True Blue Tabs:
- Live To Tell »
- La Isla Bonita
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From: yira@news.dorsai.org (victor perez)
Date: Tue, 11 Jul 1995 01:28:05 GMT
Subject: Madonna Live to Tell
Live to Tell
by
Madonna
From: Yira@dorsai.dorsai.org
Date: 7/10/95
Well here is what I figured out on my own.
Any corrections will be welcome really appreciated
Intro: |:Dm| |F| |:|
*For the Verses it will go like this:
F C C Gm7 C C
I have a tell to tell
etc....
*until you reach the chorus line which goes like this:
Gm7 F
A man can tell a thousand lies
Gm7 C
I've learned my lesson well
[Bb] F
Hope I live to tell the secret
C
I have learn til then
Dm C Bb ---(bass line 2nd. time : Bb Bb C C Dm
It will burn inside of me.
*repeat the same chords figures of the first verse on top.
-Hold Dm for til this part comes:
Bb C Dm Am
If I ran away , I'll never had the strength to go very far.
Bb C Am Bb
How will they hear , the beating of my heart_______.
Bb C Dm Am
Will they grow cold , the secret that I hide , will I grow old.
Bb C Dm
How will they hear? When will they learn ? How will they know?
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Tab Discussion, Comments, and Critiques
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No Picture
CHUNK ZIZZLE Rhythm Player |
#1 by CHUNK ZIZZLE at Jun 17, 1970 at 5:12 PM EST |
| Somebody told me that this song was written for me.Now I can see why. | |
|
No Picture
Avinash Average |
#2 by Avinash Dutta at Apr 27, 1971 at 3:35 PM EST |
| OK, I'm into the end of the age Christain stuff. Madonna was on American Bandstand in the Early 80's and Dick Clark asked her what she wanted to do with her life. She said "Rule the World". She lived in New York I think early in her caree and in my mind, my theory is that she got to know Howard Stern and Rupert Everett. I think they sort of revealed to her who they really are and this scared the living daylights out of her. That's her secret she knows who they are and she knows she's really a Christian after all and not into ruling the world. When Howard Stern says he'd the King of All Media, what he's really saying I think is that he is the False Prophet mentioned in the Scriptures. Rupert Everett would then be the Anti-Christ... I know it's just a way out paranoid Christian theory but it's different from anything suggested here so far...Exciting eh? | |
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No Picture
Derek Lead Player |
#3 by Derek O'Kanos at Jul 21, 1971 at 7:01 PM EST |
| I think it hints at patterned sexual abuse, particularly inflicted on a child by a male relative or adult figure. She's the only one who knows about it, and can't bear her own feelings of guilt and bitterness and disillusionment. Shes had opportunities to tell others, but is afraid nobody will believe her. She wonders "will I have the chance again?" Shes afraid too that the unspeakable truth will die with her and the child will continue to be hurt. 'The truth is never far behind', because he is an ever present part of their family, and every time she sees him she is confronted with it. What more horrible secret could you know about people you love? Thats just what I think. Read the words and see if you agree | |
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No Picture
Derek Average |
#4 by Derek Mayfield at Sep 21, 1971 at 11:04 PM EST |
| *no one else | |
|
No Picture
Mat Average |
#5 by Mat Hancock at Jun 24, 1972 at 1:52 PM EST |
| Except for the gender, this song speaks to me completely. It's about being married to a Narcisistic and/or Histrionic Personality Disordered person who you loved and thought loved you but was actually sleeping around with every man in town. (I was 'too blind to see the writing on the wall') Eventually I found out about all of the lies (a thousand is way too few a count) and my life came crashing down ('the fall') 'Beauty' and 'the light' in the song refers to "true love" which I still hold dear and hope to have another chance at ('will I ever have the chance again') but my former spouse doesn't have a clue about. In the divorce, she tries to take everything but she can't take that away from me. The 'secret' in ths song refers to just having to hold all of this inside and to keep it from the children and the rest of the world while you try to carry on, when in reality you feel like killing yourself. In this situation its "sometimes it gets so hard to hide it well" and I certainly have "learned my lesson well". | |
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No Picture
h4c|< Average |
#6 by h4c|< ☺ at Oct 27, 1972 at 1:01 AM EST |
| It's so deep | |
|
No Picture
Sam Average |
#7 by Sam at Mar 6, 1974 at 7:02 PM EST |
| Ok, for those wondering what this songs about - it was written for a movie with Sean Penn called "At Close Range". The movie is based on a true story about a father who used his sons to commit crimes. Well, there's a disturbing scene in the movie where the father kills his son with a gun at close range. Anyway, see the movie. It's a good one from the 80's. All throughout, these kids just wanted a father who tricked his kids into thinking he cared about them, only to use them and eventually kill them. Whadda dad. Heres a link for the movie: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090670/?fr=c2l0ZT1kZnxteD0yMHxzZz0xfGxtPTIwMHx0dD1vbnxwbj0wfHE9YXQgY2xvc2UgcmFuZ2V8aHRtbD0xfG5tPW9u;fc=1;ft=3 | |
