While the obvious connections with suicide or alcoholism could be drawn easily, more subtly this song could be about someone who views the world through a negative lens constantly and how as much as the writer tries to show the beauty in the world, this person refuses to see it. It's one or another between the rope and the bottle. There is no good option for this person. They can't see it. Skiba sings it in a kind of exasperated way like He's tired of hearing this negative view constantly and just allowing that person to continue feeling the way they feel knowing he can't do anything about it. You can hear it when he says maybe you're a vampire.
'I'm so sorry, please forgive me
Who do I pray to to straighten out this problem? (problem)
Straighten out this problem (problem), straighten out my mind (Mind)
Straighten out ...this crooked tongue...(x3)
My mind has wandered, from the straight and narrow
My mind has wandered from the flock you see
My mind has wandered, the man just said so
My mind has wandered I heard it on TV
And the flock has wandered away from me.
(Chorus 1)
All around the world now
Like a big bright cherry cloud
Traveling from home to home
TV sets and telephones
Here it comes just like a storm
Bathe in it and be reborn
Time to let the world know
Welcome madness, ...say hello...(x3)
Like a wave we cannot see
Washing over you and me
Hiding here and hiding there
Madness hiding everywhere
Such a curiosity
Here it comes to set us free
Plenty left for you and me
Say hello insanity
I am the virus, are you the cure?
I am morally(morally), I'm morally impure(Impure)
I am a disease and I am unclean
I am not part of God's well oiled machine
Christian nation(Nation), assimilate me(me)
Take me in your arms and set me free
I am part of a degenerate elite(elite)
Dragging our society into the street -yeah-
Into the abyss and to the sewer don't you see
The man just told me, he told me on TV
Do you think you're better than me
Do you want to kill me or befriend me
And the alcoholic bastard waved his finger at me
And His voice was filled with evangelical glee
Sipping down his gin & tonics
While preaching about the evils of narcotics
And the evils of sex,(sex) and the wages of sin (Sin)
While he mentally fondles his next of kin and
My mind has wandered from the flock you see
And the flock has wandered away from me
And he waved his hypnotizing finger at me
(Chorus 2)
Let's imitate reality (Insanity)
Let's strive for mediocrity (Insanity)
Let's make believe we're all the same (Now that's for me)
Let's sanitize our little brains (Insanity)
I'd love to take you home with me and tuck you into bed
I'd love to see what makes you tick inside your pretty head
I'd love to hear you laugh tonight, I'd love to hear you weep
I'd love to listen to you while you're screaming in your sleep.
Christian sons, Christian daughters
Lead me along like a lamb to the slaughter
Purify my brain and hose down my soul
White perfection, perfection is my goal
Do you think you're better than me
Do you want to kill me, or befriend me
Christian nation(nation), make us alright
Put us through the filter and make us pure and white 'cause'
My mind has wandered away from me
And the flock has wandered, away from me
Let's talk of family values while we sit and watch the slaughter
Hypothetical abortions on imaginary daughters
The white folks think they're at the top, ask any proud white male
A million years of evolution, we get Danny Quayle
(Chorus 1 & 2)
I'd love to take you home with me, I'd love to tuck you in
I wish I could protect you from the wages of our sin
I'd love to hear you scream tonight, I'd love to hear you cry
Protect you from the madness that is raining from the sky
(Chorus 2)
I'd love to take you home with me and tuck you into bed
I'd love to see what makes you tick inside your pretty head
I wish that I could keep you in a precious Chinese box
On Sundays I would pray for you so it would never stop
I'd love to hear you laugh tonight, I'd love to hear you weep
I'd love to listen to you while you're screaming in your sleep
I'd love to soothe you with my voice and take your hand in mine
I'd love to take you past the stars and out of reach of time
I'd love to see inside your mind, to tear it all apart
To cut you open with knife and find your sacred heart
I'd love to take your satin dolls and tear them all to shreds
I'd love to mess your pretty hair, I'd love to see you dead.'
Who do I pray to to straighten out this problem? (problem)
Straighten out this problem (problem), straighten out my mind (Mind)
Straighten out ...this crooked tongue...(x3)
My mind has wandered, from the straight and narrow
My mind has wandered from the flock you see
My mind has wandered, the man just said so
My mind has wandered I heard it on TV
And the flock has wandered away from me.
(Chorus 1)
All around the world now
Like a big bright cherry cloud
Traveling from home to home
TV sets and telephones
Here it comes just like a storm
Bathe in it and be reborn
Time to let the world know
Welcome madness, ...say hello...(x3)
Like a wave we cannot see
Washing over you and me
Hiding here and hiding there
Madness hiding everywhere
Such a curiosity
Here it comes to set us free
Plenty left for you and me
Say hello insanity
I am the virus, are you the cure?
