What does 20 Dollar Nose Bleed mean?

Fall Out Boy: 20 Dollar Nose Bleed Meaning

Tagged: Drugs [suggest]
Album cover for 20 Dollar Nose Bleed album cover

20 Dollar Nose Bleed Lyrics

Have you ever wanted to disappear
and join a monastery
Go out and preach on Manic Street?
Where will I be when I wake up next to a stranger
on a passenger plane? (passenger plane)

Permanent jet lag
Please take me back(please take be...

  1. 1TOP RATED

    #1 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
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    Jul 2nd 2011 !⃝

    "Have you ever wanted to disappear?
    And join a monastery
    Go out and preach on Manic Street?"

    The first two lines are a reference to The Catcher In The Rye, Holden considers running away to a monastery, which then leads into the Manic Street Preachers pun, whose guitarist vanished in about 1994.

  2. 2TOP RATED

    #2 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
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    Apr 13th 2010 !⃝

    I think you are all idiots. This song may have something to do with the whole idea of coke. But Benzedrine is a bronchodilator (a drug that relaxes and dilates the bronchial passageways and improves the passages of air into the lungs), but later on, people took out the strips and took them orally as a drug because of the side-effects. It would cause neediness, anger, confusion, and others. Which would mainly explain Brendon's part. But, as for the second verse, it's about Bush and his Dad. His dad was in office before he was, in case you didn't know. I'm Canadian and I even know that. Think about things.

  3. 3TOP RATED

    #3 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
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    Jul 17th 2009 !⃝

    "when I look at the man who wouldbe king, the man who would be kind goes to a desert the same war his dad rehearsed, came back with flags on coffins and said we won, oh we won!" is talking about George W. Bush and how he did cocaine before that totally makes sense! thanks!

  4. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Aug 22nd 2014 !⃝

    Benzedrine is a drug that is taken nasally. Back when it was a popular drug, it took about 20 dollars to get high, and after you got high, you would usually get a nosebleed, hence the title. In the song, the lyrics talk about wanting to be treated like a normal human being, instead of like a king, or celebrity. He says, have you ever wanted to disappear, etc. This is referring to the fact that even if he wanted to run away from his fame, the way Richey Williams of Manic Street Preachers (as referred to in the second line if the song), but he most likely couldn't.

  5. anonymous
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    Jul 8th 2012 !⃝

    All I wanna say is it doesn't say "go out and preach on manic street", it says "go out and preach young addicts straight". It makes sense considering the second verse of the song says "and join a monastery", which is a Church related function.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  6. anonymous
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    May 28th 2011 !⃝

    This song is actually talking about Patrick's struggles with his addiction to a diet pill. The pill had Benzadrine in it and it cost $20. One of the side effects was a nosebleed, hence the name 20 Dollar Nose Bleed.

  7. anonymous
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    Apr 25th 2011 !⃝

    I think that the title refers to cocaine b/c another fob song is titled "it's not a side effect of the cocaine I'm thinking I'm in love" so yeah and another thing the second verse "when I look at the man who would be king the man who woul be king goes to the desert to song war his dad rehearsed came back with flags on coffins and said we won oh we won" is referring to bush and his father because I think the bush family had cocaine in their past well at least that's what p!nk said then it's basically just referencing to other drugs "smoke rings" could be weed or cigarettes and then the obvious Benzedrine which if u dont know is a drug that is like an inhaler or something from another drug forget the name and I'm not gonna even try to spell it but it has similar effects to cocaine and then "have you ever wanted to disappear" is referring to a drug trip when you escape from the world. And now I'm not positive but I think Benzedrine kinda opens ur lungs or something so I guess Patrick may have taken it I mean no one else in fob would need to sing sorry Patrick if you didn't just an assumption but he has really good ranges and never had singing lessons so how did he get his voice to sound like that or whatever again sorry if he didn't just guessing

  8. anonymous
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    Apr 4th 2011 !⃝

    Have you ever wanted to disappear?
    And join a monastery
    Go out and preach on Manic Street?

    this is a reference to an influential 90's glam-punk band, the Manic Street Preachers. Their rhythm guitarist and primary lyricist Richey Edwards disappeared, presumably jumping off a bridge in 94, shortly after their masterpiece "The Holy Bible" was released.