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No Picture
terry Rhythm Player |
#8 by terry terry watts at Mar 31, 1974 at 1:56 AM EST |
| A man can tell a thousand lies. I learned my lesson well. | |
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No Picture
Collin Average |
#9 by Collin at Oct 25, 1974 at 4:58 AM EST |
| Yes, I listen to Madonna, and yes I like this song. Fuck you, man. This is an incredible song, and nobody's gonna change my mind without playing it 5 billion times. And maybe more than that. | |
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No Picture
skater-boy Rhythm Player |
#10 by skater-boy at Feb 21, 1975 at 8:25 AM EST |
| Except for the gender, this song speaks to me completely. It's about being married to a Narcisistic and/or Histrionic Personality Disordered person who you loved and thought loved you but was actually sleeping around with every man in town. (I was 'too blind to see the writing on the wall') Eventually I found out about all of the lies (a thousand is way too few a count) and my life came crashing down ('the fall') 'Beauty' and 'the light' in the song refers to "true love" which I still hold dear and hope to have another chance at ('will I ever have the chance again') but my former spouse doesn't have a clue about. In the divorce, she tries to take everything but she can't take that away from me. The 'secret' in ths song refers to just having to hold all of this inside and to keep it from the children and the rest of the world while you try to carry on, when in reality you feel like killing yourself. In this situation its "sometimes it gets so hard to hide it well" and I certainly have "learned my lesson well". | |
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No Picture
Jer Average |
#11 by Jer at Mar 21, 1977 at 9:00 PM EST |
| Somebody told me that this song was written for me.Now I can see why. | |
|
No Picture
a Average |
#12 by a a at Aug 7, 1977 at 7:52 PM EST |
| If Madonna's songs are so shallow and commercial, as some professors claim, why don't they explain such easy lyrics to us? I believe aj is correct, it's about a secret and no hints have been given as to what it is about, so every effort to identify it, as Ange does, would be quite arbitrary. I must say that when an interpretation is consistent and matches every detail of the song, well, that is a brilliant interpretation anyway, and Ange has found the best (up to now) I have heard of. But it doesn't account for the positive part of the lyric, I mean the reference to beauty and the light and warm it gives inside a person (another secret). And somehow the content of that mysterious secret seems to be stated in that "A man can tell a thousand lies", that seems what she wants to tell (warning) everyone. She seems she has seen the best side in a man (beauty, love, warm, light) for a while, but after that the man has been unfaithful and, as most men, has told a lie and everything has changed ever after. What is left is the positive touch of love and at the same time the regret for what has been negative. | |
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No Picture
Reece Wanna Be |
#13 by Reece Brown at Feb 2, 1978 at 4:50 AM EST |
| Guiltfree_girl: haha, I dedicated this song to my husband.. Me: How come? | |
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No Picture
Francis Average |
#14 by Francis Delongchamp at Apr 28, 1978 at 7:05 PM EST |
| As Necronic states, this song was in the movie At Close Range, but that doesn't necessarily mean it was written with the same meaning as the movie's meaning (but it could & there are a lot of similarities). In the end of the movie, Sean Penn's character does have the chace to tell the secret to the court that is hearing the trial against his father. And he does tell. I also think abuse fits in well w/ this song. As far as the "beauty lives" verse, that could be interpretted as the victim's view that although there is abuse going on, and the abuser is taking a lot away, there are some things that cannot be taken away. The beauty is what the victim focuses on at times in order to not be overwhelmed by the abuse. In a way, both interpretations are correct because in the movie the father is essentially abusing the kids by bringing them into a world of crime & even worse shooting his son. | |
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No Picture
brian Average |
#15 by brian haun at Nov 1, 1978 at 8:24 AM EST |
| Well, the song is definitely about a secret, but Madonna has never given any hints as to what that secret is, so I don't think that we'll ever really know. I like the sexual abuse theory, but I also heard a theory a while back that the song might be about Madonna having been raped when she first moved to New York. I don't think that interpretation fits the lyrics as well as the sexual abuse theory, but it's still an interesting theory nonetheless. | |
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No Picture
