Slave To The Wage

Placebo

Run away from all your boredom
Run away from all your whoredom and wave
Your worries, and cares, goodbye
All it takes is one decision
A lot of guts, a little vision to wave
Your worries, and cares goodbye

It's a maze for rats to try [Repeat: x2]
It's a race, a race for rats
A race for rats to die
It's a race, a race for rats
A race for rats to die

Sick and tired of Maggie's farm
She's a bitch, with broken arms to wave
Your worries, and cares, goodbye

It's a maze for rats to try [Repeat: x2]
It's a race, a race for rats
A race for rats to die
It's a race, a race for rats
A race for rats to die [Repeat: x3]
Burn away
Run away [Repeat: x2]


Lyrics submitted by Ice

Slave to the Wage Lyrics as written by Stefan Olsdal Brian Molko

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., WORDS & MUSIC A DIV OF BIG DEAL MUSIC LLC

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Slave To The Wage song meanings
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19 Comments

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  • +5
    General Commenti disagree, it seems clear to me that its a simple song about how people are trapped like rats in their everyday lives, "slave to the wage" means that and rats are a common representation of poitless and borring lives, like lab rats-they are bred to live in cages and die for no good reason.
    joeytheboyon May 07, 2003   Link
  • +2
    General CommentCan I just add that the maggie's farm comment could be a reference to the Bob Dylan song called that which is along the same lines.
    flamingbeanon January 08, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General CommentIt seems to me someones stuck in a path that they dont want to be on, and if they try to get away they keep getting stuck in something else. Theyre sick of what theyre doing and every time they try to leave it they get lost..but im not sure
    mistakexxon April 21, 2003   Link
  • +1
    General CommentThis song is about the monotony of the daily grind (the "Rat Races") and how people should break away from it and kiss their "worries and cares goodbye".
    As mentioned, Bob Dylan wrote a song called "Maggie's Farm" which is along the same lines ("I ain't gonna work on Maggie's farm no more"). Suggesting Placebo drew from this song for the idea for this one.
    Souljacker87on June 02, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General CommentI guess this song is about how people can get tangled up in their lives. Stuck with their jobs. Doing every day the same thing. Beautiful song.
    Boreqon March 05, 2010   Link
  • +1
    My InterpretationEven though the answer to the problem of the song is helpful (Wave worries goodbye) the song is a cautionary tale because it emphasizes what will happen if you don't take responsibility for your own happiness: You are just a rat in a race to die = you will work your ass off and time will fly until you die.
    StoriesinSongs.comon January 16, 2020   Link
  • 0
    General Commentyeah. I also think it's a song about love and how it's a maze for rats to try, but also a race for rats to die. Life is just a race to your death indeed, so the best thing to do is have some fun (run away from all your boredom). The whoredom is about selling yourself (by working) and the alienation that can come with going to work. If you think about life that way, it's easier to relativate your problems and wave them goodbye. End of the story?
    Pinoon April 13, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General CommentMay I correct myself .. obviously, I didn't mean to write "love" in the first sentence.. instead: it's a song about life .. but I think the clever reader already figured that out.
    Pinoon April 14, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General CommentStuck in a dead end job, but he's telling you that all you have to do is make a choice and go for it to get out. The video for this song visually supports that as well, as the woman in the office leaves in a rocket.

    Molko actually had a job shredding paper for a firm, but was fired after a day when he tried to shred other thigns and eventually broke the thing by shoving a ruler down it. It's a song that needed to be written really, for everyone whos job makes them want to kill themselves
    Deadcjunkieon December 23, 2004   Link
  • 0
    General CommentI believe that the message is essentially a positive one. To make an initial choice leads to further choices that can change the course of one's life. He states the negatives in chasing money and how it can drain the life out of you so much that all you become is routine. To realise this, it will allow you to make the choice to "run away" from it.
    ming mingon January 05, 2005   Link

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