I’m sitting in Boyd Hall for 5 hours tonight, so I decided posting would be the first thing I’d do to occupy my time. Last night was a lot of fun. The usual group (plus or minus a few) headed out to Aggieville. I started early and maintained. Or something. The night was good overall, although I did find something out that, if true, kinda sucks. That’s all I’ll say for now. Unfortunately, my good night came back to haunt me this morning when maintenance woke me up three times to mess with my smoke detector cause they think it’s setting off the building fire alarm panel. When I finally did get up, I was met with a dull headache that stayed with me through most of the day. It’s pretty much subsided at this point, but that doesn’t mean I’ll be enjoying this shift. For your reading pleasure, here’s some more lyrics analysis.
Currently Playing: Shinedown – 45
1Send away for a priceless gift
One not subtle, one not on the list
Send away for a perfect world
One not simply, so absurd1
In these times of doing what you’re told
You keep these feelings, no one knows
What ever happened to the young man’s heart
Swallowed by pain, as he slowly fell apart
2And I’m staring down the barrel of a 45,
Swimming through the ashes of another life
No real reason to accept the way things have changed
Staring down the barrel of a 452
Send a message to the unborn child
Keep your eyes open for a while
3In a box high up on the shelf, left for you, no one else
There’s a piece of a puzzle known as life3
Wrapped in guilt, sealed up tight
What ever happened to the young man’s heart
Swallowed by pain, as he slowly fell apart
4Everyone’s pointing their fingers
Always condemning me
And nobody knows what I believe
I believe4
1When giving a gift, most people try to find the best thing possible. It’s always nice to be able to come up with something that’s not on the receiver’s list. There’s a certain amount of pride involved with giving something a person wasn’t expecting but will like just as much (or more) than anything on the list. In this section, the author equates that priceless gift to a perfect world. Personally, I’d just like to see a better world, cause for some reason I have a real problem with perfect. I think perfect = boring. Still, today’s world is pretty fucked up so any improvement would be nice.
2This guy is on the edge of a big change in his life. The ashes of his former life are still all around him and he’s not yet ready to accept what has happened. I think this is common for a lot of people when something big (and usually bad) happens. It took me a little while to come to grips with the way last semester turned out, but I was able to move on. Still, that time in between kind of felt like do or die time…suck it up and move on, or waste away in pain.
3Life is indeed complex and each person’s life is like a puzzle, but also each person represents a piece of the whole puzzle of life. When you are young, you are too small to reach the shelf. Likewise, you don’t really understand your role in the world yet. As you grow, you get closer to being able to reach the shelf and unwrap your piece of the puzzle and closer to understanding the reason you’re here.
4I can definitely relate to this. I don’t know how many times I’ve felt like I was being judged by someone who doesn’t know anything about me or what I stand for or even what’s in my head at that exact moment. What’s worse, most people make that snap judgment and never look back to see if they were even right about it. Who knows what they might have missed? Maybe it was the real me, and maybe they would have liked it if they’d hung around long enough to see it.