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"
What's up with what's going down
In every city, in every town
Cramping styles is the plan
They've got us in the palm of every hand
When we pretend that we're dead
When we pretend that we're dead
They can't hear a word we've said
When we pretend that we're dead
Come on, come on, come on, come on
Come on, come on, come on, come on
Come on, come on, come on, come on
Come on, come on, come on come on
Turn the tables with our unity
They neither moral nor majority
Wake up and smell the coffee
Or just say no to individuality
When we pretend that we're dead (pretend that we're dead)
When we pretend that we're dead (pretend that we're dead)
They can't hear a word we've said (pretend that we're dead)
When we pretend that we're dead (pretend that we're dead)
Come on, come on, come on, come on
Come on, come on, come on, come on
Come on, come on, come on, come on
Come on, come on, come on come on
When we pretend that we're dead (pretend that we're dead)
When we pretend that we're dead (pretend that we're dead)
They can't hear a word we've said (pretend that we're dead)
When we pretend that we're dead (pretend that we're dead)
Come on, come on, come on, come on
Dead (pretend that we're dead)
Dead (come on, come on, come on, come on)
Dead (pretend that we're dead)
Dead (come on, come on, come on, come on)
Dead (pretend that we're dead)
Dead (come on, come on, come on, come on
Dead (pretend that we're dead)
Dead (come on, come on, come on, come on)
Dead (pretend that we're dead)
Dead (come on, come on, come on, come on)
Dead (pretend that we're dead)
Dead (come on, come on, come on, come on)
Dead (pretend that we're dead)
Dead (come on, come on, come on, come on)
Dead (pretend that we're dead)
In every city, in every town
Cramping styles is the plan
They've got us in the palm of every hand
When we pretend that we're dead
When we pretend that we're dead
They can't hear a word we've said
When we pretend that we're dead
Come on, come on, come on, come on
Come on, come on, come on, come on
Come on, come on, come on, come on
Come on, come on, come on come on
Turn the tables with our unity
They neither moral nor majority
Wake up and smell the coffee
Or just say no to individuality
When we pretend that we're dead (pretend that we're dead)
When we pretend that we're dead (pretend that we're dead)
They can't hear a word we've said (pretend that we're dead)
When we pretend that we're dead (pretend that we're dead)
Come on, come on, come on, come on
Come on, come on, come on, come on
Come on, come on, come on, come on
Come on, come on, come on come on
When we pretend that we're dead (pretend that we're dead)
When we pretend that we're dead (pretend that we're dead)
They can't hear a word we've said (pretend that we're dead)
When we pretend that we're dead (pretend that we're dead)
Come on, come on, come on, come on
Dead (pretend that we're dead)
Dead (come on, come on, come on, come on)
Dead (pretend that we're dead)
Dead (come on, come on, come on, come on)
Dead (pretend that we're dead)
Dead (come on, come on, come on, come on
Dead (pretend that we're dead)
Dead (come on, come on, come on, come on)
Dead (pretend that we're dead)
Dead (come on, come on, come on, come on)
Dead (pretend that we're dead)
Dead (come on, come on, come on, come on)
Dead (pretend that we're dead)
Dead (come on, come on, come on, come on)
Dead (pretend that we're dead)
Lyrics submitted by spliphstar
Pretend We're Dead Lyrics as written by Donita Sparks
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Blue
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
Simple. It's about laying back and conforming to bullshit you know is wrong. It's kind of a backwards sarcastic bitch-slap to people who just follow blindly and never question things or people that need to be questioned. A great, easy 4 chord punk/grunge song by a really cool band.
so ppl actually take the lyrics "pretend we're dead" letierally? why am i not surprised?
It is a great song, and it's definatley not about pretending to be dead, honestly you guys sound like Sage(DJ for Radio X on GTASA) trying to describe this song...
Wake up and smell the coffee Or just say no to individuality
well from the second lyric in that lilne, "say no to individuality" it's obvious,
pretend we're dead is a metaphor, for ppl who want to fit in so badly, they buy into all the coorperate and social standards, pretending they are the perfect image, pretending that their inner self is dead....
I think it's about young people not getting involved in social change and the community. "Prentend that we're dead" in this sense would mean doing nothing as opposed to taking a stand for what you believe in.
I think its about conforming, or just plain feelings of apathy. But in the end, its up to us which path to take.
someone isn't quite the L7 fan lol Here's the correct Lyrics.
Pretend We’re Dead Lyrics: What’s up with what’s going down In every city, in every town Cramping styles is the plan They’ve got us in the palm of every hand
When we pretend that we’re dead When we pretend that we’re dead They can’t hear a word we’ve said When we pretend that we’re dead
Turn the tables with our unity They neither moral nor majority Wake up and smell the coffee Or just say no to individuality
When we pretend that we’re dead When we pretend that we’re dead They can’t hear a word we’ve said When we pretend that we’re dead
Come on, come on, come on come on
When we pretend that we’re dead When we pretend that we’re dead They can’t hear a word we’ve said When we pretend that we’re dead
I think Trashazon hit the mark on this one.
ginger snaps rocks lol
Another anti-conformity song. I like it, but the message is disappointingly typical.
i think its when you pull out an smg, and you shoot down some fool thrashin your newly stolen ride.......lmao...something about non conformism...play grand theft auto san andreas...trust me(about the 1st meaning)
-anti-conformity ... not standing by/standing up for what the things you like/believe in, & just going along with the crowd, not expressing the part of yourself that dosen't fit in with the crowd.
-that's what i got