My Chemical Romance: I'm not Okay (I Promise) Meaning
Song Released: 2004
I'm not Okay (I Promise) Lyrics
I never want to let you down or have you go
It's better off this way
For all the dirty looks
The photographs your boyfriend took
Remember when you broke your foot
From jumping out the...
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I think most of you are right but I would like to point out this part.
THIS LINE
I'm okay
I'm okay!
I'm okay, now
(I'm okay, now)
But you really need to listen to me
Because I'm telling you the truth
I mean this, I'm okay!
(Trust Me)
Is what he is saying to the public
but THIS LINE
I'm not okay
I'm not okay
Well, I'm not okay
I'm not o-fucking-kay
I'm not okay
I'm not okay
(Okay)
Is the hurt he feels inside that he is hiding
I especially like the "you say you read me like a book" line is interesting because that is actually how I feel most of the time...
I guess this song is like my theme song -
I think this song is what its like to be an outcast in high school. In the music video, the band members are depicted as outcasts: Gerard not being skilled in the beginning and having unusual interests, eating alone, eating a crayon, drinking a lab potion, sex in the bathroom, taking medication, being a homosexual or bi-curious, not getting romantic hints, fighting the jocks, etc. Just about doing things or being someone that other people don't do/aren't.
Note: I'm not saying that anyone who does or is any of the above is an outcast, its just some stuff I noticed from the video. Great song! -
This song, judging by the video and lyrics, is just about all the bad memories the band had to face when they were in high school, "remember when you broke your foot from jumping out the second floor" and "photographs your boyfriend took" etc. The video shows the band suffering because of their lack of popularity, physical abilities "you can't swim, you can't dance and you don't know karate" and way with girls. but when people ask how they are, they have to pretend like they are fine "you really need to listen to me, coz I'm telling you the truth, I mean this, I'm okay!" but in the chorus they just break free from that and say I'm not okay like they wanted to in the first place. Then later on they decide to get revenge on the people who have made their time at school miserable, and in the end you can see the band and a group of jocks walking towards each other with baseball bats and hockey sticks, and they just attack each other.
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This is the best song MCR have ever done! I think it's about high school, and Gerard Way's high school experience (yeah, that's established). The bit about "you sing the words but you don't know what it means" is about people who really don't have any problems writing and singing songs about stuff they've never even had to deal with.
I also think that the chorus-where he's constantly contradicting himself "I mean this: I'm okay, I'm not okay" is about how in high school, that's the standard response,like you just go "yeah,im okay" even when you have serious stuff going on,and the person is just screaming out for the recognition that he's actually not okay.
If you think my interpretation sucks then apologies, but whatever. -
I think this song is about how something can happen (like the girl Gerard liked taking those photos with her boyfriend) can make someone change completely, make them depressed or suicidal and when people ask you "How are you?" You lie and tell them you're okay. Really on the inside, you are crying out for help, hence "I mean this I'm okay! Trust me I'm not Okay"
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Actually if you listen to it properly, it's about being alone, rejected for being 'different' and no I don't mean gay, I mean, not blonde shallow people, who fill empty lives with popularity.
The girl he sings about acted like he didn't even exsist, he had a teenage crush on her, and she did the photos with her boyfriend, and gerard probably thought more of her then to do that.
The constant arguing of 'im okay, I'm not okay', is actually the feelings you get when you have depression, having had it myself, one minute your on top of the world, the next you want to shoot yourself.
'Well if you wanted honesty that's all you had to say', is saying that when your not okay when you don't want to be here anymore, the last person you want to admit that to, is the people you love as in family.
'I never want to let you down or have you go!! its better off this way'
Is escaping letting the people you love down, cus you constantly think you can't do anything right, when your in that frame of mind, and the 'its better off this way' mean 'its better off if I'm dead'.
'for all the dirty looks', just because you dress or like differrent stuff from other 'popular people'.
'the photographs your boyfriend took' I already explained that bit.
'remember when you broke your foot, from jumping out the second floor?' lame attempt at suicide.
then there's chorus, which elains itself really.
'what will it take to show you that its not the life it seems?' Not everyone is as nice or pretty as they pretend to be to your face, as in not everybody is as pretty on the inside as they are on the outside.
'ive told you time and time again you sing the words but you don't know what it means, to be a joke'
you can be a 'fan' and sing along but do you really know what it feels like????
'and look another line without a hook'
an insult to the person for not being 'like them'
or its a hidden term, for trying to hang yourself.
'I held you close as we both shook'
im not really sure what this line means. lol
'for the last time, take a good hard look'
people who stare at you because to them you're 'weird' or 'odd', as they put it, maybe because they will never see this person again, cus of wht theyve pushed them to do.
'forgot about the dirty looks, the photographs your boyfriend took'
he seems to be talking as in 'him and her', but actually he's saying to himself 'forget about it'.
'you said you read me like a book'
people 'think' they know how he's feeling, they think he's 'okay'.
'but the pages are all torn and frayed'
he lies about it to them, and he isn't really what he seems to people.
sorry this went on but I really know this song,having had depression, I always listen to it, if I ever feel it.
it makes sense to me, and inspires me to not give up, put a brave face on and just grow to be a stronger person. -
This song is in a different point of view. Gerard (or the main character) has come for the soul of a young man who started a school shooting and it's in the young man's point of view.
also, this is relating to gerard's own high school experiences where he was hurt when a girl he liked turned out to be a slut. -
First of all, this is my interpretation, and mine is not "right" and yours is not "right". Everyone's own interpretation is right for themselves, even if MCR wrote it about something other than what you think. Now, I believe that this is a song about the general confusion that you go through as a teenager. It is about trying to make a statement and not feeling heard.
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When Gerard was in high school he didn't have any real friends but one. And even though he didn't love her in that way, or at least didn't have the opportunity, she still broke his heart by taking sleazy photos with her boyfriend, and he said that really crushed him.
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"...just an emo having a whine" - I disagree, because like you said, there are serious issues in this song.
i'm in my last year of high school right now and if I haven't personally experienced everything Gerard speaks of in this song, I've seen it in others. There are definitely times in school when we're all not okay. -
This song is making fun of the ridiculousness of the high school world even though it does involve serious aspects but it's just an emo having a whine.
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I relate to this song(and the video that does with it) very much. To me, it says that life is tough and everyone knows it, but there are people who it's MUCH harder for because they are rejected, angry, etc.(people like Gerard, Ray, Mikey, Frank, Bob, and me). They just want revenge! Sweet revenge!! To let all of the people with "The Simple Life" know how it feels!!
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This song is about a personal experience that Gerard went through in high school. He was attracted to a girl who he had a friend ship with and who he had feelings for. She didn't share this sentiment and disappointed him by taking dirty pics with her boy friend. The song implies that she didn't really care about gerard and underestimated the way he felt about her.
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This song is purely AWESOME! and about, how Gerard and his bandmates were bullied and got pushed around and now there like....."what now, bitches?" that's it. =)
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ok.......jayjaykayo_88. I don't know what planet yer from but that ain't it. beleave me. please go to ImNotOkay.net.
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