After seeing the video, I thought this was about Layne and Mike Starr.
The guys are all dressed in black suits, as for a funeral; the camera follows a girl (whom I think bears a resemblance to Demri) who obviously represents temptation. She walks from room to room showing various acts of debauchery while each of the guys sits or stands by passively. Jerry sits near a table where fat execs dine on human organs and appear not to notice him (corporate greed, the act of "eating the artist alive"), and at the end, the girl who I believe represents Layne's ex digs into a human heart.
However, the lyrics seem to point toward Mike Starr:
"time to change has come and gone, watched your fears become your god"
"you fuel the fire that burns us all, when you lie"
and "it might seem an afterthought, yes it hurts to know you're bought"
To me, this refers to Mike's drug addiction, his book, and his appearance on Celeb Rehab.
Just my two cents.
This is a beautifully haunting song; can't stop listening to it.
@RockChickie I have not seen the video but from the lyrics I think it is very much about Layne and Mike. Perhaps the lyric you speak of is more to Layne though, who pretty much and single handedly 'broke the Chains' so to speak with his addiction and the way he decided to live his life. Though Layne died in 2002, it is written that he really fell into a hole of addiction many years earlier. He last performed with AIC in 1996, and hadn't spoken to any of them for several years before he died. So when...
@RockChickie I have not seen the video but from the lyrics I think it is very much about Layne and Mike. Perhaps the lyric you speak of is more to Layne though, who pretty much and single handedly 'broke the Chains' so to speak with his addiction and the way he decided to live his life. Though Layne died in 2002, it is written that he really fell into a hole of addiction many years earlier. He last performed with AIC in 1996, and hadn't spoken to any of them for several years before he died. So when I read the line "And here you stand before us all and say it's over" and "It's your decision" I think its ceding control to Layne. It's clearly a multiple layered meaning, its his decision how to live his life, its his decision how to handle his pain/problems, and there was nothing anyone else could do it was his decision and death that led to the AIC breaking up.
"Nobody plans to take the path that takes you lower" (double meaning, bring you down and also lower into your grave) but the line "here you stand" line is powerful to me because it is not really him, it is him in his death standing there saying its over. Its him in his death, his eternal legacy and his persona and his importance to the band and all that. The band may have wanted to go on and make more music together but it was his decision and everyone else had to go along with it. They gave him the power to decide for them. That's how i read it at first, anyway with my limited understanding of events.
You could be right about the "fears become your god" part going to Mike. Mike's death was very sad too, and I know less about it though I do recall he was on TV with that counselor from Thelonious Monster and Dr Drew etc. surely there are many parts of this song that goes over my head but my first reading I thought of Layne.
After seeing the video, I thought this was about Layne and Mike Starr. The guys are all dressed in black suits, as for a funeral; the camera follows a girl (whom I think bears a resemblance to Demri) who obviously represents temptation. She walks from room to room showing various acts of debauchery while each of the guys sits or stands by passively. Jerry sits near a table where fat execs dine on human organs and appear not to notice him (corporate greed, the act of "eating the artist alive"), and at the end, the girl who I believe represents Layne's ex digs into a human heart.
However, the lyrics seem to point toward Mike Starr:
"time to change has come and gone, watched your fears become your god" "you fuel the fire that burns us all, when you lie" and "it might seem an afterthought, yes it hurts to know you're bought"
To me, this refers to Mike's drug addiction, his book, and his appearance on Celeb Rehab.
Just my two cents. This is a beautifully haunting song; can't stop listening to it.
@RockChickie I have not seen the video but from the lyrics I think it is very much about Layne and Mike. Perhaps the lyric you speak of is more to Layne though, who pretty much and single handedly 'broke the Chains' so to speak with his addiction and the way he decided to live his life. Though Layne died in 2002, it is written that he really fell into a hole of addiction many years earlier. He last performed with AIC in 1996, and hadn't spoken to any of them for several years before he died. So when...
@RockChickie I have not seen the video but from the lyrics I think it is very much about Layne and Mike. Perhaps the lyric you speak of is more to Layne though, who pretty much and single handedly 'broke the Chains' so to speak with his addiction and the way he decided to live his life. Though Layne died in 2002, it is written that he really fell into a hole of addiction many years earlier. He last performed with AIC in 1996, and hadn't spoken to any of them for several years before he died. So when I read the line "And here you stand before us all and say it's over" and "It's your decision" I think its ceding control to Layne. It's clearly a multiple layered meaning, its his decision how to live his life, its his decision how to handle his pain/problems, and there was nothing anyone else could do it was his decision and death that led to the AIC breaking up.
"Nobody plans to take the path that takes you lower" (double meaning, bring you down and also lower into your grave) but the line "here you stand" line is powerful to me because it is not really him, it is him in his death standing there saying its over. Its him in his death, his eternal legacy and his persona and his importance to the band and all that. The band may have wanted to go on and make more music together but it was his decision and everyone else had to go along with it. They gave him the power to decide for them. That's how i read it at first, anyway with my limited understanding of events.
You could be right about the "fears become your god" part going to Mike. Mike's death was very sad too, and I know less about it though I do recall he was on TV with that counselor from Thelonious Monster and Dr Drew etc. surely there are many parts of this song that goes over my head but my first reading I thought of Layne.
@RockChickie Notably, this comment was made before Mike Starr's death, so it was recognizable as being possibly about him even before then.
@RockChickie Notably, this comment was made before Mike Starr's death, so it was recognizable as being possibly about him even before then.