Jake Average |
#16 by Jake Bounds at Oct 30, 1982 at 1:40 PM EST |
| It's so deep | |
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No Picture
Steil Wanna Be |
#17 by Steil Lionhart at Nov 10, 1982 at 7:47 AM EST |
| infectious................................... grow on u.......... give me more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! | |
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No Picture
Francis Average |
#18 by Francis Delongchamp at Mar 9, 1984 at 2:17 PM EST |
| It's about sexual abuse | |
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No Picture
KELSO Wanna Be |
#19 by KELSO Is a COOL kid at Sep 27, 1984 at 5:51 AM EST |
| I think the song is about someone being alone, and they dont want anyone to find out about it, because she likes to be alone in life. "I have a tale to tell Sometimes it gets so hard to hide it well" People notice she's alone, and so its hard for her to hide it well. "A man can tell a thousand lies I've learned my lesson well" i think a man broke her heart, thats why she is alone and she cant trust anyone anymore at all. | |
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No Picture
David Average |
#20 by David Eldridge at Jan 23, 1985 at 4:35 AM EST |
| le23e what you said was freaky but still i like this song alot | |
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No Picture
Brennan Wanna Be |
#21 by Brennan unknown at Jan 24, 1986 at 8:57 AM EST |
| I absolutely love this song. it's my favorite by madonna, but i have no idea what it is about. so will somebody who knows for sure what it's about comment on it? PLEASE? | |
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No Picture
Alexander Wanna Be |
#22 by Alexander Taule at Apr 20, 1986 at 4:11 AM EST |
| There is a little bit of truth to that theory Feyo. Patrick Leonard had the instrumental to this song and brought it to the head of the studio that was making that Sean Penn movie with the intentions that a man would sing on the track. However, Sean Penn recommended to the director that Madonna record a song for the film and thus, Live to Tell was born. Apparently, according to a Billboard interview with Leonard, Madonna took the track to the back room of the studio, wrote the lyrics very quickly, and recorded it in one take. He said, "the original mix was so rough you could hear the pages of her notebook being turned in the background." | |
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No Picture
Aaron Wanna Be |
#23 by Aaron Howe at Jul 31, 1986 at 12:49 PM EST |
| thanks for that necronic...imbd is an awesome site. learned alot from it. | |
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No Picture
Athena-beana-fo Average |
#24 by Athena-beana-fo-feena -katrina-gina-go-zeena-fe-fi-fo...ATHENA at Sep 23, 1986 at 12:08 AM EST |
| I remember reading some theory at a Madonna fansite: the song was written by Patrick Leonard intended to be sung by a man. It was a about a man who was infected with HIV by his partner. | |
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No Picture
scotty 2 hotty Rhythm Player |
#25 by scotty 2 hotty at Nov 9, 1987 at 4:01 PM EST |
| There is a little bit of truth to that theory Feyo. Patrick Leonard had the instrumental to this song and brought it to the head of the studio that was making that Sean Penn movie with the intentions that a man would sing on the track. However, Sean Penn recommended to the director that Madonna record a song for the film and thus, Live to Tell was born. Apparently, according to a Billboard interview with Leonard, Madonna took the track to the back room of the studio, wrote the lyrics very quickly, and recorded it in one take. He said, "the original mix was so rough you could hear the pages of her notebook being turned in the background." | |
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No Picture
Jesse Wanna Be |
#26 by Jesse Seibel at Dec 26, 1988 at 11:38 PM EST |
| I do NOT get this song! Someone explain it to me, because I love it and I want to understand it! | |
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No Picture
♥Chicken Average |
#27 by ♥Chicken On Heroine Shots♥ at May 1, 1989 at 2:21 PM EST |
| I heard this song for the first time when I was about 9 or 10, and I wanted to look the lyrics up again because I thought I was crazy in thinking that it was about sexual abuse. But I guess I'm not the only one, then. The verse about beauty and warmth.. could that possibly be referring to herself, the light within herself that that no one can else take away? | |
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No Picture
J_ROC Lead Player |
#28 by J_ROC at Jul 26, 1990 at 8:57 AM EST |
| It's about sexual abuse | |
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No Picture
Steve Wanna Be |
#29 by Steve Williams at Feb 3, 1991 at 6:34 AM EST |
| i think this song is about sexual abuse. | |
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No Picture
Mike Average |
#30 by Mike Fraguglia at Nov 17, 1991 at 6:32 AM EST |