I am morally(morally), I'm morally impure(Impure)
I am a disease and I am unclean
I am not part of God's well oiled machine
Christian nation(Nation), assimilate me(me)
Take me in your arms and set me free
I am part of a degenerate elite(elite)
Dragging our society into the street -yeah-
Into the abyss and to the sewer don't you see
The man just told me, he told me on TV
Do you think you're better than me
Do you want to kill me or befriend me
And the alcoholic bastard waved his finger at me
And His voice was filled with evangelical glee
Sipping down his gin & tonics
While preaching about the evils of narcotics
And the evils of sex,(sex) and the wages of sin (Sin)
While he mentally fondles his next of kin and
My mind has wandered from the flock you see
And the flock has wandered away from me
And he waved his hypnotizing finger at me
(Chorus 2)
Let's imitate reality (Insanity)
Let's strive for mediocrity (Insanity)
Let's make believe we're all the same (Now that's for me)
Let's sanitize our little brains (Insanity)
I'd love to take you home with me and tuck you into bed
I'd love to see what makes you tick inside your pretty head
I'd love to hear you laugh tonight, I'd love to hear you weep
I'd love to listen to you while you're screaming in your sleep.
Christian sons, Christian daughters
Lead me along like a lamb to the slaughter
Purify my brain and hose down my soul
White perfection, perfection is my goal
Do you think you're better than me
Do you want to kill me, or befriend me
Christian nation(nation), make us alright
Put us through the filter and make us pure and white 'cause'
My mind has wandered away from me
And the flock has wandered, away from me
Let's talk of family values while we sit and watch the slaughter
Hypothetical abortions on imaginary daughters
The white folks think they're at the top, ask any proud white male
A million years of evolution, we get Danny Quayle
(Chorus 1 & 2)
I'd love to take you home with me, I'd love to tuck you in
I wish I could protect you from the wages of our sin
I'd love to hear you scream tonight, I'd love to hear you cry
Protect you from the madness that is raining from the sky
(Chorus 2)
I'd love to take you home with me and tuck you into bed
I'd love to see what makes you tick inside your pretty head
I wish that I could keep you in a precious Chinese box
On Sundays I would pray for you so it would never stop
I'd love to hear you laugh tonight, I'd love to hear you weep
I'd love to listen to you while you're screaming in your sleep
I'd love to soothe you with my voice and take your hand in mine
I'd love to take you past the stars and out of reach of time
I'd love to see inside your mind, to tear it all apart
To cut you open with knife and find your sacred heart
I'd love to take your satin dolls and tear them all to shreds
I'd love to mess your pretty hair, I'd love to see you dead.'
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Just listening for the 784,654th time....and it's just perfect in every way. Just incredible. The only reason it was remade was to scoop up a boatload of money from a more modern and accepting audience. But it is a completely different song than the other one that sounds slapped together in a few takes without a thought for the meaning.
This song captivates me still, after 50+ years. Takes me to the deep South and the poverty of some who lived thru truly hard times. And the powerful spirit of a poor young girl being abandoned to her future with only a red dress and her wits to keep her alive.
She not only stayed alive, she turned her hard beginnings around, became self sufficient, successful and someone with respect for herself. She didn't let the naysayers and judgers stop her. She's the one sitting in the drivers seat at the end.
So, not a song about a poor girl, but a song of hope and how you can rise up no matter how far down you started.
There is a huge difference between a singer who simply belts out a song that is on a page in front of them, and someone who can convey an entire experience with their voice. Telling not just a story with words, but taking you inside it and making you feel like you are there, with their interpretation.
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I believe this is another amazingly on point and nuanced commentary on the insanity that follows emotionally abusive relationships. The abuser has no anxieties, no emotional pain, or salience/memory for that matter, so the survivor appears to be the crazy one, obsessed with the abuse and that buzzword that seems to ignite arguments about diagnosing people without a degree, etc. funny how you say the words domestic violence, abuse, abuse survivor and boom the subject changes. Anyways, I especially relate to her midnights becoming afternoons, complex PTSD often leads to this phenomenon, whether due to purposeful sleep deprivation by the abuser, or just hyper vigilance associated with the PTSD, along with the fear of facing people, especially your loved ones, who
Never actually understand, even if they try, because all they see is you, on fire, screaming about the arsonist that no one ever sees, and who has been spreading lies about your alleged mental instability, deceptive personality, etc. the whole time. While the last thing survivors need is more blame, our society supports a narrative that blames the objectively innocent party because the blatantly guilty party has spent their entire lives fabricating a persona and we’re just being human, and human psychology is quite counterintuitive especially in the context of trauma. Look at Amber Heard. Vilified and not believed, regardless of what any abuse survivor could recognize as a fellow survivor instantly. But Johnny depp is a malignant narcissist, a man, and wealthy as all get out. It’s sick.
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I am the virus, are you the cure?
