AFI: Miss Murder Meaning
Song Released: 2006
Miss Murder Lyrics
Hey Miss Murder can I?
Make beauty stay if I,
Take my life?
Whoa-oh-ohh
With just a look they shook
And heavens bowed before him.
Simply a look can break your heart.
The stars that pierce the sky;
He left them...
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I think its about kurt cobain because he had a huge following and died at the peak of stardom in 1994.I think miss murder is his wife courtney love.
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i agree that its Hitler when they say "may beauty stay if i take my life" its probably referring to Hitler hoping that if he took his own life that the ideals he instilled in Germany would stay. just watch the video its clearly a moch up of one of Hitler's speeches
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It all makes sense if you relate it to Hitler.
"Hey, miss murder can I,
Hey, miss murder can I,
Make beauty stay if I,
Take my life?"
This refers to Hitlers mistress as Miss Murder, where Hitler would be Mr. Murder. The last 2 lines in the excerpt demonstrate peoples willingness to commit suicide to escape from his tyranny.
"With just a look,
they shook,
and heavens
bowed before him,
simply a look
would break your heart"
This refers to Hitlers power over all his officials, and "the heavens bowed before him" refers to the other world leader's respect and fear of him. the last 2 lines talk about the sadness of the chaos that insued when Hitler started annexing.
"The stars that pierce the sky,
he left them all behind,
he left, who'd want to know why,
he left us all behind"
This talks about (first line) the munitions of WWII that were fired, from bombs to bullets. The rest is about how Hitler commited suicide, and left his followers to clean up the mess and face war crimes.
(repeat of first excerpt and meaning)
"Dreams of his crash,
won't pass,
Or how they all
adored him
beauty will last
when he spiraled down"
The first 2 lines refer the infamy Hitler still has today even after dying and the fact he is probably the most known man ever proven to have lived. The next 2 refer, again, to the loyalty of his officers and those under his control. the last 2 lines refer to the fact that him and "Miss Murder" both committed suicide together.
"The stars that mystify" and "how his children cried(the rest of the verse is the same) refer to seperate yet connected things. The first refers to why war is fought. Why do we fight wars? The latter is about how when Hitler was declared dead, his officers, aka his "children", were sad he had gone.
"Whats the hook
whats the twist
in this verbose mystery"
This refers to the fact that Hitler was a very good spokesman, and he probably was able to TWIST what he was saying and HOOK the listeners. Verbose means to use too many words for something that could have been put simply.
"I would gladly bet
my life upon it,
That the the ghost you love,
your ray of light,
will fizzle out,
without hope"
This talks about the reminiscence of the fact that all leaders and role models will come to a death, sometimes grisly or rather unpleasant.
"We're the empty satchels
floating through,
wrapped in skin,
ever searching for
what we were promised,
reaching for the
golden ring we never let go
who would ever
let us put
our filthy hands on it?
The first half shows how life under tyranny is cruel and meaningless, while the second half shows how Hitler had an idea (aka the "golden ring"), but had to fight hard to get it and eventually lost.
(repeat of first excerpt and meaning)
So you see, it all makes sense. -
Screw the hitler thing,
in an interview from their crsh love album,
davey says that decemberunderground was an album compiled of songs basing his emotions, love like winter, miss murder, prelude 12/21, and so on, I don't think HITLER is an emotion or has any emotion involved wiht his assholishness -
I think it is very clear. Someone that was admired by a lot of people was killed, and now, the narrator--we'll just call him Davey, because that's who's singing it obviously--Davey is asking the killer--referred to as Miss Murder--that if he took his own life, would he be remembered in light, like the man who was killed. And it's gotta be a man, because it says in the song, "...Heavens bowed before him..." so I would assume it's a male. People remember the guy who was killed in light because he was the victim, and Davey wants those kinda thoughts on himself, and is wondering if suicide would give that to him.
"Hey, Miss Murder can I...
Hey, Miss Murder can I...
Make beauty stay if I...
Take my life?"
This is his question of suicide.
"With just a look,
they shook, and heavens bowed before him,
simply a look can break your heart..."
He's saying that the victim is someone well known and liked throughout the community.
"The stars that pierced the sky,
he left them all behind,
We're left to wonder why,
He left us all behind..."
He's saying that THe guy is dead now, and people miss him.
In the next verse...
"Dreams of his crash won't pass,
and now they all adore him,
beauty will last, when spiralled down..."
Here, he's saying that the death brought this guy to light.
We know the bridge into the chorus, and the chorus, but the bridge itself...here's what I see:
"What's the hook, the twist, within this verbose mystery? I would gladly bet my life upon it..."
He's asking if it's really death that makes them miss the loved man, and stating that he would "bet his life upon it" and commit suicide so people love him too.
"Like the ghost you love your ray of light will fizzle out. Without hope..."
This part is harder to decipher. I think Davey may be talking about the loved dead guy and knowing that if he does give in to suicide, he knows that one day, he'll be a memory and nothing more. Maybe.
