what do you suppose this song lyric/quote means?

Question

"The day she died the neighbours came to snicker
Well that's what comes from too much pills and liquor
But when I saw her laid out like a queen
She was the happiest corpse I'd ever seen."




Yes, I know what it's from.. but looking at it alone, doesn't it make you kind of sad? Does it sound like she killed herself? Iunno.. what are your opinions?

Answer 1

From what I see here, it seems that her life was a very troubled one. Her community cast her aside ans reviled her, they had turned against her. They hated her. She couldn't take the torment of being so alone. So, she took her own life, and died with a smile, knowing that she had finally escaped her pain, and would now sleep in eternal peace.

That's what I get from this poem. It is indeed very sad for someone to be pushed to the point of suicide.

I believe the author's intent was to show us that we must treat each other with, at very least, mutual respect as fellow human beings, but that we should also strive to maintain the bonds of a community in order to ensure peace for all those who live there, not just ourselves.

After reading it again, I believe that this was written from the perspective of one of the towns people that found her body. They assumed that she ODed, but she indeed committed suicide. I don't think she was the "party type" that others here seem to think she was. If everyone hated her, who would she party with? ...Exactly.

I hope this answers you questions. If you have any more, don't be afraid to ask.

Answer 2

Out of context, it sorta looks confusing, not sad. How can a corpse look happy, anyway?

But in the context of the song, it makes a lot more sense.

There's no shortage of people in this world that will tell you how to live your life, but if you take the "good advice" to heart, you may wind up not living at all.

Some have said "Live fast, die young, leave a beautiful corpse", and others said "Exercise, eat right, don't smoke, don't drink, die anyway."

It all comes down to Winston Churchill's response to being informed that he could add ten years to his life by cutting out cigars and whiskey. "Why should I give up the two things I enjoy most in life for a mess of dotage?"

No, she didn't kill herself, that was the point of the song. She died young because she lived the way she chose, rather than die even younger by voluntarily living an unhappy life.

Answer 3

I don't know which song that's from, but it sounds as though the woman had things in her life she wanted to escape from, and her death was her release (final escape) from the pain and confusion she suffered through. It doesn't sound like she killed herself, but that she's still ok with the result of her tragedy. The pills and liquor are usually a temporary reprieve from pain. They just make a good distraction and cause a numbness.

Answer 4

Viewed alone - and I don't know where it's from - it looks like someone did pills and booze and eventually died from it. But it doesn't seem like intentional suicide. It seems like this person chose that life and after they laid her out in a nice dress and all made up, it didn't look like teh body she left behind was that of a person who lived, or died, with regrets.
So it's not about intentional suicide to me...just about a life choice that person appears to have been fine with, even in it's final result.

Answer 5

She was looked down on by her neighbors who thought she was high too often. She probably died young from substance abuse, and while lying in state she had a good looking corpse.

Answer 6

Yea it sounds like suicide. The pills and liquor part make you think of that cause a lot of people kill themselves by taking tons of pills and washing it down with liquor. Wow those lyrics are powerful. Can you tell me who it is?

Answer 7

This sounds like my sister. It doesn't make me sad. That kind of a lifestyle is a choice.