So this has been.my favorite song of OTEP's since it came out in 2004, and I always thought it was a song about a child's narrative of suffering in an abusive Christian home. But now that I am revisiting the lyrics, I am seeing something totally new.
This song could be gospel of John but from the perspective of Jesus.
Jesus was NOT having a good time up to and during the crucifixion. Everyone in the known world at the time looked to him with fear, admiration or disgust and he was constantly being asked questions. He spoke in "verses, prophesies and curses". He had made an enemy of the state, and believed the world was increasingly wicked and fallen from grace, or that he was in the "mouth of madness".
The spine of atlas is the structure that allows the titan to hold the world up. Jesus challenged the state and in doing so became a celebrated resistance figure. It also made him public enemy #1.
All of this happened simply because he was doing his thing, not because of any agenda he had or strategy.
And then he gets scourged (storm of thorns)
There are some plot holes here but I think it's an interesting interpretation.
Well if you wanted honesty
That's all you had to say
I never want to let you down or have you go
It's better off this way
For all the dirty looks
For photographs your boyfriend took
Remember when you broke your foot
From jumping out the second floor?
I'm not okay
I'm not okay
I'm not okay
You wear me out
What will it take to show you
That it's not the life it seems?
I told you time and time again
You sing the words
But don't know what it means
To be a joke and look
Another line without a hook
I held you close as we both shook
For the last time
Take a good hard look
I'm not okay
I'm not okay
I'm not okay
You wear me out
Forget about the dirty looks
The photographs your boyfriend took
You said you read me like a book
But the pages all are torn and frayed
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)
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 (kay)
That's all you had to say
I never want to let you down or have you go
It's better off this way
For all the dirty looks
For photographs your boyfriend took
Remember when you broke your foot
From jumping out the second floor?
I'm not okay
I'm not okay
I'm not okay
You wear me out
What will it take to show you
That it's not the life it seems?
I told you time and time again
You sing the words
But don't know what it means
To be a joke and look
Another line without a hook
I held you close as we both shook
For the last time
Take a good hard look
I'm not okay
I'm not okay
I'm not okay
You wear me out
Forget about the dirty looks
The photographs your boyfriend took
You said you read me like a book
But the pages all are torn and frayed
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)
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 (kay)
Lyrics submitted by Brandnizzle2k4, edited by SmashingDestiny
I'm Not Okay (I Promise) Lyrics as written by Gerard Way Frank Iero
Lyrics © BLOW THE DOORS OFF CHICAGO
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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More Featured Meanings
Ave Grave
Thee More Shallows
Thee More Shallows
Love in a Vacuum
'Til Tuesday
'Til Tuesday
Well, in my opinion this song is about being a young & maybe a little naive &/or introverted girl and finding yourself loving a man who is at first very charming, carefree & outgoing, and seems at first to be without limits, as in
"There was a time
you opened up every doorway
you didn't mind if everything
wasn't your way"
then that man starts to gradually become more introverted & shows their more possessive/obsessive side to you as the relationship progresses, even while they keep up the appearance of being carefree & outgoing to everyone else,
"Don't pull away
that goes against what you told me
I look in your eyes
I realize what you've sold me
is love in a vacuum"
so you confront them about the way they're acting and of course they deny it,
"I think you've changed
but you insist that
that's not true"
quite possibly they are an addict of some sort, my guess would be cocaine, &/or showing very obsessive behavior towards you (early on in the video for this song we see the man hanging a picture up, it is a very large portrait of Aimee & it is prominently displayed in his/their apartment for the duration of the song), thus their "love in a vacuum",
"You look so strange, so distant
that you're hardly you
Now I can see
how you have been acting different
You say it's me
but I know
that it isn't
it's love in a vacuum"
but still you are in love with them and don't want to leave them and you know that they are truly in love with you and they don't want you to leave them either, maybe they are convinced you can save them from themself, maybe they are so broken that the possibility of an overdose &/or suicide attempt is very real and you want to get through to them that their behavior not only dangerous but it is also just pissing you off and if they don't wise up they run the risk of loosing you, as in the lines
"You will be lonely
if you leave me alone", so you want to save them but can't get through to them due to the addiction &/or emotional problems they have,
"Love in a vacuum
and that's not enough
love in a vacuum
You will be lonely
you'll be the only one who feels this way
You will be lonely
if you leave me alone
You will be lonely
you'll be the only one who feels this way
it's just not enough"
you want them to understand that the love they are giving you is not enough when it is filtered through the vacuum of their drug addiction &/or emotional impairment,
"You will be lonely
you'll be the only one who feels this way
it's just not enough
and just wait
you will be lonely
Love in a vacuum
Love in a vacuum
and that's not enough
Love in a vacuum".
'Love In A Vacuum' for me is a hauntingly truthful acute argument on the loneliness of obsession and almost inevitable loss of love that follows people who are broken in some way or another; the obsessives, the coke heads, the drunks, addicts or the just-plain-old emotionally broken; a razor sharp, lyrically driven, deceptively poppy, yet ultimately-depressing-in-the-best-way song.
