Meanings
The song was influenced by the theories of Arthur Janov, author of The Primal Scream. The lyric "the dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had" suggests that dreams of intense experiences such as death will be the best at releasing tension.
Lyrically the song is pretty loose. It throws together a lot of different images to paint a picture without saying anything specific about the world. —Roland Orzabal It's very much a voyeur's song. It's looking out at a mad world from the eyes of a teenager. —Curt SmithRead more about this topic: Mad World
Famous quotes containing the word meanings:
“An amoeba is a formless thing which takes many shapes. It moves by thrusting out an arm, and flowing into the arm. It multiplies by pulling itself in two, without permanently diminishing the original. So with words. A meaning may develop on the periphery of the body of meanings associated with a word, and shortly this tentacle-meaning has grown to such proportions that it dwarfs all other meanings.”
—Charlton Laird (b. 1901)
“Well, “slithy” means “lithe and slimy.” “Lithe” is the same as “active.” You see, it’s like a portmanteau—there are two meanings packed up into one word.”
—Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson] (1832–1898)
“Words differently arranged have a different meaning, and meanings differently arranged have different effects.”
—Blaise Pascal (1623–1662)