I am morally, I'm morally impure
I am a disease and I am unclean
I am not part of God's well oiled machine
Christian nation, assimilate me
Take me in your arms and set me free
I am part of a degenerate elite
Dragging our society into the streeet
Into the abyss and to the sewer don't you see
The man just told me, he told me on TV
Its seems ur idea makes sense. thanks for writing it! :)
I'd actually like to suggest that this verse ("am I the virus, are you the cure?") suggest something else entirely -- it paints the speaker as an outsider but not necessarily a lunatic. Catch phrases like "morally unclean" and "Christian Nation, assimilate me" suggest to me that we're working from the point of view of a secular person and the zealotry of some of the Christian sects that have taken hold in the US (and around the world). Look at the last few lines: "I am part of a degenerate elite... the man just told me, he told me on TV." Doesn't that sound like a normal person's response to the more fire-and-brimstone televangelists? The things they call people out for are things the majority of the population does regularly -- and all of these seem to land you squarely in h-e-double hockey sticks .
Tangent (but related), when I was in college, there was a wacko branch Baptist who used to show up and point out all the girls who were going to hell for wearing tank tops in phoenix in August (kiss my what?!). The speaker in the lyrics isn't crazy (whether it's Elfman or not) -- the rational speaker is responding to the outrageous zealotry of the man on TV.
He also incorporates themes like disillusionment, the degradation of society (on a rational, practical level rather than on the level of fanatical Christians), and social/societal exclusion. In these situations, listening to these people, a perfectly average person can start to feel like they are a dangerous lunatic bound for hell. "Christian nation, assimilate me..." is naught more than a sarcastic plea to find a "place" to "belong" in all of this.
Listen to the commentary after the lines in the chorus:
"Let's imitate reality
Let's strive for mediocrity
Let's make believe we're all the same
Let's sanitize our little brains
For me, the "Now that's for me" response says it all. Everything in the responses is delivered in complete deadpan tone. It stands in contrast to the emotional/passionate expression of the main lines (almost shouted). When he says "Let's make-believe we're all the same" and responds, in deadpan "Now that's for me," I can almost visualize some clean-shaven, brylcreem '50s kid giving the plastic grin and a *big* thumbs up.
Let's make believe we're all the same.
(image of fifties kid here giving thumbs up)
It's Eddie Haskell. He's perfect on the surface, but we all know there's a sinister monster under it all. These zealots present themselves as perfect Christians, but they cannot hold up to close scrutiny -- nobody could!
The surface is the "insane" speaker, but underneath it, the key is to realize that the so-called "insane" speaker is really just about everyone... nobody can live up to these Puritanical ideals, and we're all excluded in the end, if you subscribe to a literal translation of biblical texts. *We're* the lunatics, the killers, the psychopaths -- "normal" is us: the flawed, the secular, the humans.
I'd actually like to suggest that this verse ("am I the virus, are you the cure?") suggest something else entirely -- it paints the speaker as an outsider but not necessarily a lunatic. Catch phrases like "morally unclean" and "Christian Nation, assimilate me" suggest to me that we're working from the point of view of a secular person and the zealotry of some of the Christian sects that have taken hold in the US (and around the world). Look at the last few lines: "I am part of a degenerate elite... the man just told me, he told me on TV." Doesn't that sound like a normal person's response to the more fire-and-brimstone televangelists? The things they call people out for are things the majority of the population does regularly -- and all of these seem to land you squarely in h-e-double hockey sticks .
Tangent (but related), when I was in college, there was a wacko branch Baptist who used to show up and point out all the girls who were going to hell for wearing tank tops in phoenix in August (kiss my what?!). The speaker in the lyrics isn't crazy (whether it's Elfman or not) -- the rational speaker is responding to the outrageous zealotry of the man on TV.
He also incorporates themes like disillusionment, the degradation of society (on a rational, practical level rather than on the level of fanatical Christians), and social/societal exclusion. In these situations, listening to these people, a perfectly average person can start to feel like they are a dangerous lunatic bound for hell. "Christian nation, assimilate me..." is naught more than a sarcastic plea to find a "place" to "belong" in all of this.
Listen to the commentary after the lines in the chorus:
"Let's imitate reality
Let's strive for mediocrity
Let's make believe we're all the same
Let's sanitize our little brains
For me, the "Now that's for me" response says it all. Everything in the responses is delivered in complete deadpan tone. It stands in contrast to the emotional/passionate expression of the main lines (almost shouted). When he says "Let's make-believe we're all the same" and responds, in deadpan "Now that's for me," I can almost visualize some clean-shaven, brylcreem '50s kid giving the plastic grin and a *big* thumbs up.
Let's make believe we're all the same.
(image of fifties kid here giving thumbs up)
It's Eddie Haskell. He's perfect on the surface, but we all know there's a sinister monster under it all. These zealots present themselves as perfect Christians, but they cannot hold up to close scrutiny -- nobody could!
The surface is the "insane" speaker, but underneath it, the key is to realize that the so-called "insane" speaker is really just about everyone... nobody can live up to these Puritanical ideals, and we're all excluded in the end, if you subscribe to a literal translation of biblical texts. *We're* the lunatics, the killers, the psychopaths -- "normal" is us: the flawed, the secular, the humans.