Muse: Thoughts of a Dying Atheist Meaning
Thoughts of a Dying Atheist Lyrics
trapped beneath my pillow
won't let me sleep
your memories
I know you're in this room
I'm sure I heard you sigh
floating in-between
where our worlds collide
It scares the hell out of me
when the end is all I can...
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1TOP RATED
#1 top rated interpretation:I don't really agree with many of the Atheist answers on here. Most of them seem to think that when you die you go into "darkness". I'm an atheist and I think like most, when you die your body just stops. There is no darkness or other reality. You're erased from the Earth and you don't even know it because you're gone. It's hard to think of and imagine.
The meaning of this song is that for someone with my views, when I'm on my deathbed, I'm definitely going to be having second thoughts about whether or not I'm actually right. But the truth is, nobody will ever know. Right now, I truly believe that when we die, we die, but on my deathbed I'll be scared as shit knowing that I didn't worship any God my whole life and if there is one, I'm screwed. Thats what the song is about: thinking that if there is a god, you are 100% screwed. -
2TOP RATED
#2 top rated interpretation:I am an atheist, and dying does scare the hell out of me. I completely understand this song, it means so much to me. For those of you who think dying doesn't scare an atheist, you're an idiot. Maybe those freakin atheist emo kids don't fear death because it brings an end to "suffering." I, however, enjoy my life. Love my friends, I LOVE IT. So why would I not be afraid of the end of it all. The end of beauty, end of music, Can you even imagine nothingness? It's scary. If there were a hell, I would rather be there than having my life just end and never experience anything again. So yes, this song is about A Dying Atheist who is afraid of the end. He is also thinking of someone close that passed away as he lies there on his death bed. It is my opinion, but this lyrics can be interpreted in different ways. It's a good piece of art. "Where our worlds collide" hmmmm
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3TOP RATED
#3 top rated interpretation:I am a real Atheist. Unlike the agnostic anonymous you see a lot of. Atheist's do not believe in the supernatural. We believe that all things live and all things die. We just happen to be the only species that is cognitive enough to realize we are dying.In the song he is a recovering Christian. Once you've been brainwashed enough in any church you will lose grasp of reality and you will think that you're always being watched. You will think that your inner most subconsciousness is god, and he will talk to you.
Eerie whispers
trapped beneath my pillow
won't let me sleep
your memories
I know you're in this room
I'm sure I heard you sigh
floating in-between
where our worlds collide
"Floating in between where our worlds collide" Is a deeper look into how religious people think. There is reality, and there is a imaginative one. The imaginative one is where you're god and everyone you've ever loved goes. Heaven or hell. According to Christian belief. So God must travel between these two worlds to intervene. They keep their message in the down low. The message is clear and evident to an Atheist who has seen both sides. At first it did scare the hell out of me to think that the only reason I believed was so when I died I would be granted a chance at immortality. I am no longer afraid of death, it is inevitable. I see things in open eyes now. I no longer judge people according to ancient human text. I no longer look forward to my afterlife. I look forward to tomorrow. I cherish what little life we have. You should too. -
This may be because im not an atheist but I took it that the person singing has some religion he follows and he's thinking about people that are atheist dying and it scares the hell out of him because they don't know what's going to happen to them and neither does he so he wants them to go to heaven or whatever his religion might consist of after moving onto the afterlife so he's scared and everything.
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It's kind of an insulting song.
I'm an Atheist, and I think this song was written by a religious person who is imposing his fear/view point of the fear that an Atheist should be facing.
It isn't any different from what a religion person will fear when they come to near death.
Personally, I think many Atheists already come to terms with it. It's actually comforting to know that we'll always be around. Our molecules simply get shifted around. I'd like to be cremated and spread around the Giant Redwoods and Sequoia trees in Northern California.
It would be nice to be a tree. -
Matthew has shown signs of being an Atheist... Maybe this is his own semi-constant mind process. Maybe he wonderas if there really is a god and he is afraid he made the wrong choice. The possibility of a Hell probably haunts him, as it soes every Atheist. But I dont understand two things. 1) In Uprising it says "We should never be afraid to die." Hmm... conflicting lyrics. 2)He believes in spirits. He participates in seances and plays with ouija boards. He has his entire life, practically. If there are spirits, there are demons. If there are demons, there is Satan. If there is a Satan, than there is God. And, finally, if there is a god, there is an afterlife. Nuff' said...
