Megadeth: Sweating Bullets Meaning
Song Released: 1993
Sweating Bullets Lyrics
And my misfits way of life.
A dark black past is my
Most valued possession.
Hindsight is always 20-20,
But looking back its still a bit fuzzy.
Speak of mutually assured destruction?
Nice story...tell it to...
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1TOP RATED
#1 top rated interpretation:I think this song is about the Cold War
and before you give me a 1 star, hear me out
...after all, magedeth has songs about war and the government...
"Hello me...meet the real me.
And my misfits way of life."
Here he is introducing himself to himself.
So, what could this be?
he could be saying that the USA and USSR were the same, but they didn't view each other as equals so the to countries thought each other had a misguided way of life.
"A dark black past is my
Most valued possession.
Hindsight is always 20-20,
But looking back its still a bit fuzzy."
The USA had a dark past, they had used 2 nukes on Japan during WW2, this is the USA's most valued possession because it show the the USA in not a force to mess with and they have the power to kill.
Looking back, it might not have been a great idea to make the nukes "..still a bit fuzzy", but at the time it was a great way to end WW2 (hindsight is always 20-20"
"Speak of mutually assured destruction?
Nice story...tell it to readers digest!"
"mutually assured destruction" or also know as M.A.D. was the theory that is the USA and USSR both got a enough nukes to destroy each other, neither side would attack the other for fear that they would get attacked
Readers digest is an American magazine and tell "it to readers digest" would allow the american government to keep the people fearful of the enemy but allow them to maintain order because there is a solution for being attacked
"Feeling paranoid
True enemy or false friend?"
Both sides were paranoid about being attacked and they thought they couldn't trust the other side with anything that happened, even if it was a good thing
"Anxietys attacking me, and
My air is getting thin."
Both sides had anxiety about being attacked...
Here are the rest of the lyrics... I think that I gave you a good start and if you can't figure the rest out... you fail at life...
D.S. Hammar
Im in trouble for the things
I haven't got to yet.
Im chomping at the bit, and my
Palms are getting wet, sweating bullets.
Hello me...its me again.
You can subdue, but never tame me.
It gives me a migraine headache
Thinking down to your level.
Yea, just keep on thinking its my fault
And stay an inch or two outta kicking distance.
Mankind has got to know
His limitations.
Feeling claustrophobic,
Like the walls are closing in.
Blood stains on my hands and
I don't know where Ive been.
Im in trouble for the things
I haven't got to yet.
Im sharpening the axe and my
Palms are getting wet, sweating bullets.
Well, me...its nice talking to myself,
A credit to dementia.
Some day you too will know my pain,
And smile its blacktooth grin.
If the war inside my head
Wont take a day off Ill be dead.
My icy fingers claw your back,
Here I come again.
Feeling paranoid
True enemy or false friend?
Anxietys attacking me
And my air is getting thin
Feeling claustrophobic,
Like the walls are closing in.
Blood stains on my hands and
I don't know where Ive been
Once you committed me
Now youve acquitted me
Claiming validity
For your stupidity
Im chomping at the bit
Im sharpening the axe
Here I come again, whoa!
Sweating bullets -
This song is about some one being paranoid. That's why in the music video he talks to himself in the mirror
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It's a classic description of Dr. Jekyll Mr. Hyde. When you black out and screw up, no matter what there is a consequence and the real you will pay for it. This song is most likely is about his addiction, although many of us can relate. You still make the first choice. We know if we do this, how it will effect us. If it the mistake directly, or the mistake of in taking a substance, which then ripples to us making the wrong choice. The decision is always ultimately up to the real us.
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I am going to hazard a guess that Dave is writing about his battles with drug addictions ...
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hello me, meet the real me, and my misfit way of life.... hes accepting that he didnt always fit in with the crowd, he did his own thing.... a dark black past is my, most values possession... he did things he isnt proud of in his past, I assume some shameful like his addiction. its most valued to him because he can learn from his past mistakes and knows what will happen if he makes them again.... hindsight is always 20/20, lookin back its still a bit fuzzy... hindsight being 20/20 shows he knows what he SHOULD have done, being fuzzy can mean either hes uncertain as to WHY he did things the way he did, OR the drugs/alcohol clouded his memories/judgement. I think u get the jist of what im saying. his personalities are clashing with one another. the sober Dave vs the addict. addiction is hard to kick and causes alot of anxiety. anxiety attacks can make you feel like you cant breathe. he is struggling with the urges to use and hes sweating bullets from withdrawal/anxiety. bloodstains on hands/dont know where ive been.... easy, he relapsed and blacked out.
