This song is about the dark "evil" trashy gutter parts of man's personality; specifically Brad's personality. When I say trashy, I'm not saying mildly trashy. I'm talking: Mississippi, Hitler, junky, hillbilly, fatherless bastard, domestic abuser, druggie psycho. That's what Brad was, and we love him regardless. This song is about him learning to love himself. The plot of the song is him integrating these undesirable negative parts of his character into how he views himself, and accepting these dark parts of his personality without judgement.
It starts with a metaphor about Mississippi, which represents Brad himself. Mississippi isn't regarded as a good place with good people; instead it is known as the worst place even though the sun shines. Like Brad, Mississippians give up what they could otherwise be and choose a low-life, and no one knows why. None the less, like Brad, they voluntarily decide to be backwards ass hillbillies. Then he talks about his dad abandoning him. (hmmm, maybe that's the answer to the "no one knows why". It explains why "Mississippi", aka brad, became the garbage dump it is).
Then he goes on to describe all his dirt. It has numerous references to heroin and alcohol use. It references Hitler (Brad once got caught graffiting a swastika, and got into a lot of trouble because of it). Therefore, Brad must have some bit of Nazi punk as a part of him. He must have previously considered hitler's ideas to have done such a thing and also to have written that line. He talks about self delusion, willful ignorance, getting crazy, fist fights, making his girl cry, having passionate domestic dispute make-up sex, stealing, lying, kissing butt, getting mean, raging, and otherwise being a son of a bitch. It sounds to me like he was inspired by being high on meth when he wrote it (and that's not a bad thing).
Though he initially disavows these parts of his personality (it aint me), by the end of the song; he acknowledges that they are a solid unchangeable part of himself (24/7 devil's best friend); he recognizes with insight and satisfaction all the bad parts of himself, and sees that they are caused by his broken heart (largely resulting from his lack of a father); finally, he stoically accepts his flaws (it makes no difference it's all the same in the end).
We all have pain & broken hearts which makes us do bad things that we feel ashamed about. It's better to own it, accept it, and understand yourself. This is definitely the best sublime song, and has powerful lyrics about living passionately even if you aren't perfect and integrating your personality without shame.
This song is about the dark "evil" trashy gutter parts of man's personality; specifically Brad's personality. When I say trashy, I'm not saying mildly trashy. I'm talking: Mississippi, Hitler, junky, hillbilly, fatherless bastard, domestic abuser, druggie psycho. That's what Brad was, and we love him regardless. This song is about him learning to love himself. The plot of the song is him integrating these undesirable negative parts of his character into how he views himself, and accepting these dark parts of his personality without judgement.
It starts with a metaphor about Mississippi, which represents Brad himself. Mississippi isn't regarded as a good place with good people; instead it is known as the worst place even though the sun shines. Like Brad, Mississippians give up what they could otherwise be and choose a low-life, and no one knows why. None the less, like Brad, they voluntarily decide to be backwards ass hillbillies. Then he talks about his dad abandoning him. (hmmm, maybe that's the answer to the "no one knows why". It explains why "Mississippi", aka brad, became the garbage dump it is).
Then he goes on to describe all his dirt. It has numerous references to heroin and alcohol use. It references Hitler (Brad once got caught graffiting a swastika, and got into a lot of trouble because of it). Therefore, Brad must have some bit of Nazi punk as a part of him. He must have previously considered hitler's ideas to have done such a thing and also to have written that line. He talks about self delusion, willful ignorance, getting crazy, fist fights, making his girl cry, having passionate domestic dispute make-up sex, stealing, lying, kissing butt, getting mean, raging, and otherwise being a son of a bitch. It sounds to me like he was inspired by being high on meth when he wrote it (and that's not a bad thing).
Though he initially disavows these parts of his personality (it aint me), by the end of the song; he acknowledges that they are a solid unchangeable part of himself (24/7 devil's best friend); he recognizes with insight and satisfaction all the bad parts of himself, and sees that they are caused by his broken heart (largely resulting from his lack of a father); finally, he stoically accepts his flaws (it makes no difference it's all the same in the end).
We all have pain & broken hearts which makes us do bad things that we feel ashamed about. It's better to own it, accept it, and understand yourself. This is definitely the best sublime song, and has powerful lyrics about living passionately even if you aren't perfect and integrating your personality without shame.