Post by glimmeringgirl on Oct 14, 2005 21:02:21 GMT -5
Been wondering about this song's little behind the scenes ... pretty scary what the lyrics says. However, I found a really good review from a girl called faerieclaire from a hanson.net user site which i thought i'll share with you all:
(big thanks to faerieclaire and credit all to her of course)
"i posted you this HUGE response last night and it took me so long to write that h.net logged me out...and i was so frustrated that i just gave up, but here goes again...
i was listening to "believe" quite a bit last night, so my head is filled with thoughts. everyone seems so stuck on these lines and say they scream suicide...but i don't think they're really paying attention to the song as a whole. i know those two lines stick out when you listen to "believe," make you go 'wait, WHAT?' but i think jumping to the conclusion of suicide is a bit...overdramatic. i also don't think you can really single out those two lines and ask what they mean without the rest of the song. out of context, they make you go 'woah' but if you look at them in the song, they make perfect sense.
and as far as the idj theories go...they most definitely fit and i'm almost positive that's where this song came from, but i agree with cheryl. i think this song is meant to be taken at face value. everything you need to know is right there in the lyrics. you just have to listen and comprehend.
here's a breakdown of what i think this song is about, verse by verse.
I was holding on, now I’m letting go
This is nothing more than a picture show
Everything I knew now I hardly know
Busy keeping less never getting more
One more nickel dime I’m out the door
This kind of life I can’t afford
the narrator's given up. whatever's been going on in his life has turned into one gigantic show - that's all, no depth, no meaning, just a show for everyone. he doesn't know anything anymore except that this life isn't the right one for him. he's almost to a breaking point, it's just a matter of time.
I want to believe
There’s something to believe
I would live only
Just to believe
Oh, I’d love to believe
It’s not only me that’s longing
Only just to believe
‘Cause I want to believe
I want to believe
he still has hope though. [and this is the beauty of hanson...their ability to pull off cheery hopeful lyrics in such a sad sounding song and vice versa] he also wants the reassurance that he's not alone in his needing to believe. he wants to know he's not the only one holding on to something that doesn't seem to quite be there. he's willing to believe in something, anything, he's just not sure what - perhaps that he holds the power to change the situation at hand still?
Can’t put my mind at ease with the words I say
Trying to get myself to get out of my way
Birds in the trees just make me depressed
Seeing sunny skies, feeling emptiness
Layers of lies just seem to fold
This kind of life is all I know
however, despite this needing to believe, his mind is still a mess. words offer little or no comfort and he can't seem to remove himself from the situation. the beauty of the world only reinforces the 'rock and hard place' he's between. in a sense, the birds and the sun can believe...their ability to do so only reminds him of the lack-there-of in his life. his own life only seems to be full of lies, and he's not sure how to break away from something he knows so well.
I want to believe
There’s something to believe
I would live only
Just to believe
Oh, I’d love to believe
It’s not only me that’s longing
Only just to believe
‘Cause I want to believe
I want to believe
the meaning shifts here. instead of believing in the situation, he wants to believe in something, anything, to get himself through it and maybe even out of it.
Murder wears a friendly smile
Like the perfect end in a plastic vial
No pain
Sorry I can’t seem to stay
But this bird was meant to fly away
Fly away, fly away
the turning point. the narrator begins to truly recognize what's going on and that he does have the ability to change it. whatever's been haunting him wears that murderous smile. don't take these lines literally, think solely of the emotions involved - most murders probably feel little or no remorse for their actions. they know exactly what they're doing, they wear a friendly smile to make you feel comforted before pulling the gun on you. the next line is simply a similie to explain "murder wears a friendly smile." anything you'd take in a vial to bring a end [presumably to your life] would offer no pain. that's the point of taking it, right? just like that, a murder feels no pain, no guilt, no remorse for what he's done.
that said, our narrator realizes the situation he's in isn't going to change - you can't make someone who feels nothing feel what you're feeling. his only option is to remove himself from his current surroundings. he explains he can't stay here any longer and has to leave. why?
Layers of lies just seem to fold
This kind of life is all I know
because of the lies. and though it's the only life he knows, there's still that tiny hope:
I want to believe
There’s something to believe
I would live only
Just to believe
Oh, I’d love to believe
It’s not only me that’s longing
Only just to believe
‘Cause I want to believe
I want to believe
of knowing he can believe.
i think 'i'd love to believe it's not only me that's longing only just to believe' is KEY in the chorus. it's repeated and i think the meaning shifts, this is where we see it. before the narrator just wanted to know he there's other people out there believing, but i think now that he's broken away, that need becomes the most important part of his needing to believe. knowing other do too is the one and only thing that will keep him going.
