Listen

 - James

Here are the lyrics to the song "Listen," by Collective Soul. In moseying around SongMeanings.net, it seems that this is a song about all the poor, suicidal fools who think there is nothing for them in life, that no one loves them, etc. It tells these people to open their eyes and see that there is love in the world, and that their lives are worth something.

Of course, before I researched that, I had my own interpretation of the lyrics. It applies to another sort of suicide, not of the body, that is becoming more and more common in the world. Let's see if you can espy that double meaning:

Hey you're now thirsty
Walking in the desert all alone
Hey you're now searching
Lost in isolation from your soul
The bullets you bite
From the pain you request
You're finding harder to digest
And the answers you seek
Are the ones you destroy
Your anger's well deployed

Hey why can't you listen
Hey why can't you hear
Hey why can't you listen
As love screams everywhere

Hey you now hunger
Feeding your mind with selfishness
Hey you now wander
Aimlessly around your consciousness
Your prophecies fail
And your thoughts become weak
Silence creates necessity
You're clothing yourself
In the shields of despair
Your courage now impaired

You crucify all honesty
No signs you see do you believe
And all your words just twist and turn
Reviving just to crash and burn
You're fighting till the bitter end
If only your heart could open up
And listen