Frogstomp Lyrics

Won't you come with me to a place in a little town
The only way to get there's to go straight down

Let's start with much-maligned Tomorrow. I can understand why the band is sick of the song (though IMO, it's mostly Daniel - Chris once said that the crowd's enthusiasm puts energy back into the old songs). Still, 'Tomorrow' should hardly make them cringe with shame. Hundreds of lyricists have written songs with this theme; few have done so with such subtlety.

I'll kill myself from holding my breath

In retrospect, it's clear that the I in Suicidal Dream is Daniel. This song has taken a bit of a beating, too, and it's equally undeserved. I'm not sure if Daniel himself knew what he was writing, but it's much more complex than it appears on the surface.

The first verse is childish, exactly what you would expect from a fourteen-year-old - but it's not quite that simple. This is what a kid in pain is feeling and thinking: They'll be sorry when I'm dead. At this stage, it's an idle daydream, punctuated by the very ineffective (and petulant) method of suicide at the end of the verse.

In the second verse, however, things get much more serious. The playground taunts have been absorbed and are believed to be true. Suicide becomes less a method of revenge than a way out of pain, and the method becomes very real. To underscore the increasing desperation of the lyrics, the music spirals into frantic intensity at the end of the song.

IMO, Daniel's always had a real problem separating himself from the opinions of others, and a lot of his depression and anorexia resulted from an inability to truly shrug off the critics, whether they were press or schoolmates. Taking the criticism to heart, there was nothing to do but disappear - one way or another.

I hate you and your apathy
You can leave, you can leave, I don't want you here
I'm playing this pantomime
But I don't see you showing any signs of fear

Almost fifteen years later, Israel's Son is still something of a mystery. Daniel's original explanation for it was flippant, and I don't think he's ever given us more insight. At songmeanings.net, posters have speculated that the victim in the song is Christ, while others relate it to hostilities between Israel and Palestine. Whatever Daniel's true intent, it's loaded with imagery, punctuated by the gun-cocking crack of the drums and the helter-skelter ride to the end.

Next: Freak Show