One of the things I have in mind is the rest of the album. Look at how many songs deal with a struggling and broken relationship. Look at where "You Don't Believe" is positioned, right between "Don't Answer Me" and "Dancing On A Highwire." It could be meaningless, but it's difficult to think so.
A lot of words do seem to point at the interpretation of ARTIST VS INDUSTRY (record label), I just struggle to make it fit with the rest. I think the chorus comes from this: they say a symptom of lying is an inability to make eye contact, so when you make direct eye contact, you are telling the truth and the other party should believe you. Here he says the opposite is happening--he makes eye contact but is not believed. That's maddening. Maybe the song is about the frustration of everything going the opposite of the way it's supposed to and feeling completely out of control. The feeling of figuratively having everything taken out of your hands, and no matter what you do, it isn't good enough because some opposition "takes it away from you." I can certainly say I've felt all this in fights with my controlling, manipulative ex-wife and my later similar ex-girlfriend. I could tell her the absolute truth of what I meant or intended (or didn't) and get nowhere, and I did so not only to cool her off but to bring the situation under control (trying to be the calm, collected, rational man) but she wouldn't listen or believe and the fight and her wrath would keep going like an Energizer battery. You get that helpless, desperate feeling that says "I just can't win, no matter what I say or do," and the rest of the song seems to add up to that.
An artist facing a record label could feel the same way. :-)
One of the things I have in mind is the rest of the album. Look at how many songs deal with a struggling and broken relationship. Look at where "You Don't Believe" is positioned, right between "Don't Answer Me" and "Dancing On A Highwire." It could be meaningless, but it's difficult to think so. A lot of words do seem to point at the interpretation of ARTIST VS INDUSTRY (record label), I just struggle to make it fit with the rest. I think the chorus comes from this: they say a symptom of lying is an inability to make eye contact, so when you make direct eye contact, you are telling the truth and the other party should believe you. Here he says the opposite is happening--he makes eye contact but is not believed. That's maddening. Maybe the song is about the frustration of everything going the opposite of the way it's supposed to and feeling completely out of control. The feeling of figuratively having everything taken out of your hands, and no matter what you do, it isn't good enough because some opposition "takes it away from you." I can certainly say I've felt all this in fights with my controlling, manipulative ex-wife and my later similar ex-girlfriend. I could tell her the absolute truth of what I meant or intended (or didn't) and get nowhere, and I did so not only to cool her off but to bring the situation under control (trying to be the calm, collected, rational man) but she wouldn't listen or believe and the fight and her wrath would keep going like an Energizer battery. You get that helpless, desperate feeling that says "I just can't win, no matter what I say or do," and the rest of the song seems to add up to that. An artist facing a record label could feel the same way. :-)