My simple interpretation

[nihilistnothing]

Don't tolerate assholes; Crush them.

[mjkajdcjc]

We need assholes to make shy people successful and ambitious in our everyday world.

[nihilistnothing]

By assholes I meant people who try to fuck you over or hold you down in some way.

Obviously to crush someone you need to be somewhat of an asshole yourself :-p

[fretforyourfigure462]

Don't tolerate assholes; Crush them.

Wow.

Finally an interpretation that's short, makes sense, and doesn't overanalyze.


Right on dude.

[mr. nikki jensen]

okay then

[Bhikkhu]

We need assholes to make shy people successful and ambitious in our everyday world.

what's wrong with being shy? In parts of Asia, like Japan, lots of people are shy and don't find self-confidence to be as important as most Americans do, and yet, they are very succesfull and ambitious. try to explain that...

[thomasknight]

Don't tolerate assholes; Crush them.

Nice, but I'd keep it even simpler:

I won't tolerate assholes.

(My signature's actaully from a song by The Smiths, but I think it's basically saying the same thing - Why do I smile, at people who I'd much rather kick in the eye?)

[Bhikkhu]

I think most of you are feeling a bit too self-centered when you interpret this song.
the most important aspect about the lyrics is:
I'm not innocent...no one's innocent

You all talk about not tolerating other people, because you think they are stupid or not very social or ignorant. It's easy too see the mistakes other people make, but it can be hard too see you own faults.

"Why do I smile, at people who I'd much rather kick in the eye?"...yeah, that helps a lot. If you think this has an important message, please explain why this is usefull. I'm not trying to judge The Smiths, but maybe you should not take these lyrics too seriously.

[thomasknight]

I think most of you are feeling a bit too self-centered when you interpret this song.
the most important aspect about the lyrics is:
I'm not innocent...no one's innocent

You all talk about not tolerating other people, because you think they are stupid or not very social or ignorant. It's easy too see the mistakes other people make, but it can be hard too see you own faults.

"Why do I smile, at people who I'd much rather kick in the eye?"...yeah, that helps a lot. If you think this has an important message, please explain why this is usefull. I'm not trying to judge The Smiths, but maybe you should not take these lyrics too seriously.

I feel compassion with the lyric because I find myself being polite as a matter of immediate importance, rather than confrontation or discussion, about something I disagree or have an opinion on. I don't think I said that it helps me. I don't know how it helps. I tied this into the tolerance concept because sometimes you have to back yourself to take a stand on something.

You maybe missing the point I was making. I was saying how it is something I need to work on. You probably agree that people need to stand up for themselves, I was making the point that sometimes I don't because I'm shy, and it's easier to just go along with everything.

The line you singled out as important is to me just a reminder that, just because you call someone out for being an asshole, it doesn't mean you're better than them. In fact I would say that I would appreciate when people call me up for being an asshole. I suppose that for me the important line is "I've been far too sympathetic".

I know what your saying but I don't think this song is about that. I think it's about standing up for yourself.

[Bhikkhu]

I think you're right about what the song is about. I was just trying to point out the following:
It's ok not to tolerate people because they are acting antisocial, but if they are acting like an jerk-off doesn't mean it's ok to be violenent ("crush them" or "kick them in the eye") or to even think about using violence against them (allowing the destructive emotions to take over).
However, you should be able to confront them and discuss the negative aspects or behaviour about them, and explain why you cannot tolerate this. If they are not willing to reason with you, then maybe it's better to just leave them alone.

I think this song deals with frustration of someone who is somehow unable to confront another person with the fact that they are antisocial. It sounds like something is holding him back for some reason.

[ChaseNine]

This is my favorite song on Undertow. For several reasons.

[Inner_Eulogy]

Did you bang you head on the table too many times without a helmet?

[Master_Of_Nothing]

harsh call man, none of the noobs know to look at the OP dates anyway

[Inner_Eulogy]

harsh call man, none of the noobs know to look at the OP dates anyway

I wasn't even referring to the bump, I was referring to his comment about liking it for several reasons and not listing a single one. It's like in Multiplicity.."dur' I like pizza!"

[0.618]

thomasknight has been on probation from 2007?

[Loosen]

When I listen to this song now it's just a good release of my frustration that comes about from how unable people are with being honest about what goes on in their own mind and how resilient they are to dealing with it. Everyone's trying to run around and figure out the solution for dealing with the human race's fuck ups, but no one bothers to take a good, deep and honest look at what elements of themselves draw them to surrendering to a small, inward, unintelligent and weak existence. "I don't want to rot in an apethetic existence". When I first listened to this song I just used it as a way of justifying my need to throw my hands up in the air and say "that's that. we're all fucked" and basically pointing the finger at everyone else. As soon as you point that finger at yourself you sometimes realize that you aren't in such a high place yourself.

I still get angry at others' laziness when it comes to growing as human beings. You're a human for fuck sakes, don't just survive.

[BigDeer]

When I found out my spouse cheated on me I played this song over and over and.....

Internal rage against those that can hurt you most is what this song means to me...