Childbirth tears upon her muscle
Very first second a screaming icon
Babies in time barely even recognise
Words that once stroked now bruising tired lips

My idea of love comes from
A childhood glimpse of pornography
Though there is no true love
Just a finely tuned jealousy
Life becoming a landslide
Ice freezing nature dead
Life becoming a landslide
I don't want to be a man

Everyday more numb to agony
This the howl this the sigh of the lonely
One day I realize oil on canvas
Can never paint a petal so so delicate

My idea of love comes from
A childhood glimpse of pornography
Though there is no true love
Just a finely tuned jealousy
Life becoming a landslide
Ice freezing nature dead
Life becoming a landslide
I don't want to be a man

My idea of love comes from
A childhood glimpse of pornography
Though there is no true love
Just a finely tuned jealousy
Life becoming a landslide
A mile empty inside
Life becoming a landslide
Desire on its knees
Life becoming a landslide
A mile empty inside
Life becoming a landslide
Desire on its knees


Lyrics submitted by ShiverForMe

Life Becoming a Landslide Lyrics as written by Edwards Bradfield

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

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Life Becoming A Landslide song meanings
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6 Comments

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  • +3
    General Comment

    I think when he says 'I don't wanna be a man' he means man as in adult, that he wants to stay a child, rather than he wants to be a woman. Which some might see as a possibility.

    manic4manicson November 18, 2012   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    Yeah, I agree with lots of what was said above. In fact the 'childhood glimpse of pornography' is autobiographical,- Richey had to run outside to be sick after being shown a porn mag by friend.

    The lines are 'there is no true love/just a finely-tuned jealousy' and 'desire on its knees' are strongly linked and give the song a lot of its meaning. Richey had a Buddhist-like wish to shed himself of desire, believing that without desire he would be strong (and, of course, he sadly failed). Similarly, he believed that not falling in love kept him strong (and he may well have been capable of this). He agreed with Marxist thought that being half of a couple weakened you, made you dependent. Dependent on restraining your own biological urge, and dependent on someone else when everyone else is a potential betrayer. It makes you easily controllable by the state; domesticated, with responsibilities, and feeble.

    jeffjeffjeffon November 09, 2005   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    This song needs more love. I think the above comments pretty much sum it up though. I love the line "My idea of love comes from / a childhood glimpse of pornography." Totally encapsulates how difficult it is these days for people to connect. We should be ashamed.

    Wallamanageon January 27, 2010   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Childbirth tears upon her muscle Very first second a screaming icon Babies in time barely even recognise Words that once stroked now bruising tired lips

    It’s just a few moments that babies get to experience the bliss of being an infant. They soon are forced to learn lips where only loving and comforting words come can also be used to say many hurtful things. And the older they grow, the more they perceive that such lips function more as a tool to harm than to show love.

    My idea of love comes from A childhood glimpse of pornography Though there is no true love Just a finely tuned jealousy Life becoming a landslide Ice freezing nature dead Life becoming a landslide I don't want to be a man

    He grows and forms ideas on the images of love, but like the pornography picture he had seen as a child, he is becoming convinced that there is no such thing as true love, just people engaging in shallow meaningless sex and becoming possessive of the people they are mating with. His warm childhood outlook on life gets colder as he ages, so he says he doesn’t want to become an adult.

    Everyday more numb to agony This the howl this the sigh of the lonely One day I realize oil on canvas Can never paint a petal so so delicate.

    As he grows older, the pain turns him numb, his defence mechanism making him resilient and hard-hearted. He is becoming cold towards the world and the people around him, when deep down he is just really lonely inside. He reaches the state where he feels that there is no way even the most skilled artist could portray the true agony of one who is broken inside.

    Life becoming a landslide Desire on its knees Life becoming a landslide A mile empty inside Life becoming a landslide Desire on its knees

    With more problems piling up each day, there is no escaping the feeling that he older one grows, the more life feels like it gets caught in a landslide. And all these desires to do morally bad things, desires to be successful, etc. are increasing the burden of growing up while succumbing to these desires make one feel more and more empty inside. It’s a downhill ride since one reaches adulthood, there is no contentment, just desires that can never be fulfilled. So life becomes a landslide.

    RemiHrahselon April 30, 2022   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    "It comes from the idea that the first thing a baby does is shriek at the horror of it all. And as when you get to adolescence, the rewards of being older don't really give you any satisfaction whether it's getting a car or a fuck or a CD player. It's also about the fact that, if you go into newsagents and see pornography on the shelfs at an early age, it becomes very difficult to reconceal that with the idea of 'love' that you're presented with later. I think we're romantic people in some ways, but when it comes to relationships it's not a question of 'Can you trust another human being?', so much as a question of trusting yourself. The animalistic nature of man seems to mean that you're bound to find another people physically attractive. And there's something dishonest about shutting those feelings off - it seems puritanical to deny yourself that. The idea of sin is still so widely pervading."

    I love the harmonies on this song, that choruc could move countries!

    fourgangeron November 14, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I suppose, the line "I don't wanna be a man" means he doesn't want to be a human being with all these things that bring him down and wear him out in everyday's life; it's like he really is disappointed in being human and he's in despair. Guess, everyone can relate to this at some point of their lives, huh?

    IL91on November 01, 2013   Link

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