i won't say that any of you are wrong. art is open to interpretation. as a fellow artist and writer, i will offer my humble interpretation. all art conveys the artist's unique point of view. notice his plays on words. he reverses the word god to make dog and vice versa. god is essentially the highest level of being, benevolent, loving, and good, while dogs are considered to be lesser beings, ruled by their temper, resorting to violence to maintain pecking order in the pack. also pay attention to the fact that he uses both definitions of the word lie--#1 to lie down, and #2 to tell a lie. this illustrates the confusion he feels inside himself over the subject at hand, this paradox he feels inside. shannon opens the song by stating very plainly what his point of view is on the subject he is thinking about. (killers should be killed...healers should be healed...so all these beggars can be filled)
next he talks about how that thought is perverted. it's perverted for the simple fact that if he kills all the killers, he too will become a killer, therefore, defeating the purpose of his wish to make the world a better place and rid it of all killers. he's owning up to the fact that even though he has good intentions and is not lying about being a good person (why am i to lie...holding firm and feel the right), the thought is a lowly thought (lie beside this dog of mine), but he really wants to get rid of the bad people in the world and make things right (...really run through my mind).
in the next stanza, he's overcome by the monotony of life in this imperfect world ( this day's the same as those before) what happens when you drag your feet? you scrape your toes across the floor. although he feels love for the world (feeling giddy), he has exposed parts of his inner self he wishes he would not have shown (never giving myself that uninvaded door). in other words, he's said too much.
so, instead of these dark thoughts, now he must create something more pleasing to share with the world (glittered room for view) not "for you" like they have written anyway, he wants to break free from this conondrum (start sitting so pretty) because it just doesn't add up in a moral sense (not thinking clear...things ain't fittin here). you can't do bad things to anyone and then call yourself a good person, no matter what the other person has done.
so he won't do those things. he'll just stay with being a good person (lay... beside this god of mine) and continue to think about those things (perverted thought burn a hole in my mind). but if he can't call himself a good person because of these perverted thoughts he's having(if i can't lay my head beside this god of mine), he may have to depend on time to rid the world of the killers.
think about it. what does a hunter's dog do? i grew up in a family of hunters, so i have been around hunters' dogs all my life. the dogs are bred and trained for tracking down and /or retrieving the object of the hunt. in this song, the "hunter's dog" is death. it's "called God" because everyone must face death in time. so in the end, death will be his friend and kill the killers, so he won't have to become a killer himself. and he will also, upon his own death, be free from these perverted thoughts and the anguish of being torn between trying to remain a good person with bad thoughts or becoming a killer who wants to make the world a better place.
i won't say that any of you are wrong. art is open to interpretation. as a fellow artist and writer, i will offer my humble interpretation. all art conveys the artist's unique point of view. notice his plays on words. he reverses the word god to make dog and vice versa. god is essentially the highest level of being, benevolent, loving, and good, while dogs are considered to be lesser beings, ruled by their temper, resorting to violence to maintain pecking order in the pack. also pay attention to the fact that he uses both definitions of the word lie--#1 to lie down, and #2 to tell a lie. this illustrates the confusion he feels inside himself over the subject at hand, this paradox he feels inside. shannon opens the song by stating very plainly what his point of view is on the subject he is thinking about. (killers should be killed...healers should be healed...so all these beggars can be filled)
next he talks about how that thought is perverted. it's perverted for the simple fact that if he kills all the killers, he too will become a killer, therefore, defeating the purpose of his wish to make the world a better place and rid it of all killers. he's owning up to the fact that even though he has good intentions and is not lying about being a good person (why am i to lie...holding firm and feel the right), the thought is a lowly thought (lie beside this dog of mine), but he really wants to get rid of the bad people in the world and make things right (...really run through my mind).
in the next stanza, he's overcome by the monotony of life in this imperfect world ( this day's the same as those before) what happens when you drag your feet? you scrape your toes across the floor. although he feels love for the world (feeling giddy), he has exposed parts of his inner self he wishes he would not have shown (never giving myself that uninvaded door). in other words, he's said too much.
so, instead of these dark thoughts, now he must create something more pleasing to share with the world (glittered room for view) not "for you" like they have written anyway, he wants to break free from this conondrum (start sitting so pretty) because it just doesn't add up in a moral sense (not thinking clear...things ain't fittin here). you can't do bad things to anyone and then call yourself a good person, no matter what the other person has done. so he won't do those things. he'll just stay with being a good person (lay... beside this god of mine) and continue to think about those things (perverted thought burn a hole in my mind). but if he can't call himself a good person because of these perverted thoughts he's having(if i can't lay my head beside this god of mine), he may have to depend on time to rid the world of the killers.
think about it. what does a hunter's dog do? i grew up in a family of hunters, so i have been around hunters' dogs all my life. the dogs are bred and trained for tracking down and /or retrieving the object of the hunt. in this song, the "hunter's dog" is death. it's "called God" because everyone must face death in time. so in the end, death will be his friend and kill the killers, so he won't have to become a killer himself. and he will also, upon his own death, be free from these perverted thoughts and the anguish of being torn between trying to remain a good person with bad thoughts or becoming a killer who wants to make the world a better place.
Right on! Great interpretation.
Right on! Great interpretation.