Hey guys this will be my first post, however I thought maybe I could offer some of my insight on this song. I haven't seen too many comments touching on what the song is actually about, and the ones that do don't seem to (in my opinion) offer a "full" explanation of the song.
I think the others that have touched on the "depression" of the person in which this song is in the point of view of. This is very true, it is definitely about depression, but I'd even go a bit further and say it's about being depressed about a situation.
The situation in my opinion has to do with drugs of some kind. Alkaline trio are notorious for their drug use metaphors as Matt Skiba (and probably the others that have been in the band) has struggled with drug addiction throughout his life.
To me the lines that make me believe it's someone struggling with addiction are:
"This house is full of ears but I can't talk to anyone
They've heard this one a thousand times"
-He's relapsed on drugs again, and everyone's sick of his shit.
"Most exciting thing I do - hand half way out third floor windows,
maybe throw lit cigarettes down."
-Many harder drug users are compulsive cigarette smokers, and also don't live very fulfilling lives
"And maybe I'll catch fire,"
-suicide is often made glamorous by drugs, and all the problems that come along with addiction as I'm sure anyone else who's experienced the horrors of addiction will tell you
"something warm to hold me,"
-I believe he's referring to heroin, specifically, with this line as heroin makes people feel very warm (and also extremely cold during withdrawals, so the "warmness" of the next high is more noticeable in the midst of addiction, rather than just trying it for the first time you might not notice it)
-However, this line could also be referring to the lack of love he feels in his life, and addiction has tricked him into thinking that drugs is all he needs to fill that void
"something pure to burn away the darkness that hides inside my mind.
All that evil shit's not hard to find"
-He needs something to make him feel better, sometimes suicide seems like the only way out with many serious life problems. The "evil shit" in the next line, I feel is a play on words and can be interpreted two separate ways. He can be referring to the previous line meaning theres so much evil shit in his mind that it isn't difficult to find, or referring to drugs as the "evil shit" saying that drugs are pretty easy to find.
"I guess I only claim to be nice."
-Starting to realize he's not a good person after all, now that he's had time to reflect on everything that he's done and everyone he's hurt with his addiction
"This house is full of eyes but I can't look at anyone
They've seen this face a thousand times"
-same thing as the first line in the first verse, everyone's sick of his shit
"Most relaxing thing I do - hand half way out third floor windows,
and look at rocks if I fall out,"
-contemplating a different form of suicide
"And maybe I'll fall hard,
something tough to break me,
something sharp to rip into my insides and bleed out all that pain."
-He has so many demons inside he just wants to get rid of it all and doesnt care if the only way to accomplish them is by killing himself - hes desperate
"Sorry I don't even know your name"
"I guess for me it's easy this way."
-I'm not really sure what these last two lines could mean, I'm thinking he might be hurting people he doesn't know, like robbing them or stealing from them to support his habit and it's "easier" for him to hurt people he doesn't know personally
-Or he could also actually know the person and he's so messed up on drugs he doesn't realize he know's them, and he's saying it's easier to go through life on drugs
Again, this is all just my opinion but I didn't see anyone else elaboration on the entire song so I thought I'd offer my own interpretation of the song and I would love to hear feedback on my thoughts, and if you prove that I'm wrong - even better!
Hey guys this will be my first post, however I thought maybe I could offer some of my insight on this song. I haven't seen too many comments touching on what the song is actually about, and the ones that do don't seem to (in my opinion) offer a "full" explanation of the song.
I think the others that have touched on the "depression" of the person in which this song is in the point of view of. This is very true, it is definitely about depression, but I'd even go a bit further and say it's about being depressed about a situation.
The situation in my opinion has to do with drugs of some kind. Alkaline trio are notorious for their drug use metaphors as Matt Skiba (and probably the others that have been in the band) has struggled with drug addiction throughout his life.
To me the lines that make me believe it's someone struggling with addiction are:
"This house is full of ears but I can't talk to anyone They've heard this one a thousand times"
-He's relapsed on drugs again, and everyone's sick of his shit.
"Most exciting thing I do - hand half way out third floor windows, maybe throw lit cigarettes down."
-Many harder drug users are compulsive cigarette smokers, and also don't live very fulfilling lives
"And maybe I'll catch fire,"
-suicide is often made glamorous by drugs, and all the problems that come along with addiction as I'm sure anyone else who's experienced the horrors of addiction will tell you
"something warm to hold me,"
-I believe he's referring to heroin, specifically, with this line as heroin makes people feel very warm (and also extremely cold during withdrawals, so the "warmness" of the next high is more noticeable in the midst of addiction, rather than just trying it for the first time you might not notice it) -However, this line could also be referring to the lack of love he feels in his life, and addiction has tricked him into thinking that drugs is all he needs to fill that void
"something pure to burn away the darkness that hides inside my mind. All that evil shit's not hard to find"
-He needs something to make him feel better, sometimes suicide seems like the only way out with many serious life problems. The "evil shit" in the next line, I feel is a play on words and can be interpreted two separate ways. He can be referring to the previous line meaning theres so much evil shit in his mind that it isn't difficult to find, or referring to drugs as the "evil shit" saying that drugs are pretty easy to find.
"I guess I only claim to be nice."
-Starting to realize he's not a good person after all, now that he's had time to reflect on everything that he's done and everyone he's hurt with his addiction
"This house is full of eyes but I can't look at anyone They've seen this face a thousand times"
-same thing as the first line in the first verse, everyone's sick of his shit
"Most relaxing thing I do - hand half way out third floor windows, and look at rocks if I fall out,"
-contemplating a different form of suicide
"And maybe I'll fall hard, something tough to break me, something sharp to rip into my insides and bleed out all that pain."
-He has so many demons inside he just wants to get rid of it all and doesnt care if the only way to accomplish them is by killing himself - hes desperate
"Sorry I don't even know your name"
"I guess for me it's easy this way."
-I'm not really sure what these last two lines could mean, I'm thinking he might be hurting people he doesn't know, like robbing them or stealing from them to support his habit and it's "easier" for him to hurt people he doesn't know personally
-Or he could also actually know the person and he's so messed up on drugs he doesn't realize he know's them, and he's saying it's easier to go through life on drugs
Again, this is all just my opinion but I didn't see anyone else elaboration on the entire song so I thought I'd offer my own interpretation of the song and I would love to hear feedback on my thoughts, and if you prove that I'm wrong - even better!