The Verve: Bittersweet Symphony Meaning
Song Released: 1997
Bittersweet Symphony Lyrics
Trying to make ends meet
You're a slave to money then you die
I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down
You know the one that takes you to the places
where all the veins meet...
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1TOP RATED
#1 top rated interpretation:How I interpret "I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down. You know the one that takes you to the places where all the veins meet" like this:
The place where all the veins meet is the heart, for all blood circulates through it! So, the only road that the singer has ever been down is the one that leads to his heart.
One reason why I've interpreted it like this is because in the video, the singer seems really independent and determined. He runs into people and does not stop. He continues to walk despite other people's reactions. -
2TOP RATED
#2 top rated interpretation:I think the video clip really says more than the lyrics do, as funny as it sounds. The man is just going down the pavement, not moving for anyone, obviously not caring about other people: It really means no matter what you do in life if you just carry on no one will care, we spend 90% of our lives caring about other people's opinions and their thoughts and opinions on us, but in the end, what will it matter? If you just go through life not giving a shit no one will do anything, people are highly intelligent and self conscious and are highly aware of your behaviour, it doesn't mean they'll do anything to you. Why waste your life caring so much when you don't need to. Caring about money, living, people, love. If in the end, life will stop for you, and it will all end up the same either way and the experience will be somewhat different of course, but who's to say it will be better or worse? This is my interpretation and it's probably way off to some people, so feel free to say what you think! :)
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3TOP RATED
#3 top rated interpretation:First and formost I do believe this song is about life and the ups and downs that come with it. It seems to me as if he is talking about society in general and about things that he can change and the things he cant and how that limits him. But here he is breaking through and not let life choose his path but he will be in control and do what he can to change the way his life has unfolded. The video is interesting to this as he is continually walking down a long road, as is mentioned in the song, as if he is striving for something and he is determined not let anyone hold him back and he gets so motivated that he barges people out the way to keep heading straight down the road. He does not react to anybody's anger because in theory, what will that argument change? because everyone will end at the end of the road, death. So why waste time thinking about what others think about you, because it shouldn't matter and does not define who you are. Brilliant tune and video to match. A lesson that life will always have its ups and downs but nothing can change that and in the meantime its what you can do in your ability to change and make that journey to the end of the road a happy one.
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The first time I heard this song it resonated something in my soul which is probably why I remember so distinctly when and to this day it is my favorite song. I take the meaning to b, No matter what u do, who u r, where u come from we all go down the same streets of life and inevitably the street all of us travel; death. As much as he wants to change to make himself a better person he finds himself tripping himself up time and time again back into the same routine, "No change, I can't change I CAN'T change but I'm here in my mold!!" and what happens to all things that mold? Eventually they r covered by it, it rots and is destroys by it. He does say that this life isn't all bad. He talks about music bringing him some release or relief but yet again with anything we draw pleasure from there is ALWAYS a drawback and he finds himself back in the "mold". The lyric that he says, "I'm a 'million' different people from one day to the next" could mean that everyday we all experience highs and lows happy, sad, frustrated, confused, insulted, bewildered, etc. In a nutshell, he's just an average guy telling us that he, as well as everyone else that has lived on this planet r the SAME. Maybe some feel it more than others but no one is above going down those same roads and then, to the end.
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How i interpretated this was that you are born into this life & what ever you do it is already written in the stars what you will amount too.
Trying to make ends meet, you're a slave to the money then you die.
(This indicates the General Rat race of Survival)
I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down
You know the one that takes you to the places where all the veins meet, yeah.
(This indicates whatever path you take, you will amount to what will be your destiny, aka.Death)
Most importantly
Im a million differnt people from one day to the next, i cant my mold no no, no non no
(Whatever you attempt to do, you inveitably are who you are and theres no changing that fact)
Life....Bitter....sweet -
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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I take the interpretation as this, here we have an angry young man,angry at society and himself.slave to the money then you die.He'll show you some of his life that got no further than his local streets that he travels to the end of to find ? His mates, the pub? He makes excuses for himself that he knows no better 'here in my mould'and probably lies alot bout his life to impress 'different face from one day to the next' he's bo church goer but has found himself down on his knees asking God 'cant you see I'm in pain,feel my pain!I know I can change,I can change but I'm cryn out for help.i find this song by the verve so moving that its inspirational because you're left feeling that he does change, life may be bitter, life may be sweet, but 'thats life'
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I am surprised no body mentioned that this song could be about a collapsed narcissist, their core pain of the loss of narcissistic supply, and desperate. "The airways are clean" (silence), from their victim. " but there is nobody singing to me now"( can't or hasn't found new supply), and to the narcissistic individual it is pure hell, and threatens to expose their lies, usually a grandiosity and fasle self "I can change, but I am here in my mold" (admitting that they are aware of the empty, false self, yet its their super ego who won't let them change and be their true self, because the true self isn't good enough. "I'll take down the only road I've ever been down" ( the road that leaves their victims just as empty as they are, used up, and once depleted, tosses you away like yesterday's newspaper. The other thing that leads me to this conclusion is the character's actions in the video, its obvious that he cares for nobody other than himself(bumping into everyone) doesn't care if hurts anyone. He looks at himself as a victim of life's handed to him, yet the real victims are the ones he is running into on the sidewalk, shows no empathy.
