i agree with some of the comments here saying that it's about him choosing the drugs over the girl & him telling her to fuck off & obviously he's said things to kinda confirm things...
but for some reason whenever i hear this song & look at the lyrics i think of a self-destructive relationship. like partners in crime, the whole romantic idea of being in love/and in love with drugs, doing drugs together, & everybody knows coke can make you super edgy, you get in fights with people you love.
kinda like they're addicted to the drugs & addicted to each other too.
here:
the amount of pills I'm taking
counteracts the booze I'm drinking
and this vanity I'm breaking
lets me live my life like this
---this pretty much explains itself, except i agree with one of the other comments when they said vanity could be a different meaning in this part of the song then the other part. the vanity being a mirror, breaking lets him continue his drug use.----
and well I find it hard to stay
with the words you say
oh baby let me in
---it could possibly be she's trying to get him to get clean. or it could be that when they're high she gets into fights with him & it hurts him so he walks out on her or says he's leaving her, but he ends up coming back-----
well I'll choose the life I've taken
never mind the friends I'm making
and the beauty that I'm faking
lets me live my life like this
---he's realizing how he's changed from the drugs/booze but now he doesn't really care anymore, like the expression "he's made his bed, now he's gotta lie in it"...& through his addiction he meets friends/drug users/dealers who are a part of that lifestyle. he's trying to make it seem like he's ok with everything that's going on & that he's "in control" but he realizes he isn't but doesn't let anyone else know. he's keeping up appearances to people that matter & acts like he's fine but behind their backs he's still as addicted as ever.
and well I find it hard to stay
with the words you say
oh baby let me in
--------same as before pretty much----
and you can cry all you want to
i don't care how much you'll invest yourself in me
we're not working out
---this part totally fits with the whole, girls trying to get him clean thing. i'm not really sure what other stuff i could think of for it...maybe that he attempts to get off the drugs but she doesn't? so he finally leaves her idk---- oh or it's DEFINITELY a break up either way but maybe he's just sick of the whole fighting thing & fed up with that, but she says she's sorry & needs him but he doesn't care---
and you can't touch my brother
and you can't keep my friends
and we're not working out
this time I mean it
never mind the times I've seen it
-----i remember vaguely that both him AND mikey were known as "the chemical brothers" in NJ so i'm assuming mikey was into drugs too somewhat...and the people they hung out with/the people he met through the new "life" he was in were into drugs too.
maybe after he & the girl were through (i don't think either she or him were clean at this point) she went after his brother & friends OR that she just kept hanging out with them even though he wanted nothing to do with her anymore & he told her stay away----
well I hope I'm not mistaken
by the news I heard from waking
and it's hard to say I'm shaken
by the choices that i make
---i think this is about he wakes up the next day after he breaks up with her & he finds out that she OD'd that night. he's "shaken" because he's like woah she did too much, she died, that could have been me...----
well I'll choose this life I've taken
never mind the friends I'm making
and I get a little shaken
because I live my life like this
---he decides he doesn't care still (or he's extremely addicted & can't stop), & he's gonna continue being self-destructive even if it DOES kill him. but he still does think think about the bad things of the way he's living but it's not enough to scare him into getting clean.----
and you can cry all you want to
i don't care how much you'll invest yourself in me
we're not working out
----same as before----
and you can't keep my brother
and you won't fuck my friends
and we're not working out
---pretty much the same as before but now he's found out that she's not only still hanging around his friends but she's fucking them too.----
this time I mean it
never mind the times i've seen it
never again
---this is still when he's breaking up with her. he's saying that he's not gonna back down, he's leaving for good. he'll never go back to her again---(possibly when he's high & they're screaming at each other, he decides he's done)----
oh baby let me in
I'm knocking let me in
----he goes back to her. maybe he's come down now & regrets what he said when he was high & wants to apologize & tell her he didn't mean it. but now she's not letting him in, so he's pleading with her---
sorrry for the rambling, it's like 5am right now lol. not saying this is what it actually means but that's what i think of when i listen to the song :)
i agree with some of the comments here saying that it's about him choosing the drugs over the girl & him telling her to fuck off & obviously he's said things to kinda confirm things...