| OK, I'm into the end of the age Christain stuff. Madonna was on American Bandstand in the Early 80's and Dick Clark asked her what she wanted to do with her life. She said "Rule the World". She lived in New York I think early in her caree and in my mind, my theory is that she got to know Howard Stern and Rupert Everett. I think they sort of revealed to her who they really are and this scared the living daylights out of her. That's her secret she knows who they are and she knows she's really a Christian after all and not into ruling the world. When Howard Stern says he'd the King of All Media, what he's really saying I think is that he is the False Prophet mentioned in the Scriptures. Rupert Everett would then be the Anti-Christ... I know it's just a way out paranoid Christian theory but it's different from anything suggested here so far...Exciting eh? | |
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No Picture
J_ROC Lead Player |
#31 by J_ROC at Sep 5, 1992 at 1:21 PM EST |
| I heard this song for the first time when I was about 9 or 10, and I wanted to look the lyrics up again because I thought I was crazy in thinking that it was about sexual abuse. But I guess I'm not the only one, then. The verse about beauty and warmth.. could that possibly be referring to herself, the light within herself that that no one can else take away? | |
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No Picture
mike Average |
#32 by mike duncan at Sep 26, 1993 at 4:00 PM EST |
| i really like this song. I dont like madonna's latest stuff, but this, and 'oh father' have to be like the best madonna slow ones ever. I liked the ray of light album aswell. to me, this song could be about any kind of pain. the kind of ''secrets'' that you keep to yourself, cos your ashamed of how you feel or whatever. it could be anything, abuse, dark-thoughts, anything that you don't show on the surface, but that you HOPE you'll get through, so you can 'live to tell' how you once felt, and be honest with yourself. it's about self-confrontation to me. | |
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No Picture
HIYA Wanna Be |
#33 by HIYA at Dec 4, 1993 at 5:06 AM EST |
| Well, the song is definitely about a secret, but Madonna has never given any hints as to what that secret is, so I don't think that we'll ever really know. I like the sexual abuse theory, but I also heard a theory a while back that the song might be about Madonna having been raped when she first moved to New York. I don't think that interpretation fits the lyrics as well as the sexual abuse theory, but it's still an interesting theory nonetheless. | |
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No Picture
$~Andrew~$ Average |
#34 by $~Andrew~$ at May 6, 1995 at 2:43 PM EST |
| i think this song is about sexual abuse. | |
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No Picture
Emdizzy foshizz Lead Player |
#35 by Emdizzy foshizzy at May 16, 1996 at 8:27 PM EST |
| *no one else | |
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No Picture
James Average |
#36 by James Davison at Mar 7, 1997 at 10:55 PM EST |
| As Necronic states, this song was in the movie At Close Range, but that doesn't necessarily mean it was written with the same meaning as the movie's meaning (but it could & there are a lot of similarities). In the end of the movie, Sean Penn's character does have the chace to tell the secret to the court that is hearing the trial against his father. And he does tell. I also think abuse fits in well w/ this song. As far as the "beauty lives" verse, that could be interpretted as the victim's view that although there is abuse going on, and the abuser is taking a lot away, there are some things that cannot be taken away. The beauty is what the victim focuses on at times in order to not be overwhelmed by the abuse. In a way, both interpretations are correct because in the movie the father is essentially abusing the kids by bringing them into a world of crime & even worse shooting his son. | |
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No Picture
Sarah McKagan Musical Genius |
#37 by Sarah McKagan (AKA - Lady Rock 'n' Roll) at Dec 10, 1997 at 12:49 PM EST |
| i really like this song. I dont like madonna's latest stuff, but this, and 'oh father' have to be like the best madonna slow ones ever. I liked the ray of light album aswell. to me, this song could be about any kind of pain. the kind of ''secrets'' that you keep to yourself, cos your ashamed of how you feel or whatever. it could be anything, abuse, dark-thoughts, anything that you don't show on the surface, but that you HOPE you'll get through, so you can 'live to tell' how you once felt, and be honest with yourself. it's about self-confrontation to me. | |
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No Picture
Peter Wanna Be |
#38 by Peter Lambden at Aug 10, 1998 at 2:27 PM EST |
| I do NOT get this song! Someone explain it to me, because I love it and I want to understand it! | |
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No Picture
isaac Average |
#39 by isaac fritsch at Oct 12, 1998 at 10:41 PM EST |
| This is my favorite song by her. | |
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No Picture
Sam Average |
#40 by Sam at Jul 3, 1999 at 12:48 AM EST |
