It's Not A Fashion Statement, It's A Fucking Deathwish lyrics

Okay, when I’m trying to explain how I interpret the lyrics, I’m saying “he”, and “him”, and “his” a lot. By that, I’m talking about each and every member of the band, because most of them helped write the song, so it’s probably about a bit of all of them. And because I don’t think they all faced these things together, you know, like all in a group at a school. I think these things probably happened to each of them a bit, and then they exaggerated out the events to send the message of it out better.

So, I think this is supposed to be about their high school lives a bit, while also about other people who they know and don’t know who went through the same thing in high school, and some who are going through it now. So, here’s what I think:

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"For what you did to me
And what I'll do to you
You get, what everyone else gets
You get a lifetime"

I'm thinking that he's saying that all the people who hurt him will be punished. the lyric "you get a lifetime" makes me think he's using the metaphor of a court of law, and the sentence of a lifetime in prison as a punishment, and the "and what I'll do to you" lyric is like him saying he'll testify against them. But in reality, it's not a court of law, it's a principal's office in a high school, and they're not getting a lifetime sentence, they're getting like a suspension or detention, but since he says life time, I think they were so horrible to him they get like expelled.

"Do you remember back then when we met
You told me this gets harder, well, it did
Been holding on forever
Promise me that when I'm gone, you'll kill my enemies"

So I'm thinking he's talking about the beginning of the school year, when he met his tormentors. They told him "this gets harder", like they make life harder for him, and he's saying "well, it did", like they were right, it did get harder. "Been holding on forever", he's saying that like he's been grinning and bearing it for the longest of times. And the last part "promise me that when I'm gone, you'll kill my enemies", I think is him saying that they're all two-faced. Like one minute they're saying "we hate you so we'll torture you" and then when no one is looking ("when I'm gone") they go after the ones that are being mean to him, so they're contradicting themselves in a way by doing that, and he's saying this for the purpose of showing that they are two-faced.

"The damage you've inflicted, temporary wounds
I'm coming back from the dead
Well I'll take you home with me
I'm taking back the life you stole"

I think he's saying that the pain they caused him is temporary, that the visibility of the wounds will go away, but you can make an educated guess that there will always be a sort of scar there, because if there wasn't, he wouldn't be out for revenge. Heck, he wouldn't have felt the need to write a song about it. "I'm coming back from the dead", is him saying that he's getting over it, healing. "Well, I'll take you home with me" makes me think that they're trying to make friends with each other, you know, 'keep your friends close but your enemies closer'. And the lyric "I'm taking back the life you stole" is him saying he's going to like, try and get his life back, the life they stole from him by making him into a social outcast.

"We never got that far
This helps me to think all through the night
Bright lights that, won't kill me now or tell me how
Just you and I, your starless eyes remain"

He's saying that their fake little friendship never really made it, because, well, it never would have had a chance because it was just there so they could get closer to each other for the purpose of causing the other some grief. "This helps me to think all through the night" is him saying that he's thinking of the situation all the time, and he's losing sleep over it; thus thinking all through the night. The "bright lights that, won't kill me now or tell me how" lyric is saying, like 'bright lights' as in a realization from thinking so long and hard about it all. And he's saying that the realization is that this won't kill him, he can get through it, but he's also saying that it won't tell him how to get through it. "Just you and I, your starless eyes remain" makes me think of like a one on one thing, like him against the one who is the most horrible to him. He's saying "your starless eyes remain" to show that his tormentor hasn't changed, he still has the same starless eyes. When you say that someone has starless eyes, you're saying that the person is fake, that they have no depth. Most people who are socially accepted in high school (just like his tormentor) have no depth to them and are very fake. So he's saying that through all this time his tormentor hasn't changed and he's still the same, fake, two-faced person.

"Hip hip hooray for me, you talk to me
But would you kill me in my sleep
Lay still like the dead, from the razor to the rosary
We could lose ourselves and paint these walls in pitchfork red"

He's being sarcastic by saying "hip hip hooray for me" because the popular people are talking to him. He doesn't want that, even though most outcasts would, because he knows they just want to get some dirt against him. "Would you kill me in my sleep?" is him expressing his suspicions on these socially accepted people, he's saying that he thinks that if he were to let his guard down they would stab him in the back, like killing one in their sleep. "Lay still like the dead" I think means that he's trying to go back to being just a normal outcast who isn't ever noticed by anyone, and therefore not tormented, just ignored. The lyric "from the razor to the rosary" is him saying there's not really any use in asking for help, I think. Or maybe that there is nothing to be thankful for. I think that's it because rosaries are used for prayer, and when you pray you're usually either thanking or asking for help. And he's talking about taking a razor to the rosary, like no more asking for help (like, from school officials) on this one, he's gotta do it on his own. "We could lose ourselves and paint these walls in pitchfork red", I think is him saying that they could lose themselves in these childish games they're playing, and he's saying things are getting exciting, that they're painting the place red.

"I will avenge my ghost with every breath I take
I'm coming back from the dead
Well, I'll take you home with me
I'm taking back the life you stole"

He's trying to get back at them, to avenge himself (seeing as no one else would do it for him). He's "coming back from the dead", this time not healing from what they did to him, but rather referring to the lyric before, "lay still like the dead", which I thought meant he wanted to go back to being socially dead, a normal outcast who's just ignored. But he's coming back from the 'dead' now, so he's done with letting himself be an outcast. And again, "I'm taking back the life you stole", he's trying once more to get his social life back.

"This hole you put me in, wasn't deep enough
And I'm climbing out right now
You're running out of places to hide from me"

He's saying that his tormentors didn't put him down deep enough, as in like ruin him enough, make him unaccepted enough that no one would talk to him. They didn't do that, the hole wasn't deep enough, and so now he's able to climb out. And in climbing out, he's climbing out of life as an outcast, making real friends and all. "You're running out of places to hide from me" means that his tormentors are starting to lose this battle, if you will, that they're all in.

"When you go, just know that I will remember you
If living was the hardest part, we'll then one day be together
And in the end we'll fall apart, just as the leaves change in color
And then I will be with you, I will be there one last time"

He's saying that when he finally wins, and his tormentors can no longer torment him, that he'll remember that they did, in fact, teach him to be strong. "If living was the hardest part, we'll then one day, be together", I think is him saying that if living life, and not just trying to fade into the back of things, is so hard then he'd end up with them again being tormented. And I think he's saying that he thinks that's what will happen the next school year, in the fall ("leaves change in color"), when he has to do this all over again. He'll be with them again, the tormentors; he's predicting that he'll be an outcast again. And then he says "I'll be there one last time now", like he's saying that, okay, he'll go through it again, but after that, that's it. He won’t be tormented as an outcast anymore after that; he'll learn to live from the beginning of things.

"When you go, just know that I will remember you
I've lost my fear of falling, I will be with you
I will be with you"

I think he's saying that he'll remember this lesson next year, even when his previous tormentors are gone, he'll remember that he learned how to be strong and get through it. He's saying that he can make it through it again, and he's not afraid of it, even though he knows it's gonna suck, he also knows that he'll make it.

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So that's what I think the meaning of it is. I'm really sorry that it's so long and drawn out, but that was the only way I could really explain it.

Does it sound right? Or am I like nowhere near the meaning?

I'm in love with this song though, I like how it doesn't really follow the normal song structure, like with verses and choruses and a bridge. There aren't a whole ton of songs like this that I've heard, but that's what makes it so awesome.