Wicked Man's Rest Lyrics

Lyric discussion by AnEnigma 

Cover art for Wicked Man's Rest lyrics by Passenger

"You can say I'm mad You can say I'm crazy But I'm only as bad As the maker who made me"

He has done things he isn't proud of but denies credit, saying the curicumstances forced him.

"Sinner in the darkness Liar in the church Deaf man's silence The blind man's search

Teardrop falling Memory recalling Ghost in your dreams And your secret recordings

Mad man's matches Lump in your throat The pea under your mattress The hole in your coat

Singer with the sound down Winner on the come down Poet in the overcoat Looking for a suntan

On his birthday Prisoner on his first day...

Needle for the user The pain in your chest Beggar and the chooser The wicked man's rest

Fear in the stuntman Sneer in the playground Bottle in the hand Of a dirty old drunk man

Leaf falling Autumn calling Dark clouds forming"

He's listing things that shouldn't be, and are seen as wrong, confusing, sad, or all of the above, but are, and happen very often.

"I rise to meet you As your trust dissolves to shame Oh, this innocence has turned and lost its way Retrace the footprints Off the path from which I came I'm the beast in you, the beast in me"

He is trying to become a better person and rising to meet a new standard by retracing his steps to see where he went wrong and accepting his flaws. He then wonders if this new role-model of sorts is his angel, and where s/he will lead him.

"Bite my nails Right down to the skin Where one trust ends And another lie begins."

Old habits die hard, and the cycle keeps going.

"Patch over holes In my weakened heart Which angels hold And devils pull apart."

He's doing his best to be a better him, but his heart is extremely conflicted when it comes to certain situations, making him feel as if he's being torn in two.

"I'm the beast in you The beast in me The bitterness, the jealousy The part of you that never sleeps"

He realizes that even his 'angel' his corrupted, and in the second to last stanza he sees how his angel is succumbing to the urge to be bitter, jealous, etc. and finding it addictive and near impossible to stop. Bad influence?

In the last stanza, I think the roles are now reversed.

My Interpretation