This song is about Peter Lorre's addiction to morphine and his addiction to bad ideas(He left the U.S., tired of being cast as a villain, even stating once that he didn't want to be remembered as a monster, which is what the song quotes constantly with "I wasn't always a monster, I was prince/saint").
"Though I have grown older & graver, the great heart of the world remains ever young.
I wasn't always a monster, I was a prince.
Now, so broken, so."
He got old, but the world still retained its beauty and magnificence. He's being remembered as a monster, when he truly wasn't and didn't want to be. He left Germany after a play he starred in was seen as too dark for Germany at the time. He returned to the U.S., broken in heart and soul.
The chorus is what a would say to those who would ask him why he did drugs(Because I can, 'Cause no one can stop me. Because it makes up for things I've lost). And what did he lose? His career and his dream of being remembered as not just the creepy villain. But he did everything that was great in the 20th century, from drugs to being a celebrity.
"To fail and live long..."
He lived a pretty long life. He did a lot of things, but died a heartbroken man, trying to achieve his dreams. He could have just gone along with what Hollywood wanted him to be, a dark vilified monster, but he strove away towards his goal, and failed miserably. That's why he is important, out of all the people in the 20th century. He lived all his life practically trying not to be great when he could have been.
This song is the epitome of his morphine muddled mind, caught between self hate and love of the world around him.
This song is about Peter Lorre's addiction to morphine and his addiction to bad ideas(He left the U.S., tired of being cast as a villain, even stating once that he didn't want to be remembered as a monster, which is what the song quotes constantly with "I wasn't always a monster, I was prince/saint").
"Though I have grown older & graver, the great heart of the world remains ever young. I wasn't always a monster, I was a prince. Now, so broken, so."
He got old, but the world still retained its beauty and magnificence. He's being remembered as a monster, when he truly wasn't and didn't want to be. He left Germany after a play he starred in was seen as too dark for Germany at the time. He returned to the U.S., broken in heart and soul.
The chorus is what a would say to those who would ask him why he did drugs(Because I can, 'Cause no one can stop me. Because it makes up for things I've lost). And what did he lose? His career and his dream of being remembered as not just the creepy villain. But he did everything that was great in the 20th century, from drugs to being a celebrity.
"To fail and live long..." He lived a pretty long life. He did a lot of things, but died a heartbroken man, trying to achieve his dreams. He could have just gone along with what Hollywood wanted him to be, a dark vilified monster, but he strove away towards his goal, and failed miserably. That's why he is important, out of all the people in the 20th century. He lived all his life practically trying not to be great when he could have been.
This song is the epitome of his morphine muddled mind, caught between self hate and love of the world around him.