This song is about wasting away your life at a boring 9 to 5 job and having an all around mediocre existence.
The first stanza reads:
As loud as hell, a ringing bell
Behind my smile, it shakes my teeth
And all the while, as vampires feed
I bleed, I bleed, I bleed
The ringing bell refers to the bell that tells you when the day starts and ends, it represents the meaningless grind and conformity. In some cases it's a literal bell (alarm clock, factory bell, school bell) and in other cases metaphorical. Either way it's about being a mindless sheep who follows the herd, or as Pink Floyd might say, 'a cog in the machine.'
The second line in the first stanza is self-explanatory; although he pretends to be content with mediocrity and living his life as a cog, deep down he wants more out of life.
The vampires in the third line are all the parasitic bosses and executives in the world who reap the benefits of their inferiors' labor. The singer is discouraged that his meaningless existence constitutes someone elses lavish lifestyle.
His bleeding represents the liveliness being sucked out of him by mediocrity and parasitic bosses (vampires)
The first line of the second stanza is about questioning meaningless existence. "Why are we here?" as in, "Why do we just accept this life?" The answer to this question is that there is no rational reason, so we just dull our minds (my mind secedes) with garbage television and cheap booze (go to sleep) as a means of coping with mediocrity. The reoccurring "I bleed, I bleed..." line is the continued dissipation of passion and eccentricity.
The third stanza is a nostalgic daydream for a time and place in which people actually interacted with each other and valued each others existence, which gave life meaning. The house in the cave represents this ancient time (think cave, clay homes = antiquity) and placing your hands in the handprints of others represents solidarity and human connection. Even though we dream of escaping the grind, we continue to fade away; or as it is eloquently phrased by the Pixies: "I bleed, I bleed I bleed."
This song is about wasting away your life at a boring 9 to 5 job and having an all around mediocre existence.
The first stanza reads:
As loud as hell, a ringing bell Behind my smile, it shakes my teeth And all the while, as vampires feed I bleed, I bleed, I bleed
The ringing bell refers to the bell that tells you when the day starts and ends, it represents the meaningless grind and conformity. In some cases it's a literal bell (alarm clock, factory bell, school bell) and in other cases metaphorical. Either way it's about being a mindless sheep who follows the herd, or as Pink Floyd might say, 'a cog in the machine.'
The second line in the first stanza is self-explanatory; although he pretends to be content with mediocrity and living his life as a cog, deep down he wants more out of life.
The vampires in the third line are all the parasitic bosses and executives in the world who reap the benefits of their inferiors' labor. The singer is discouraged that his meaningless existence constitutes someone elses lavish lifestyle.
His bleeding represents the liveliness being sucked out of him by mediocrity and parasitic bosses (vampires)
The first line of the second stanza is about questioning meaningless existence. "Why are we here?" as in, "Why do we just accept this life?" The answer to this question is that there is no rational reason, so we just dull our minds (my mind secedes) with garbage television and cheap booze (go to sleep) as a means of coping with mediocrity. The reoccurring "I bleed, I bleed..." line is the continued dissipation of passion and eccentricity.
The third stanza is a nostalgic daydream for a time and place in which people actually interacted with each other and valued each others existence, which gave life meaning. The house in the cave represents this ancient time (think cave, clay homes = antiquity) and placing your hands in the handprints of others represents solidarity and human connection. Even though we dream of escaping the grind, we continue to fade away; or as it is eloquently phrased by the Pixies: "I bleed, I bleed I bleed."