I will believe
I’d love to believe
I can believe in something
I will believe
I’d love to believe
I can’t believe in nothing
the resolution.
he's been fighting with the thought and the need to believe for so long that now, he will. how strong is his belief? and in what? we're not sure...all we're left knowing is that he'll believe because there's no other option left."
from faerieclaire
Taken from:
users.hanson.net/fangirl/ac/wyiydlive.html
(big thanks to faerieclaire and credit all to her of course)
"i posted you this HUGE response last night and it took me so long to write that h.net logged me out...and i was so frustrated that i just gave up, but here goes again...
i was listening to "believe" quite a bit last night, so my head is filled with thoughts. everyone seems so stuck on these lines and say they scream suicide...but i don't think they're really paying attention to the song as a whole. i know those two lines stick out when you listen to "believe," make you go 'wait, WHAT?' but i think jumping to the conclusion of suicide is a bit...overdramatic. i also don't think you can really single out those two lines and ask what they mean without the rest of the song. out of context, they make you go 'woah' but if you look at them in the song, they make perfect sense.
and as far as the idj theories go...they most definitely fit and i'm almost positive that's where this song came from, but i agree with cheryl. i think this song is meant to be taken at face value. everything you need to know is right there in the lyrics. you just have to listen and comprehend.
here's a breakdown of what i think this song is about, verse by verse.
I was holding on, now I’m letting go
This is nothing more than a picture show
Everything I knew now I hardly know
Busy keeping less never getting more
One more nickel dime I’m out the door
This kind of life I can’t afford
the narrator's given up. whatever's been going on in his life has turned into one gigantic show - that's all, no depth, no meaning, just a show for everyone. he doesn't know anything anymore except that this life isn't the right one for him. he's almost to a breaking point, it's just a matter of time.
I want to believe
There’s something to believe
I would live only
Just to believe
Oh, I’d love to believe
It’s not only me that’s longing
Only just to believe
‘Cause I want to believe
I want to believe
he still has hope though. [and this is the beauty of hanson...their ability to pull off cheery hopeful lyrics in such a sad sounding song and vice versa] he also wants the reassurance that he's not alone in his needing to believe. he wants to know he's not the only one holding on to something that doesn't seem to quite be there. he's willing to believe in something, anything, he's just not sure what - perhaps that he holds the power to change the situation at hand still?
Can’t put my mind at ease with the words I say
Trying to get myself to get out of my way
Birds in the trees just make me depressed
Seeing sunny skies, feeling emptiness
Layers of lies just seem to fold
This kind of life is all I know
however, despite this needing to believe, his mind is still a mess. words offer little or no comfort and he can't seem to remove himself from the situation. the beauty of the world only reinforces the 'rock and hard place' he's between. in a sense, the birds and the sun can believe...their ability to do so only reminds him of the lack-there-of in his life. his own life only seems to be full of lies, and he's not sure how to break away from something he knows so well.
I want to believe
There’s something to believe
I would live only
Just to believe
Oh, I’d love to believe
It’s not only me that’s longing
Only just to believe
‘Cause I want to believe
I want to believe
the meaning shifts here. instead of believing in the situation, he wants to believe in something, anything, to get himself through it and maybe even out of it.
Murder wears a friendly smile
Like the perfect end in a plastic vial
No pain
Sorry I can’t seem to stay
But this bird was meant to fly away
Fly away, fly away
the turning point. the narrator begins to truly recognize what's going on and that he does have the ability to change it. whatever's been haunting him wears that murderous smile. don't take these lines literally, think solely of the emotions involved - most murders probably feel little or no remorse for their actions. they know exactly what they're doing, they wear a friendly smile to make you feel comforted before pulling the gun on you. the next line is simply a similie to explain "murder wears a friendly smile." anything you'd take in a vial to bring a end [presumably to your life] would offer no pain. that's the point of taking it, right? just like that, a murder feels no pain, no guilt, no remorse for what he's done.
that said, our narrator realizes the situation he's in isn't going to change - you can't make someone who feels nothing feel what you're feeling. his only option is to remove himself from his current surroundings. he explains he can't stay here any longer and has to leave. why?
Layers of lies just seem to fold
This kind of life is all I know
because of the lies. and though it's the only life he knows, there's still that tiny hope:
I want to believe
There’s something to believe
I would live only
Just to believe
Oh, I’d love to believe
It’s not only me that’s longing
Only just to believe
‘Cause I want to believe
I want to believe
of knowing he can believe.
i think 'i'd love to believe it's not only me that's longing only just to believe' is KEY in the chorus. it's repeated and i think the meaning shifts, this is where we see it. before the narrator just wanted to know he there's other people out there believing, but i think now that he's broken away, that need becomes the most important part of his needing to believe. knowing other do too is the one and only thing that will keep him going.
I will believe
I’d love to believe
I can believe in something
I will believe
I’d love to believe
I can’t believe in nothing
the resolution.
he's been fighting with the thought and the need to believe for so long that now, he will. how strong is his belief? and in what? we're not sure...all we're left knowing is that he'll believe because there's no other option left."
from faerieclaire
Taken from:
users.hanson.net/fangirl/ac/wyiydlive.html