    The number of parallels to Pete Wentz are pretty shocking. Both were non-vocalist musicians who wrote a significant portion of their bands' lyrics. They were both suffered bouts of depression and experimented in a variety of ways to dull the pain "babababenzadrine..."

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richey_Edwards

  9. anonymous
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    Jan 5th 2011 !⃝

    I don't think the obvious bush reference has any thing to with cocaine. I don't think the song even does. Benzedrine was a drug that people would get high by snorting it, and it used to take 20$ to buy enough to get high, and using it gave you a nosebleed.

  10. anonymous
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    Dec 22nd 2010 !⃝

    woahh..i totally get this song now: benzedrine was used to wake up lethargic(sleepy - woopwoop i used a big word :D) patients before breakfast - they used to mix it in with their food - and hes saying stuff about being asleep then wkaing up where he shouldnt be and then he talks about giving him loads of benzedrine (call me mr benzedrine) which in my way of thinking of it, he cant be bothered with what ever was happening with his lifee right then... if that makes any sense. it probably doesnt; my head's pretty messed up :D

  11. anonymous
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    Nov 2nd 2010 !⃝

    For the guy who said pete may be the protagonist... He's not, Pete was quoted as saying "infinity on high was to autobiographical, I wanted to write about other people for this album" Which also helps us understand a lot of other shit on Folie a Deux

  12. anonymous
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    Oct 28th 2010 !⃝

    Benzedrine was originally used for medicinal purposes, but, as it was a highly effective stimulant, it was later developed (in some forms) as a recreational drug, almost like crack or meth.

    However, Pete was diagnosed with a bipolar disorder when he was about 18. Benzedrine was used as a drug to somehow rationalised the behaviour of children with behavioural disorders.

    It kind of helps us figure out the constant thought swings of the narrator, whether it's Pete or Patrick or a made-up character, eg. "Who will I be when I wake up next to a stranger... On a passenger plane", which are a common side effect of stimulating drugs.

    Hope this helps in some way :D

  13. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jun 4th 2010 !⃝

    "Only one book really matters
    The rest of the proof is on the television"

    Does anybody have an interpretation of these lines?

  14. anonymous
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    May 31st 2010 !⃝

    I really think the Song is about Someone who is on some sort of drug (call me Mr. Benzedrine) and decides to "blow off steam" at things he hates in the world (bush going to war and millions of soldiers dying.) half of it may just be ramblings about life and how he feels and thinks (the whole monestary and airplane part) while he is going through many of the side effects (neediness, etc. like the other person said) of the drug he's on. I especially think this because of the last spoken part. So basically, all of you are partially right, from my point of view. (:

  15. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    May 21st 2010 !⃝

    I think the character is bad and wants to be convert their life style:
    "Have you ever wanted to disappear?
    and join a monastery
    Go out and preach on manic street"

    but when he goes to sleep he forgets that he is supposed to be being good and ends up doing bad things:
    "where will I be when I wake up next to a stranger
    on a passenger plane, passenger plane
    Permanent jetlag
    Please take me back, please take be back"

    Benzedrine, I think is the drug that keeps ou awake so to not do bad things they take the Benzedrine and don't want to be cured:
    "Call me Mr. Benzedrine (Mr. Benzedrine)
    and don't let the doctor, I wanna blow off steam"

    He looks at people who are labeled as good and think they actually aren't, probably worse off than he is:
    "It feels like 14 carats but no clarity
    When I look at the man who would be king
    The man who would be king goes to the
    desert to sing war his dad rehearsed
    came back with flags on coffins and said
    we won, oh, we won"

  16. anonymous
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    Mar 21st 2010 !⃝

    I heard somewhere that fall out boy were on tour and took Benzedrine.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  17. anonymous
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    Feb 19th 2010 !⃝

    "Call me Mr Benzedrine" benzedrine is a drug since Benzedrine is used for nasal purposes thats why the song is intitles 20 dollar nose bleed.

  18. Alternative.to.you
    click a star to vote
    Dec 30th 2009 !⃝

    20 dollar nose bleed is the title of the song because the song is taking about using drugs as an escape from reality: "have you ever wanted to dissapear?"... the title is about cocaine because somepeople snort cocaine with dollar bills, cocaine causes nose bleeds too. The song also talks about an how you lose others after an addiction and the feeling of a dazed, stoned life : "permiinate jet-lag... im a stray dog sick" and "please let me in"

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