but for some reason whenever i hear this song & look at the lyrics i think of a self-destructive relationship. like partners in crime, the whole romantic idea of being in love/and in love with drugs, doing drugs together, & everybody knows coke can make you super edgy, you get in fights with people you love.
kinda like they're addicted to the drugs & addicted to each other too.
here:
the amount of pills I'm taking counteracts the booze I'm drinking and this vanity I'm breaking lets me live my life like this
---this pretty much explains itself, except i agree with one of the other comments when they said vanity could be a different meaning in this part of the song then the other part. the vanity being a mirror, breaking lets him continue his drug use.----
and well I find it hard to stay with the words you say oh baby let me in
---it could possibly be she's trying to get him to get clean. or it could be that when they're high she gets into fights with him & it hurts him so he walks out on her or says he's leaving her, but he ends up coming back-----
well I'll choose the life I've taken never mind the friends I'm making and the beauty that I'm faking lets me live my life like this
---he's realizing how he's changed from the drugs/booze but now he doesn't really care anymore, like the expression "he's made his bed, now he's gotta lie in it"...& through his addiction he meets friends/drug users/dealers who are a part of that lifestyle. he's trying to make it seem like he's ok with everything that's going on & that he's "in control" but he realizes he isn't but doesn't let anyone else know. he's keeping up appearances to people that matter & acts like he's fine but behind their backs he's still as addicted as ever.
and well I find it hard to stay with the words you say oh baby let me in
--------same as before pretty much----
and you can cry all you want to i don't care how much you'll invest yourself in me we're not working out
---this part totally fits with the whole, girls trying to get him clean thing. i'm not really sure what other stuff i could think of for it...maybe that he attempts to get off the drugs but she doesn't? so he finally leaves her idk---- oh or it's DEFINITELY a break up either way but maybe he's just sick of the whole fighting thing & fed up with that, but she says she's sorry & needs him but he doesn't care---
and you can't touch my brother and you can't keep my friends and we're not working out this time I mean it never mind the times I've seen it
-----i remember vaguely that both him AND mikey were known as "the chemical brothers" in NJ so i'm assuming mikey was into drugs too somewhat...and the people they hung out with/the people he met through the new "life" he was in were into drugs too. maybe after he & the girl were through (i don't think either she or him were clean at this point) she went after his brother & friends OR that she just kept hanging out with them even though he wanted nothing to do with her anymore & he told her stay away----
well I hope I'm not mistaken by the news I heard from waking and it's hard to say I'm shaken by the choices that i make
---i think this is about he wakes up the next day after he breaks up with her & he finds out that she OD'd that night. he's "shaken" because he's like woah she did too much, she died, that could have been me...----
well I'll choose this life I've taken never mind the friends I'm making and I get a little shaken because I live my life like this
---he decides he doesn't care still (or he's extremely addicted & can't stop), & he's gonna continue being self-destructive even if it DOES kill him. but he still does think think about the bad things of the way he's living but it's not enough to scare him into getting clean.----
and you can cry all you want to i don't care how much you'll invest yourself in me we're not working out
----same as before----
and you can't keep my brother and you won't fuck my friends and we're not working out
---pretty much the same as before but now he's found out that she's not only still hanging around his friends but she's fucking them too.----
this time I mean it never mind the times i've seen it never again
---this is still when he's breaking up with her. he's saying that he's not gonna back down, he's leaving for good. he'll never go back to her again---(possibly when he's high & they're screaming at each other, he decides he's done)----
oh baby let me in I'm knocking let me in
----he goes back to her. maybe he's come down now & regrets what he said when he was high & wants to apologize & tell her he didn't mean it. but now she's not letting him in, so he's pleading with her---
sorrry for the rambling, it's like 5am right now lol. not saying this is what it actually means but that's what i think of when i listen to the song :)
xo