Okay,
As i sit here with my computer speakers literally turned all the way up to blast this awesome 'Tallica masterpiece at 12:30 at night, let me start by saying that this is easily my favorite Metallica song and album (REload). Great song, great album. The lyrics are of a rare sort, the kind that send chills down your spine whenever you listen to it. The_Promise on 09-22-2006 wrote an excellent review on this song, in my opinion. Yes, its obvious its about a kid who has had a very troubled childhood, what with all sorts of things being forced upon him that he wanted no part of, i.e. religion. The kid was never religious because of bad things he believes God has inflicted upon him, therefore he believes God is responsible for all the pain he has been caused through childhood and into his adult years. So his belief is "you caused all this trauma and bullshit in my life, why should i believe you would suddenly just turn around and make it all better?" Hmmm. I think i see his point, if that be the case. Dont get me wrong, I believe in God and heaven above, but we're all entitled to our own beliefs, ideals, and opinions. The kid, now an adult at the time of the song being sung, suddenly believes that God is the only one who can heal all the bad shit in his life. He is speaking directly to God in the chorus and saying "i want to believe in You, can you help me make it all better and help me begin life anew?" But it seems that at the end of the chorus, (just when all seems fine and im pain free, you jab another pin, jab another pin in me) once everything starts looking up for him, God shovels more shit on him, as if He is lying to the man and saying, "yes, I want to help you, but first let me give you more bullshit to deal with." Sharpening the pins seems to refer to God making the consequences of the man's actions worse each time he does something. Or thats what it sounds like to me.
"And in time the needles turn from shine to rust" sounds like once you sin, you are reminded of your sins for the rest of your life until you repent, however long that may take. Obviously, if the pins in the voodoo doll have since turned to rust, he has not repented or otherwise been relieved of the burden of his sins. Now the "shell of shotgun, pint of gin, numb us up to shield the pins" part, I was only half sure on. The shell of shotgun part is kinda what got me. It could be a representation of the man turning to violence and/or murder because he no longer believes in God or religion, therefore God no longer looks upon him or cares what he does, so he figures he'll start sinning majorly just for the hell of it. I also think it could be he just cant take it anymore, so maybe he's contemplating suicide. The pint of gin thing is a little more obvious: he's drinking to forget it all. As you all know, sometimes when theres alcohol involved and theres abunch of shit in your life you dont want to deal with, you tend to shut out the bad shit and just focus on the good. Not that I condone alcoholism and firearms, or both at the same time, but that is my opinion on this particular section of the song. he also thinks, if this makes sense, that doing these two things will help him realize that he needs religion in his life to guide him down the path of truth. At the end, the "no more pins in me, no more" thing is him having an uprising against God and His punishments. He's saying "please dont punish me anymore, I'll be good, I swear."
This concludes my view on Fixxxer by Metallica. My favorite song ever by these guys. If I heard them play this song in concert, I could die happy.
Okay, As i sit here with my computer speakers literally turned all the way up to blast this awesome 'Tallica masterpiece at 12:30 at night, let me start by saying that this is easily my favorite Metallica song and album (REload). Great song, great album. The lyrics are of a rare sort, the kind that send chills down your spine whenever you listen to it. The_Promise on 09-22-2006 wrote an excellent review on this song, in my opinion. Yes, its obvious its about a kid who has had a very troubled childhood, what with all sorts of things being forced upon him that he wanted no part of, i.e. religion. The kid was never religious because of bad things he believes God has inflicted upon him, therefore he believes God is responsible for all the pain he has been caused through childhood and into his adult years. So his belief is "you caused all this trauma and bullshit in my life, why should i believe you would suddenly just turn around and make it all better?" Hmmm. I think i see his point, if that be the case. Dont get me wrong, I believe in God and heaven above, but we're all entitled to our own beliefs, ideals, and opinions. The kid, now an adult at the time of the song being sung, suddenly believes that God is the only one who can heal all the bad shit in his life. He is speaking directly to God in the chorus and saying "i want to believe in You, can you help me make it all better and help me begin life anew?" But it seems that at the end of the chorus, (just when all seems fine and im pain free, you jab another pin, jab another pin in me) once everything starts looking up for him, God shovels more shit on him, as if He is lying to the man and saying, "yes, I want to help you, but first let me give you more bullshit to deal with." Sharpening the pins seems to refer to God making the consequences of the man's actions worse each time he does something. Or thats what it sounds like to me. "And in time the needles turn from shine to rust" sounds like once you sin, you are reminded of your sins for the rest of your life until you repent, however long that may take. Obviously, if the pins in the voodoo doll have since turned to rust, he has not repented or otherwise been relieved of the burden of his sins. Now the "shell of shotgun, pint of gin, numb us up to shield the pins" part, I was only half sure on. The shell of shotgun part is kinda what got me. It could be a representation of the man turning to violence and/or murder because he no longer believes in God or religion, therefore God no longer looks upon him or cares what he does, so he figures he'll start sinning majorly just for the hell of it. I also think it could be he just cant take it anymore, so maybe he's contemplating suicide. The pint of gin thing is a little more obvious: he's drinking to forget it all. As you all know, sometimes when theres alcohol involved and theres abunch of shit in your life you dont want to deal with, you tend to shut out the bad shit and just focus on the good. Not that I condone alcoholism and firearms, or both at the same time, but that is my opinion on this particular section of the song. he also thinks, if this makes sense, that doing these two things will help him realize that he needs religion in his life to guide him down the path of truth. At the end, the "no more pins in me, no more" thing is him having an uprising against God and His punishments. He's saying "please dont punish me anymore, I'll be good, I swear."
This concludes my view on Fixxxer by Metallica. My favorite song ever by these guys. If I heard them play this song in concert, I could die happy.