The shadow on the wall line isn't referring to Judas hanging himself, per se. Your "shadow on the wall" is an allegorical way of saying that you can't hide from what you've done, or who you are... your guilt/your past follows you around, just as your shadow follows you around.
I don't think this song is specifically intended to be about government. I think it's written in a way which allows it to be interpreted differently by different people. Bob Dylan always talked about writing his songs to be open for interpretation, that he didn't "mean" anything by his lyrics (although we can be sure he did, he just preferred to leave interpretation to the listener). I think that's what they've done here as well. In fact, that quality seems to me to be the most artistic way to write lyrics.
I like to think the references to money aren't necessarily literal. "Money" could stand for whatever goal you had in mind when you decided to act as you did. "Money" is the reward, and although it could be literal if you so interpret it, it doesn't have to be. "But at least you made some money" could easily be "But at least you got what you wanted." This idea is similar to "you had to kill to gain control again" -- this could be interpreted to be saying "you had to destroy [something] to gain control again." It doesn't have to mean you actually killed someone, ya know?
In any case, the simple fact that we're discussing it and people are coming up with their own interpretations means the lyrics are intelligently and artistically written. Go read the lyrics to a Lady Gaga song and see if you can say the same...
WARNING: completely off topic
Lady Gaga's SongMeanings page: "I turned off my cell phone cause I'M IN THE CLUB!"
Song interpretation by fLyGuRl69: "some btch wuz prob givin a ho tha runround, so iTz lk btch get ya aZZ to tha CLUB n let dat sh*t go on tha danzflo lulz,,, newayz dats wut it ment to me n mah grlz PEACE"
I agree with what you said on the likely general meaning of this song and on the way that artists often allow listeners to bring their own meanings to the table. However, the reason I'm writing this comment isn't any of that, oddly enough: It's because that little quote from fLyGuRl69 (great - sorry, gr8 - name by the way) is just hilariously terrible, thank you for bringing it to my attention. Also, why the hell do people type like that? I find it extremely difficult; it takes me a lot of concentration to get that deeply dumb.
I agree with what you said on the likely general meaning of this song and on the way that artists often allow listeners to bring their own meanings to the table. However, the reason I'm writing this comment isn't any of that, oddly enough: It's because that little quote from fLyGuRl69 (great - sorry, gr8 - name by the way) is just hilariously terrible, thank you for bringing it to my attention. Also, why the hell do people type like that? I find it extremely difficult; it takes me a lot of concentration to get that deeply dumb.
The shadow on the wall line isn't referring to Judas hanging himself, per se. Your "shadow on the wall" is an allegorical way of saying that you can't hide from what you've done, or who you are... your guilt/your past follows you around, just as your shadow follows you around.
I don't think this song is specifically intended to be about government. I think it's written in a way which allows it to be interpreted differently by different people. Bob Dylan always talked about writing his songs to be open for interpretation, that he didn't "mean" anything by his lyrics (although we can be sure he did, he just preferred to leave interpretation to the listener). I think that's what they've done here as well. In fact, that quality seems to me to be the most artistic way to write lyrics.
I like to think the references to money aren't necessarily literal. "Money" could stand for whatever goal you had in mind when you decided to act as you did. "Money" is the reward, and although it could be literal if you so interpret it, it doesn't have to be. "But at least you made some money" could easily be "But at least you got what you wanted." This idea is similar to "you had to kill to gain control again" -- this could be interpreted to be saying "you had to destroy [something] to gain control again." It doesn't have to mean you actually killed someone, ya know?
In any case, the simple fact that we're discussing it and people are coming up with their own interpretations means the lyrics are intelligently and artistically written. Go read the lyrics to a Lady Gaga song and see if you can say the same...
WARNING: completely off topic Lady Gaga's SongMeanings page: "I turned off my cell phone cause I'M IN THE CLUB!" Song interpretation by fLyGuRl69: "some btch wuz prob givin a ho tha runround, so iTz lk btch get ya aZZ to tha CLUB n let dat sh*t go on tha danzflo lulz,,, newayz dats wut it ment to me n mah grlz PEACE"
I agree with what you said on the likely general meaning of this song and on the way that artists often allow listeners to bring their own meanings to the table. However, the reason I'm writing this comment isn't any of that, oddly enough: It's because that little quote from fLyGuRl69 (great - sorry, gr8 - name by the way) is just hilariously terrible, thank you for bringing it to my attention. Also, why the hell do people type like that? I find it extremely difficult; it takes me a lot of concentration to get that deeply dumb.
I agree with what you said on the likely general meaning of this song and on the way that artists often allow listeners to bring their own meanings to the table. However, the reason I'm writing this comment isn't any of that, oddly enough: It's because that little quote from fLyGuRl69 (great - sorry, gr8 - name by the way) is just hilariously terrible, thank you for bringing it to my attention. Also, why the hell do people type like that? I find it extremely difficult; it takes me a lot of concentration to get that deeply dumb.