Quintessential Aimee Mann.
The Spy
Doors, The
Doors, The
Like a lot of the other comments are saying, I think this mainly about voyeurism. If the song was about his girlfriend, then why would he use the word spy. If you are a spy it means you shouldn't be caught, that is kind of the whole point, and if you are a voyeur, the whole point of the pleasure you get from it, is the fact that the other people don't know you are watching them. See a bit of a connection there?
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
Holiday
Bee Gees
Bee Gees
@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday".
I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
Gerard himself has said that the song is about the fact that he kind of had this thing with some girl...and he was like in love with her...but she had a boyfriend. And she took all these slutty pictures with her boyfriend, and Gerard got all upset.
The song's about him just...not being okay, at all, mentally nor emotionally. It's an answer to the ever-so-frequent question "Are you okay?" Most people will say that they're fine...even if they aren't. Gerard's just like "Fuck that, No, as a matter of fact, I'm not okay"...I'm just kind of rambling now.
Good song...lYkE OMgZzZ McR T0talLY RawX Fo ReEl!1!!
Har Har har.
@You\'ll be a memory i like how this comment was made when i didnt even exist and now this song has been my fav for 10 years :)
Wow, 2014 and I'm still rocking to this song. It brings me a lot of high school feels. I so miss my high school batchmates. I remember rocking this song in all of the corners of our school! That moment when the teachers were like "What's with you people?!" and we're just "I'm okay. Trust me!" with all the eyeliners and black jeans. haha. MCR's music has been an inspiration and guide to us until now. Not because of their dark and sharp lines, but the message it conveys. It's all about the real world. It surprisingly makes us good people if we just get the real lessons from their music. They're excellent!
@FairyAlonto It's 2017 an I'm still in love with this song xD
@FairyAlonto It's 2022 and I'm still rocking to this song!
love it when he says "trust me."
i love this song so much it's unbelievable =D it really gets the party going and whenever me and my friends hear it we go crazy!!! i love the bit in the song where it goes 'i mean this. im okay. trust me!' and then it carries on. the trust me bit is probably the bit everyone waits for lol. it's a song i think everyone can relate to when your feeling pissed off or having a bad day. it's like you feel really upset but you can't say to your friends 'hey, im not okay.' it's like this song is just about letting all your anger out. i think this song is a legend and will still be loved in years to come (: x x x
there was this one guy and he recommended me this band so i started to listen to them a lot. he was my best friend at the time and we were "friends on the verge of becoming more" so everytime i listened to them I thought of him. We did all kinds of crazy things together... We smoked, drank, partied, and committed various criminal acts. I had the time of my life. He influenced me in so many ways (good and bad) and at one point we were going to do something too extreme "you wear me out" and I just couldn't keepup with him. In the end i got my shit together and I we started going crazy together. all was swell and it was all I ever wanted. We were not even 16 ha. Then he met this one girl and everything fell apart. He wouldn't spend time with me anymore even though he promised we would be friends for life. I started my hoe phase and now if you are reading this I hope you are happy you fill me with so much rage I trusted you and you left me for some 18 year old girl you never met huh
@lithium420 Dammmm thats absolute shit fuck that guy. if he just gonna do that to u fuck him.
@lithium420 I feel just very similar way. In the summer of 2007 I was introduced to the girl of my dreams probably the first to actually take some real interest in me. Friends at first because I was a little older than her but as the year passed we became a lot more, started going to a lot more gigs with each other some of my favourite some of her's everything was rosey. This girl had two other friends and around the same time one of them found love too, which left one of them out on her own, unfortunately this is where it started falling apart. This single friend was the jealous type, every time I tired to meet up with my friend, go to a gig or a festival she would just blow me out. Each and every time this jealous friend was the cause of it. We fell out of love with each other because I stated to just get annoyed. We've stayed friends and still are, she invited me to her wedding, I sat there totally cut up inside, heart broken, managed to hold it all in but was a very hard day, annoyingly this jealous mate was there to, Karma has her she's still single herself.... <br /> <br /> But this song was just how I felt at her wedding, Yeah I'm okay mate, not that I can tell you at your wedding how I feel "wink wink".<br /> The last song at their wedding was Wonderwall, yeah that's one of my fav songs from my fav band, cheers for that lol.
Sounds like Queen at points....can't go wrong with that. wonderful song.
The songs about how he felt when he was in highschool. He only had one real friend and he was really in love with this girl, and she took all these pictures with her boyfriend and he was really upset, I also read that this is like a part 2 to headfirst for halos.
Probably the most "poppy" song they have done, but very good. I love the video too. Did everyone participate in Talk Like A Pirate Sunday? I sure did, haha fun times with MCR.
To me, this song is, basically, my life now and forever <3 Can't diss them...MCR 4 ever!! <3
i listened to this song so hard and on and on in the street when i had this fucking summertime sadness