needle can’t find." I think refers to female genital mutilation (FGM) and female genital cutting (FGC). The purpose of it is to reduce the female's sexual drive, therefore suppressing her natural human behavior. The WHO, not the band, but the World Health Organization has classified four types of FGM. The fourth, which is the only one that doesn't involve partial or total removal of the clitoris type, is done by pricking the clitoris with needles, burning or scarring the genitals as well as ripping or tearing of the vagina or introducing herbs into the vagina to cause bleeding and a narrowed vaginal opening.
    So if the needle can't find the clitoris then of course the sex drive cannot be suppressed and the female can be herself.

    phittyon June 04, 2008   Link

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