| I absolutely love this song. it's my favorite by madonna, but i have no idea what it is about. so will somebody who knows for sure what it's about comment on it? PLEASE? | |
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No Picture
The REAL Godfat Average |
#41 by The REAL Godfather at Jan 27, 2000 at 10:19 AM EST |
| If Madonna's songs are so shallow and commercial, as some professors claim, why don't they explain such easy lyrics to us? I believe aj is correct, it's about a secret and no hints have been given as to what it is about, so every effort to identify it, as Ange does, would be quite arbitrary. I must say that when an interpretation is consistent and matches every detail of the song, well, that is a brilliant interpretation anyway, and Ange has found the best (up to now) I have heard of. But it doesn't account for the positive part of the lyric, I mean the reference to beauty and the light and warm it gives inside a person (another secret). And somehow the content of that mysterious secret seems to be stated in that "A man can tell a thousand lies", that seems what she wants to tell (warning) everyone. She seems she has seen the best side in a man (beauty, love, warm, light) for a while, but after that the man has been unfaithful and, as most men, has told a lie and everything has changed ever after. What is left is the positive touch of love and at the same time the regret for what has been negative. | |
|
No Picture
chris Average |
#42 by chris at Feb 9, 2000 at 4:36 AM EST |
| This song is kind of mysterious. I think obviously it's about a secret. She's wondering if she can keep it, if she should keep it, or if someone will find out; but it's not clear what the secret is. | |
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No Picture
Master Shaïtan Wanna Be |
#43 by Master Shaïtan at Aug 1, 2002 at 6:11 AM EST |
| I remember reading some theory at a Madonna fansite: the song was written by Patrick Leonard intended to be sung by a man. It was a about a man who was infected with HIV by his partner. | |
|
No Picture
PunkJunky Wanna Be |
#44 by PunkJunky at Dec 20, 2002 at 1:59 PM EST |
| I think it hints at patterned sexual abuse, particularly inflicted on a child by a male relative or adult figure. She's the only one who knows about it, and can't bear her own feelings of guilt and bitterness and disillusionment. Shes had opportunities to tell others, but is afraid nobody will believe her. She wonders "will I have the chance again?" Shes afraid too that the unspeakable truth will die with her and the child will continue to be hurt. 'The truth is never far behind', because he is an ever present part of their family, and every time she sees him she is confronted with it. What more horrible secret could you know about people you love? Thats just what I think. Read the words and see if you agree | |
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No Picture
btotherizzad Average |
#45 by btotherizzad moriznad at Mar 24, 2003 at 2:08 AM EST |
| A man can tell a thousand lies. I learned my lesson well. | |
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No Picture
geoff Average |
#46 by geoff at Mar 5, 2005 at 5:53 AM EST |
| This is my favorite song by her. | |
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No Picture
Maarten Average |
#47 by Maarten Wuyts at Jun 16, 2005 at 4:09 AM EST |
| This song is kind of mysterious. I think obviously it's about a secret. She's wondering if she can keep it, if she should keep it, or if someone will find out; but it's not clear what the secret is. | |
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No Picture
chris the pirat Lead Player |
#48 by chris the pirate. arr at Jan 2, 2006 at 3:33 AM EST |
| thanks for that necronic...imbd is an awesome site. learned alot from it. | |
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No Picture
eric Rhythm Player |
#49 by eric johnson at Feb 18, 2006 at 9:50 PM EST |
| Ok, for those wondering what this songs about - it was written for a movie with Sean Penn called "At Close Range". The movie is based on a true story about a father who used his sons to commit crimes. Well, there's a disturbing scene in the movie where the father kills his son with a gun at close range. Anyway, see the movie. It's a good one from the 80's. All throughout, these kids just wanted a father who tricked his kids into thinking he cared about them, only to use them and eventually kill them. Whadda dad. Heres a link for the movie: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090670/?fr=c2l0ZT1kZnxteD0yMHxzZz0xfGxtPTIwMHx0dD1vbnxwbj0wfHE9YXQgY2xvc2UgcmFuZ2V8aHRtbD0xfG5tPW9u;fc=1;ft=3 | |
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No Picture
Avinash Average |
#50 by Avinash Dutta at Aug 20, 2006 at 10:16 PM EST |
| I think the song is about someone being alone, and they dont want anyone to find out about it, because she likes to be alone in life. "I have a tale to tell Sometimes it gets so hard to hide it well" People notice she's alone, and so its hard for her to hide it well. "A man can tell a thousand lies I've learned my lesson well" i think a man broke her heart, thats why she is alone and she cant trust anyone anymore at all. | |
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