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It's about you being your own enemy, basically don't do wat u think might work but do wat will work for sure, just don't do wat the crazy side tell you to do, stick to the sane side of yourself not the insane
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Alright, two things: 1 if you guys are on about a split persona, that is something completely different to schizophrenia, its called split personality syndrome, look it up. 2 if it is about schizophrenia, its probably about drug related schizophrenia - the kind that affects something called displacement. I.e. Your body's projection of it self. certain drugs affect the frontal lobes, causing a 'displacement' or 'doppelganger' effect. Essentially, the body projects an image of itself, this 'other being' can control specific motions and muscles associated with the affected lobe. So if the character is indeed schizophrenic, it is probably his 'evil twin' who takes over. Not a split personality as most people wrongly assume. The character is terrified of this other being taking over his body... Portrayed by the middle eight section of the song (3:05) “I hear it in here... Blood stains on my *gulp* hands... They got to him...” and the constant growling in the background of this part. The mutually assured destruction bit is quite clever, showing that you can't get rid of this new being by force or medication. It often takes the original person with it... Hence the 'MAD'
The cold war theory is also possible. With various elements contributing...
The first verse is very possible
'hello me, meet the real me'
Possibly America (me) and secret organisations of America (real me)
'And my misfits way of life'
Possibly referring to the organisations like the CIA, certain divisions of the NSA, etc
'A dark black past is my most valued possession'
Pretty self explanatory
'hindsight is always 20/20 but looking back its still a bit fuzzy' simply iterating Americas past being unregrettable, but cloudy.
'speak of mutually assured destruction' a military term used to denote a large stockpile of weapons by two or more countries, that would assure all parties were destroyed or severely damaged if either side attacked.
'Nice story, tell it to reader's digest!'
An American magazine that showcases stories submitted... A military story is accepted just as everyone elses is.
'Feeling paranoid, true enemy or false friend?' Pretty self explanatory again.
Anxiety's attacking me and my air is getting ugho' America was very anxious with what Russia was doing and vice versa, this fueled both countries hate for eachother and etc -
Every Addict has 2 personas. The Clean one, and the Addict so to speak. Look at Dave's Past BEFORE Megadeth. Growing up he was on the run from his blood father, and his step father was a total Religious nut. He fell into alchohol and drugs. After he was kicked from Metallica he went on the binge that started Megadeth. Since he wrote this in Rehab it can be seen as him talking to himself about his life. "...you can subdue but never tame me.." can be put in reference to his multiple stays. Pointing, that the song is written from his Drug persona. Now as far as the name for the song I can't quite put what I think it means, cause I havent figured it out yet. But I hope this can help people get on track with it.
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This song is about going crazy. I've been through the loop and I know what it means to loose your normal being and try to reconcile how and why has my mind gone to the wayside, just like in accordance to the song. Different traumas or attributes to your life can do this.
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Dave wrote this while in rehab (one of his 18 stays) While in treatment one of the most popular ways to refer to someones addiction is to look at it as another person. Hence lines such as "You can subdue but never tame me" A prime example though is in the line "Once you committed me,Now you've acquitted me,Claiming validity,For your stupidity" This line obviously refers to the fact that dave had some clean time before this cd, but relapsed and went back to rehab after it got bad again.
wikipedia: Addiction is also a common theme, as in "Use the Man", "Burnt Ice", and "Addicted to Chaos", about a former substance abuse counselor who died of a drug overdose.
although the actual wikipedia article about the song is incorrect, I assure you, this song is NOT about a mental disorder -
This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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It's definitely about a schizophrenic dude.
The first verse I dunno about, but I don't think he can remember his "dark black past," since the next lines are "hindsight is always 20-20, but looking back its still a bit fuzzy."
Feeling paranoid
True enemy or false friend?
Anxiety's attacking me, and
My air is getting thin.
He's freaking out over things he may or may not have done, since he can't remember them.
I'm in trouble for the things
I haven't got to yet.
He can't remember what he's done.
I'm chomping at the bit, and my
Palms are getting wet, sweating bullets.
Still freaking out...
Hello me...its me again.
You can subdue, but never tame me.
It gives me a migraine headache
Thinking down to your level.
Yea, just keep on thinking its my fault...
Here is a pretty significant part. I think one of his selves is his normal self and the other is the crazy one that does things he can't remember. He can subdue but never tame his crazy self. He gets a migraine when he tries to figure himself out.
His crazy self says it's not his fault.
Feeling claustrophobic,
Like the walls are closing in.
Freaking out...
I'm sharpening the axe and my
Palms are getting wet, sweating bullets.
His crazy self is getting ready to do things, probably kill, again.
Some day you too will know my pain,
And smile its black-toothed grin.
His normal self says that one day his crazy self will know how it feels to kill and not remember.
If the war inside my head
Won't take a day off Ill be dead.
His schizophrenic-ness will kill him someday.
My icy fingers claw your back,
Here I come again.
Crazy self talking directly to his victim.
The final chorus is just hopping between his normal self freaking out and his crazy self getting ready to kill. -
It's about a man that goes crazy but doesn't know it cause every time he does something he blacks out
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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