Sic Transit Gloria... Glory Fades Lyrics
Keep the noise low
She doesn't wanna blow it
Shaking head to toe while your left hand does "the show me around"
Quickens your heartbeat
It beats me straight into the ground
You don't recover from a night like this
A victim, still lying in bed, completely motionless
A hand moves in the dark to a zipper
Hear a boy bracing tight against sheets, barely whisper
"This is so messed up"
Upon arrival the guests had all stared
Dripping wet and clearly depressed, he'd headed straight for the stairs
No longer cool, but a boy in a stitch
Unprepared for a life full of lies and failing relationships
[Pre-Chorus 1]
He keeps his hands low (Up the stairs)
He doesn't wanna blow it (The station where)
He's wet from head to toe and his eyes give her the up and the down
His stomach turns and he thinks of throwing up (The act becomes)
But the body on the bed beckons forward and he starts growing up (The art of growing up)
[Chorus]
The fever, the focus
The reasons that I had to believe you weren't too hard to sell
Die young and save yourself
The tickle, the taste of
It used to be the reason I breathed but now it's choking me up
Die young and save yourself
She hits the lights
This doesn't seem quite fair
Despite everything he learned from his friends he doesn't feel so prepared
She's breathing quiet and smooth
He's gasping for air
"This is the first and last time," he says
She fakes a smile and presses her hips into his
And keeps his hands pinned down at his sides
He's holding back from telling her exactly what it really feels like
He is the lamb, she is the slaughter
She's moving way too fast and all he wanted was to hold her
Nothing that he tells her is really having an effect
He whispers that he loves her but she's probably only looking for s--
[Pre-Chorus 2]
So much more than he could ever give (Up the stairs)
A life free of lies and a meaningful relationship (The station where)
He keeps his hands pinned down at his sides (The act becomes)
He waits for it to end and for the aching in his guts to subside (The art of growing up)
[Chorus]
The fever, the focus
The reasons that I had to believe you weren't too hard to sell
Die young and save yourself
The tickle, the taste of
It used to be the reason I breathed but now it's choking me up
Die young and save yourself
Up the stairs, the station where
The act becomes the art of growing up
[Chorus]
The fever, the focus
The reasons that I had to believe you weren't too hard to sell
Die young and save yourself
They take all the taste out
It used to be the reason I breathed, but now it's choking me up
Die young and save yourself
About
This single from the album Deja Entendu is about rape. The first song on the album save the brief “Tautou,” it builds on that song’s imagery of “burning… for your body” by replacing the “meaningful relationship” that ought to follow with a dark inversion of healthy sex. The song heralds the unwanted death of childhood through (equally unwanted) sex.
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
This is a song that Jesse Lacey has talked about many times and in varying terms.
In a January 2004 interview with Rock Sound he said the following:
[The song] came together from a bassline that Vin wrote. It’s about my inhibitions with things pertaining to sex, sexual issues and stuff like that…
In an earlier interview in 2003, Lacey had gone more in-depth with the song.
In a November 2003 MTV interview, while discussing the music video for the song, Lacey also confirmed the events in the song are not consensual:
Since the song is about taking advantage of someone else, there’s a pretty strong correlation between the video and the song.
