The protagonist in this song is a wallflower who's anticipation of failure with women is a self-fulfilling prophecy. On minimal evidence he decides to give up and winds up always sleeping alone. Rejection has become a bogeyman he can't face - quite literally he is a quitter, the game of courtship isn't fun, it's filled with trepidation for him (it reminds me of The Smiths lyric of "then a strange fear gripped me and I just couldn't ask").
The chorus line "Me: Zero, Big Bad World: One" is a double meaning - on one level it's a keeping score one-nil to the Big Bad World, but he's also saying he is a zero, and the Big Bad World won (homophone!) in that it beat him once again.
Succinctly it describes a situation a lot of young men get themselves into - I know this feeling only too well. What he probably needs to do is get a few actual rejections under his belt so he knows that they're not as world-shattering as he imagines, because while he is avoiding the risk of rejection he's ensuring his own failure. It is a big bad world because it frightens him - it's actually the fear he's defeated by.
I find this a therapeutic song from that point of view - there has probably been a point in many of the more sensitive males' lives in which they've found themselves in this same vicious cycle, and when you're in it you don't see the absurdity of it, only the tragedy - but listening to the narrator in this song describe his thought process we can see the absurdity and become aware that maybe our own vicious cycle is absurd and how we can correct it.
That's funny, Osiran, because according to the lyrics he has a girlfriend and is not too "S.A.D." to be with her...daily, nightly, weekends, whenever. He isn't frightened of her. He loves the chase, the game, the fascade, and the win. To him, she's not boring because he can show her just what her wants her to see (for awhile anyway). To him, he's not good enough as he is, so he must recreate who he is. Anyone who knows him and could possibly love him isn't good enough...not exciting enough, not pretty enough, not a good enough of an arm...
That's funny, Osiran, because according to the lyrics he has a girlfriend and is not too "S.A.D." to be with her...daily, nightly, weekends, whenever. He isn't frightened of her. He loves the chase, the game, the fascade, and the win. To him, she's not boring because he can show her just what her wants her to see (for awhile anyway). To him, he's not good enough as he is, so he must recreate who he is. Anyone who knows him and could possibly love him isn't good enough...not exciting enough, not pretty enough, not a good enough of an arm hang, and lord knows only the gorgeous people are good in bed. LOL. I like your interepretation; you just didn't take it far enough. And with that, I say goodnight and happy lay 'cause I'm tired of this foolish site and its inhabitants.
I think what he's singing about is a man that has had trouble in relationships before. He's been hurt or dished out some pain and he doesn't want to go down that road again. Saying that "every time it's going to end the same way" could be taken to mean that he has had relationships before and they don't go well.
I think what he's singing about is a man that has had trouble in relationships before. He's been hurt or dished out some pain and he doesn't want to go down that road again. Saying that "every time it's going to end the same way" could be taken to mean that he has had relationships before and they don't go well.
"I quit, I'm done" would indicate that he is getting out of the dating scene from which we could infer that he had once been in.
"I quit, I'm done" would indicate that he is getting out of the dating scene from which we could infer that he had once been in.
I agree with your supposition about "Me Zero, Big...
I agree with your supposition about "Me Zero, Big Bad World One" with the addition that he could be admitting final defeat. The world has beaten me, could be the sentiment here.
The protagonist in this song is a wallflower who's anticipation of failure with women is a self-fulfilling prophecy. On minimal evidence he decides to give up and winds up always sleeping alone. Rejection has become a bogeyman he can't face - quite literally he is a quitter, the game of courtship isn't fun, it's filled with trepidation for him (it reminds me of The Smiths lyric of "then a strange fear gripped me and I just couldn't ask").
The chorus line "Me: Zero, Big Bad World: One" is a double meaning - on one level it's a keeping score one-nil to the Big Bad World, but he's also saying he is a zero, and the Big Bad World won (homophone!) in that it beat him once again.
Succinctly it describes a situation a lot of young men get themselves into - I know this feeling only too well. What he probably needs to do is get a few actual rejections under his belt so he knows that they're not as world-shattering as he imagines, because while he is avoiding the risk of rejection he's ensuring his own failure. It is a big bad world because it frightens him - it's actually the fear he's defeated by.
I find this a therapeutic song from that point of view - there has probably been a point in many of the more sensitive males' lives in which they've found themselves in this same vicious cycle, and when you're in it you don't see the absurdity of it, only the tragedy - but listening to the narrator in this song describe his thought process we can see the absurdity and become aware that maybe our own vicious cycle is absurd and how we can correct it.
That's funny, Osiran, because according to the lyrics he has a girlfriend and is not too "S.A.D." to be with her...daily, nightly, weekends, whenever. He isn't frightened of her. He loves the chase, the game, the fascade, and the win. To him, she's not boring because he can show her just what her wants her to see (for awhile anyway). To him, he's not good enough as he is, so he must recreate who he is. Anyone who knows him and could possibly love him isn't good enough...not exciting enough, not pretty enough, not a good enough of an arm...
That's funny, Osiran, because according to the lyrics he has a girlfriend and is not too "S.A.D." to be with her...daily, nightly, weekends, whenever. He isn't frightened of her. He loves the chase, the game, the fascade, and the win. To him, she's not boring because he can show her just what her wants her to see (for awhile anyway). To him, he's not good enough as he is, so he must recreate who he is. Anyone who knows him and could possibly love him isn't good enough...not exciting enough, not pretty enough, not a good enough of an arm hang, and lord knows only the gorgeous people are good in bed. LOL. I like your interepretation; you just didn't take it far enough. And with that, I say goodnight and happy lay 'cause I'm tired of this foolish site and its inhabitants.
I think what he's singing about is a man that has had trouble in relationships before. He's been hurt or dished out some pain and he doesn't want to go down that road again. Saying that "every time it's going to end the same way" could be taken to mean that he has had relationships before and they don't go well.
I think what he's singing about is a man that has had trouble in relationships before. He's been hurt or dished out some pain and he doesn't want to go down that road again. Saying that "every time it's going to end the same way" could be taken to mean that he has had relationships before and they don't go well.
"I quit, I'm done" would indicate that he is getting out of the dating scene from which we could infer that he had once been in.
"I quit, I'm done" would indicate that he is getting out of the dating scene from which we could infer that he had once been in.
I agree with your supposition about "Me Zero, Big...
I agree with your supposition about "Me Zero, Big Bad World One" with the addition that he could be admitting final defeat. The world has beaten me, could be the sentiment here.