"We're the empty set,
just floating through, wrapped in skin,
ever searching for what we were promised.
Like the golden ring we'd never let go,
Who would ever let us put our filthy hands upon it...?"
Here, Davey's stating that everyone wants to be seen in the same light as the loved dead guy and wonders why people think the way they do when someone dies. I guess.
Then it's the chorus again, which we already know Davey is asking the murderer of the loved dead guy if killing himself is the way to get what he wants. I hope you find my interpretation of this song agreeable, and thnx for reading. ^u^ -
The song is very Gnostic in many ways. But there's not just one concept here to take apart. So much can mean so much.
A lot of humans and human conditions can illustrate it. The video seems to do so with a semi-mystical Hitler-like man and a femme-fatal who comes to collect the deal by breaking his neck like a rabbit. Yes, be careful who you make deals with, even if the end result is the same as things would have turned out anyway. We can (and have) thought of many other ways to get the concept across.
Who is Miss Murder? Most likely, it's Sohpia. Isha (the woman, known as Eve after Genesis 3:20). Death, Gaia, Ishtar, Mary of Bethany. An archetype I suppose you could call it.
I interpret the main chorus as meaning a great number of things all at once. A different thing each time it's sung perhaps, evidenced by the fact the way it's sung changes?
It asks: If you are there, will you answer my questions? Can I stop time or must I change for the worse before I die? Can I make a deal with a being of faith? What is the meaning of life? etc
The first verse details a being that leaves the physical stars. It is beautiful (a look breaks the heart) and can command the heavens. It comes on its own, then leaves again. We are left to wonder why he left without us.
The second verse details a being that leaves the mystical stars. Something it can't forget (dreams about), crushed down. He was adored and even though disgraced is still beautiful. Those he left, the ones that adored him, his children, either cry out to him directly or weep that he left them.
Sophia and the Demiurge. Or vice versa. Or if you wish, something else.*
Now the rest of the verses struggle with things, or should I say details our struggles, but are rather clear.
Verbose mystery: There is a lot of information out here, but little truth.**
So the song asks, what's the truth, the entire story in all this information. The supposed consequences of not believing are not important here. Whatever it is you love, whatever your hope is, that will turn out to be untrue (or based upon incomplete information) also.
Because we're simply spirits in flesh. And we're always looking for what we think is promised to us. It's a golden ring, only something to grasp at. We are of the flesh, material, dirty. We feel the truth -- that the spiritual ones would never let us get that empty promise.
*
Isaiah 14:12 -- How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low!
Most likely, "O Day Star" (phosphoros/lucifer) is a purposeful mistranslation of heylel, a mad, boastful, foolish, full of rage one. But that's an entire other subject.
Also see 2 Peter 1:19 -- We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day-star arise in your hearts:
There's many others to choose from if you take a look, I'm sure.
**
Explaining this "verbose mystery" is rather key. A good example could be Genesis 2:17 3:4-5
God tells the man specifically not to eat from "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil" because "in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." This is even before the woman is created out of the man. The serpent, more subtle "than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made" tells the woman "Ye shall not surely die. For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." The man is not around.
Yes, a talking whatever the word serpent comes from in Hebrew. But is it not a beast of the field made by God, or is it not made by God at all? Or was God out making other material beings in the meantime? What color toaster do you want for your birthday? Ah, yes. Many other questions, just like the song!
But the point is that neither "side" is telling these two material beings of the Earth the entire story. They aren't even told together by either one of the supernatural/mystical beings. Whatever these things are, they seem to be imperfect, and only as malevolent or benevolent as permitted by their inadequacies. Did not God know of the serpent? Why tell the man, then create the woman? Where was the dude when the snake was hitting up his old lady? Also another subject. -
A lot of people have suggested that this song is about Hitler. I, however, would disagree. In some instances the comparison makes sense, but it essentially does not seem to be something AFI would write about. The song tends to idealize the person who has left everyone behind. Assuming Davey Havok followed former patterns of making a song about his own life, Hitler would not fit. Havok does not appear to be anti-Semitic, and he would have to be in order to have this song about Hitler. The term "us" is used to refer to the followers left behind. If Havok were to have written this in reference to his own life, he would have to consider himself either a follower of Hitler or someone that relates to him, something he is most definatly not. The Lucifer theory seems to fit better with the lyrics of the song being person to Havok as he may not follow Lucifer, but perhaps may relate to him at the level of Lucifer having been the most adored angel of God that was ultimately thrown from heaven and, now, hated.
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The song is about a woman at its most basic.
Hey Miss Murder can I?
Hey Miss Murder can I?
Make beauty stay if I,
Take my life?
In this verse, he is going to the extreme of essentially saying to the woman he is in love with, "If I give up everything, will you stay?"
With just a look they shook
And heavens bowed before him.
Simply a look can break your heart.
This describes the social status of the singer. He had everything and it seemed that the very heavens bent to his wishes.