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Life is ever changing. Just when you think you've got it made, got things figured out, take that sigh of relief...guess what? LIFE Happens again...and never the way you expect it.
Learn to go with the ebbs and flows and expect change always.
Never get too comfortable being just one person in one place.
Change and live fully. That's the secret to life.
Remember No One Gets Out Alive.lol -
Many people seem to agree this song is about life and some people believe it's also about someone loving even though they know one day they are going to die and only a few of you think it's about living with a disorder mostly bipolar. But has any of you thought this was just a song about the 'Average Joe'?
In most of my favorite books and movies, the main character is struggling with the bitter sweetness of life but also dealing with the question "Who am I?" For some people the answer is never answered, that the person thinks the he/she is one way when in truth they are extremely different. Now, the question of who you really are is very hard to answer which is normal for some people but other people find it pit from friends or just living life bit the truth is that you aren't who you really are, the world seems to make this veil over your face locking your real personality in while media and the government make a whole new person of you. Don't believe me? Fine. Bit back to the song, when it says, "I'm a million different people from one day to the next" he is really saying that he doesn't know who he is so the world uses that to it's advantage and makes him believe he's one person though he isn't who he thinks he is.
Another thing in the song is that it talks about money. Even when i was young, I would worry about money, I always thought that if all the money on the world is the same why haven't we gone broke yet? I only thought that because I can never relax and be calm about anything. But you know how rich celebrities do dumb things? They have so much money, they don't know what to do with it so they do the dumb things because they think that since they have so much money, they're better than anyone and so they do just dumb things.
Also, the song talks about "take you down to the only road I've been down, you know the one that takes you to all the places where all the things meet," it's saying this person has only ever seen pain and suffering and he will show you where he's been and seen and done. One of those things is freedom. No o e has freedom. You are pretty much a prisoner of the social media, instead of learning about what is happening in the world you learn that some celebrity you couldn't care less about is dating some random person. The celebrities are also prisoners, if the press as so much as see you in sweats with you're hair a mess, they're going to get suspicious (like your taking drugs or just broke up with somebody)even though you only wore that because it's your day off and you probably just woke up. Even the news isn't showing about the world bit about celebrities and random people for no reason.
And if you are cracking joke about I don't blondes or ladies maybe, you'd get trampled by everyone saying that you are a terrible person even though it was just a joke, especially if your a comedian on public tv.
So in the end, what I'm saying is that this song is about the ups and downs of life, how we're all under media pressure and can't break free and how no one knows who they really are and just know who they want to be and who the government and social media changes you into. Bit like what Freddie Mercury and David Bowie said, "We're breaking Under Pressure." -
its about freedom-the yearning for. the author of the lyrics seems like he believes he is stuck in some kind of trap or mold he cant break out of. he wants to change. he wants to break out of the mold and be free but like everyone else hes forced to struggle to get money just so he can survive and then you die. along the way there are glimpses of freedom-sweetness but also times when you just feel trapped with no way out-bitterness. what he doesn't realize is that freedom is all in the mind anyway so if you are happy in life and are living your true purpose then you are free and there will be more sweet moments than bitter ones. besides, we are all immortal anyway so its not like we only get the one life. we all have many lives head of us so cheer up!
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This song obviously means many different things to different people. Having an ex that suffers bipolar disorder, the song to me sounds as though the individual may have a mental illness. "I can't change, I can't change, I'm a million different people from one day to the next". "The only road I've ever been down". Just my humble opinion.
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Things only occurs once in the video version. But it is things, not veins.
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Not about heroin, sorry dudes. The word "veins" does not occur in this song at all. It's "things", not "veins". The lyric in both identical (ie repeated) verses is:
"I'll take you down the only road I've ever been down
You know the one that takes you to the places
where all the THINGS meet..."
Both times. Listen to the song.
Really helps with the interpretation to get the lyrics right.
So would every song lyric website stop copying every other song lyric website. Gets kind of circular after a while. -
Isn't it about heroin? "Where all the veins meet", "slave to money then you die". Is not the drug the melody that soothes the pain? Maybe not, I used to think it was about something else.
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This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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Bettersweet represents life, Symphony means multiple personalities. A bipolar disorder of feelings experieced during life's adolescence to adulthood . An abyss of emotions causing subject in song to transform from seculure thoughts to prayer to end his pain. Money or death is synonymous with the The meaning of life. We all will die no matter what life station you reach literally meaning life is filled with pain. Furthermore life is what you make of it, Sad ess.. happiness...
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