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My interpretation to this song in my life is when he says atheist he can mean a legit atheist or a non-believer...
now what if your a non believer in being able to get the person you love? it would scare the hell outta me!
when he says "wont let me sleep, your memories" ? maybe you have memories with the person u love, and you dont wanna sleep cuz u just wanna relive them but the end is all you can see....
yeah - it scares the hell outta me because the end of US is all i can see
this is my opinion.. thank you -
this is out of context but do any of u guys love the solo in this song? in my opinion it adds more feeling to the lyrics. Reason why i say this is because to me it feels like the guitar is playing as the "Atheist" and death. the beginning of the solo is like death but the guitar also goes up and down almost as if the "Atheist" is trying to fight death and live. idk i always felt that way about that solo since 11th grade, 3 years ago haha.
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You guys are all pretty good with this, but you're forgetting a pretty big part of the song: the first two stanzas.
Eerie whispers
trapped beneath my pillow
won't let me sleep
your memories
I know you're in this room
I'm sure I heard you sigh
floating in-between
where our worlds collide
From there, he goes straight to saying "It scares the hell out of me." Look at how supernatural the above lyrics actually are. The first stanza could simply be a statement on memories of those he's lost, or it could be more. For the second stanza, there is no mistake: he's acknowledging SOMETHING supernatural. However, he doesn't know what it is, he doesn't understand it, and it terrifies him. I imagine god coming to someone, and that person not understanding god, and being floored by fear.
This is consistent with some of Bellamy's other songs. Though he is an atheist, he has expressed a kind of ode to religion in songs like Glorious. It would seem like religion is something that he feels no animosity toward, maybe even a desire for, but lacks the capability to believe in. -
Just imagine knowing that you're absolutely going to die and there is nothing you can do about it. That level of uncertainty and fear is impossible to define and it would make anyone think about if they've lived their lives correctly or in a way that other people said you would gain salvation for. Even more scary for the atheist because he cant call on the help of "god" whether it exists or not.
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I feel that this song is about a Dying Atheist (No shit, eh?)
I don't think Bellamy is trying to force belief on us, but to just think about how it must feel to not know what will happen when you die. Most of the people here who say that a "True" atheist wouldn't think about it is wrong. Its amazingly hard not to think of such things when you're on your deathbed. -
I think that maybe someone close to him has died and that has brought him to think more on what lies beyond this life and the thought scares him. To me it seems he is just plainly writing about his thoughts at that moment, whether he thinks this way now or not.
I personally believe there is a heaven and a hell and would rather believe in God and love Him then to ever set foot in hell. -
WoW the person you posted first and anyone who thinks that this song is actually about a person who is dying and is reconsidering atheism is an ignorant fuck stick. If you followed the album story line it calls the government "religiouless" it is truly just about how when someone in the government dies then they will not have an afterlife because the way that government officials act is cold hearted and follows morals that are not necessarily good. It is really a remorseful song because he knows that they are only doing what they think is right to make a good life for themselves but knows that people who do have religion would say they would go to hell. Interesting song really.....
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Im an atheist, too. And I may not know many things because I'm still a kid but doesnt an atheist beleive in no afterlife? I think the atheist described in the song is afraid of what comes after dying (not the processes of dying.) He's afraid the nothingness that comes after death.
Do you remember what it was like before you were born?
No. The moment you came into this world was the first moment you existed. And I'm guessing the moment you die is the end of your existence. I think thats what he's thinking about.
The first two virses are contridictions. The verse 'I know you're in this room' would implythe existence of an afterlife of which an atheist would not beleive in. -
This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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Scares the hell out of me - it is the thought of nothingness. Knowing that you will not be around when the world still goes on and you still want to be a part of it. I know I saw the look in my dying partners eyes as they gave him morphine. He had no time to come to terms with what was happening it was so quick but I saw he was scared and he didn't want to go.
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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I really don't think that such a spiritual (judging by his lyrics and opinions) person like Matthew would really be an atheist. And I've heard that he said in some interview that he believed that some god created the universe even tho he doesn't believe in any religion. Believing in God doesn't mean that you believe in religion! The song is about an atheist that has these thoughts that scare 'the hell out of him', thoughts of what will happen after the life. As simple as that.
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