The stars that pierce the sky;
He left them all behind.
We’re left to wonder why
He left us all behind.
Again, he had everything. But the song leads you to believe that he chose to give it all up for an attempt at getting back the one he loved, but who did not love him in return. He commits suicide, leaving all those who cared about him to wonder why.
Dreams of his crash won’t pass
Oh, how they all adored him
He died in a car crash. Everyone loved him.
Beauty will last when spiraled down.
He died in hopes to regain the one he loved, hoping that, in death, she would love him.
The stars that mystify
He left them all behind.
And how his children cried
He left us all behind.
The children are the people that not only cared about the singer, but also the people that he cared about. He left them all behind, all to regain the one he loved.
What's the hook, the twist
Within this verbose mystery?
I would gladly bet my life upon it.
Sometimes, people do not say exactly what they mean. They give long, drawn out excuses, such as a person's excuse for leaving another in a relationship. The verbose mystery is the excuse his love gave to him for leaving. He didn't understand at first what was meant by it, but after sinking into depression, he thinks that he must give up his very life to regain her. It's a last hope of a desperate lover.
That the ghost you love, your ray of light
Will fizzle out without hope.
He is the ghost, and in his mind, her ray of light. He is saying that without hope, without her, he will die.
We're the empty set just floating through, wrapped in skin
Ever searching for what we were promised.
Reaching for that golden ring we'd never let go,
but who would ever let us put put our filthy hands upon it?
Here, his depression turns to rage. He feels empty, hollow, and all he cares about, all he wants, is just to have his lover back. The relationship was serious in his mind. She promised herself to him. The golden ring is a wedding ring. All he cares about, is reclaiming what he was promised: her. He will never let go of this promise. The last line is directed at his lover, who he is now enraged at. It is as if he is yelling, "You promised me everything. I loved you. But my love wasn't good enough. It will never be good enough for you!"
Hey Miss Murder can I?
Hey Miss Murder can I?
Make beauty stay if I,
Take my life?
Whoa-oh-ohh
Having become enraged at his lover and still in a pit of depression, he kills himself. It is finally revealed that, instead of killing himself to regain his lover, he killed himself to strike back at her. Similar themes of suicide as a form of revenge can be seen in the song "Snuff on Digital" by Davey's side-project band Blaqk Audio. -
This song is about Kurt Cobain.
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I think that it was comparing Hitler's reign to the rebellion of Lucifer. Both were envious of power, and sought to establish a new and "better" system of government. They both, out of envy, resented what was good and ended up losing their power. "He left us all behind!" Lucifer was banished from heaven. Hitler was distressed that all he had worked to create had been destroyed. Both left us behind. I must give credit to the people who had the "Hitler" and "Lucifer" theories. I just noticed a connection.
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haven't been able to find out entirely what this song is about, but the following is my guess,
A couple once fell in love, one being a young mischevious boy, and another a beautiful women. These two had lived a great life until the boy had become famous, and that fame led to the disaster of their relationship. The two split up, with hateful remarks towards another, that only fueled with the fall of the boy's career. Years later his once beloved had become known to him as Miss Murder, and she had finally pushed herself to seek revenge, and come to take his life, for destroying hers. Needless to say, the once famous star did not go down without a fight. He took a stand in front of all his adoring fans and rallied them to help ward of Miss Murder. Unfortunately his attempts were in vain, and after coming to realization of his defeat, Miss Murder finally reclaims her once beloved, this time however, in death.
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I kind of agree with the Hitler thing in that it's about a leader, maybe a really ambitious leader perhaps, but I think that what it's about is this great leader who is probably thought of as the "Hope for Humanity" or whatever, knows he is dying or is going to die before his time and probably secretly wishes to somehow make a deal with "Miss Murder" that if he has to die soon, then can he at least accomplish whatever great thing he set out to do. Im not sure how others will react to it but that is what I got out of it.
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You people ever think of maybe emailing AFI fan sites that can ask the band themselves? just a thought
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I think this is about a god or king leaving his people behind. Could be applied to any number of situations.
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Ok you are all retarded...some of them I can see because liek the biblical stuff fits and all, and I'm a Christian but honestly, ''miss murder'' not the song, the phrase (yes there is a phrase) means 'vanity'. do you know what vanity is??? =P its being cocky and arrogant. ''miss murder'' is a phrase that literally means that.
"We're left to wonder why...he left us all...behind" possibly a previous friend who did something and everyone thought it was really great and he became popular and the narrator is just like ''wtf?! I'm your friend and you just left me?????'' so yea...''with just a look, he shook'' the old friend looks at the narrator and shudders because he realizes that he's left him but hasn't done anything about it.
''and heavens bowed b4 him'' --his new popularity
''hey miss murder (vanity) can i, make beauty (the old friend) stay if i, take my life...'' hed give anything to be with his old friend again and he wants his friend back.
and a lot of the bridge is like...we try to get his old friend back, but the old friends new friends won't even let the narrator near them because theyre like...shunned
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