What does Face Down mean?

The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus: Face Down Meaning

Album cover for Face Down album cover

Song Released: 2006


Face Down Lyrics

Hey girl, you know you drive me crazy?
one look put's the rhythm in my hand.
Still I'll never understand why you hang around
I see what's going down.
Cover up with make up in the mirror
tell yourself it's never gonna happen again
you cry...

  1. 1TOP RATED

    #1 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
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    Feb 11th 2008 !⃝

    Alright, anyone who just points to the music video and says, "It's about a woman being abused." Yes, we understand that, but music videos don't always clarify what the subject is. The song "Lying is the most fun a girl can have without taking her clothes off," has a music video, but it doesn't relate to the song at all.

    The song is originally written for Ronnie Winter's mother, who was abused by his father. Yet it showed the thoughts of Ronnie while he witnessed abuse.

    The song has many meanings, but the main topic is abuse. I think we all clarified that already.

    But I DID want to clarify that the specific family member was his mother. ;)

    ♥Anna♥

  2. 2TOP RATED

    #2 top rated interpretation:
    OldNo7
    click a star to vote
    Apr 23rd 2007 !⃝

    It doesn't get any more literal than this. How can there possibly be any debate over the meaning?

  3. 3TOP RATED

    #3 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
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    Aug 1st 2006 !⃝

    This song is about a women whose boyfriend or spouse hits her.

    Cover up with makeup in the mirror
    tell yourself it's never going to happen again
    you cry alone and then he swears he loves you

    this is saying that she tries to cover up the bruises that he made. It's also saying that she is trying to convince herself that it was a one time thing, that he loves her and would never hit her again.

    Do you feel like a man, when you push her around?
    Do you feel better now, as she falls to the ground?
    Well I'll tell you my friend, one day this world's got to end. As your lies crumble down, a new life she has found.

    This is saying that one day the women will get tired of him hitting her and leave him.

    A pebble in the water makes a ripple effect.
    Every action in this world will bear a consequence.
    If you wade around forever you will surely drown.
    I see what's going down
    i see the way you go and say you're right again, say you're rihgt again. Heed my lecture

    this is saying how the women is in denial. She keeps trying to convince herself and everyone else that he won't hurt her again. This is also saying how the narrator, is telling her that if she stays with him then she will get very hurt.

  4. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jan 22nd 2018 !⃝

    This song reminds me of Rihanna and Chris Brown's relationship and how badly he beat her. In my opinion too many women get themselves into this situation and are too blinded by stupid love and insecurity and fear. They're too scared to leave unaware that leaving their abusers could save their lives

  5. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jun 8th 2016 !⃝

    Basically, in my perspective, it's about a girl in an abusive relationship. (Yes, yes, I know NO DUH! But wait! There's more...)

    It's about the guy singing about, first to the girl, how he loves the girl, and why she is with the other guy who is abusing her. He says how she hides the abuse, even though he knows.

    Then he sings to the abuser. He sings about how if the guy feels better, stronger, and such by abusing the girl. He then says how she's going to leave him sooner or later, as she stands up for herself.

    He says, "A pebble in the water makes a ripple effect, Every action in this world will bear a consequence, If you wade around forever, you will surely drown," Here he tells that abusing the girl will bite him back in the rear end. It might hurt when she leaves, and he's going to be lost, like how he will drown because he's going down and forgotten, underwater, lost forever.

    Finally, it goes on like a story at the end where the girl finally has had enough. It states in the lyrics of the song, "Face down in the dirt, She said, "This doesn't hurt.", She said, "I finally had enough."" It shows how she's finally knows enough is enough. She either makes the guy stop abusing her, or leaves her abuser. (Which as I said will bite him in the BUTT.) And that's like the end of my interpretation.

  6. anonymous
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    Jul 11th 2014 !⃝

    Obviously this song is about abuse. But it can also be interpreted that the singer is not only the voice of reason/ guardian angel for the person who is being abused, but also is either confronting the abuser on her behalf (showing that the narrator may have a close relationship with both of them) or is, in a way, also acting as a conscience for the abuser:

    Do you feel like a man when you push her around?
    Do you feel better now as, she falls to the ground?
    Well I'll tell you my friend, one day this world's going to end;
    As your lies crumble down, a new life she has found.

    If the narrator is confronting the abuser, then it shows that he is trying to show the abuser empathy to make them realize they need help with controlling their anger. If the narrator is the conscience then it shows that the abuser is starting to realize that he needs to seek professional help.

  7. anonymous
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    Feb 21st 2012 !⃝

    one look puts a rhythm in my hand, Obviously masturbation

  8. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Dec 28th 2011 !⃝

    She is in love with her girlfriend and her boyfriend finds out about it and beats her. He feels like a man as she falls to the ground. Yeahhhhh!!!!

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  9. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    May 26th 2011 !⃝

    yes it relates to abuse in any shape or form but it mainly is about a mean husband or boyfriend who hits his girlfriend or wife. like the lead singer talks about. it mainly covers child abuse by a teen or minor.

  10. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Apr 5th 2011 !⃝

    I really like this song.
    i do believe this song represents abuse.

    1.) i think the narrator here (the singer) likes the girl that is being abused.
    *Hey girl, you know you drive me crazy?
    one look put's the rhythm in my hand.*
    2.)*Still I'll never understand why you hang around, i see whats going down* i think this line represents that the narrator telling the girl that he does not understand why she makes herself so blind even after being hit by her boyfriend.
    3.)*Cover up with make up in the mirror
    tell yourself it's never gonna happen again
    you cry alone and then he swears he loves you.* this line (i think) represents that the girl hides her painful experiences from the outside and urges herself to think that this will never occur again and that her boyfriend loves her.
    4.)*Do you feel like a man
    When you push her around?
    Do you feel better now as she falls to the ground?
    Well I'll tell you my friend, one day this world's bound to end
    Your lies crumble down, a new life she has found.
    as your lies crumble down, a new life she has found.* the narrator then hopeless at the girl at convincing her to accept the truth, goes and confronts/ threatens him (boyfriend of girl) that does he feel strong or proud when he took advantage on her. Then he says at the last line that “you’ll see one day that her sufferings will end, your lies will be known and she will find a better life.
    5.) *A pebble in the water makes a ripple effect
    every action in this world will bear a consequence* in this line means that everything we do follows an effect.
    6.) *If you wade around forever you will surely drown
    I see what's going down.
    I see the way you go and say you're right again,
    say you're right again,
    heed my lecture* in this part I think the man that is being confronted thinks he is right and the narrator has no business with the girl. The narrator then shuts him off and says that he should follow what he had said.
    7.) *Face down in the dirt she said, this doesn't hurt she said I've finally had enough!*
    at this part I think the abuser was now hitting her again and caused to face down on the dirt or she fell to ground. Then she got tired of it and said this didn’t cause her pain (implying that she fell to the ground) but what had hurt her most was he hurting despite that she had loved him…. (Maybe!! This explanation is rather a bit too far from the topic) and at *I’ve finally had enough!* this puts to it that the woman cannot carry on the man’s actions towards him and finally ready to leave.
    8.) *One day she will tell you that she has had enough
    its coming round again.* in this one someday she will tell him that she has had enough and will leave him for good.

  11. anonymous
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    Mar 10th 2011 !⃝

    I found this part " A pebble in the water makes a ripple affect,every action in this world will bare a consequence, if you wade around forever you will surely drown, I see what's going down" to be very interesting.

    My inturpretation of this part in particular is that he's seeing it from an outside prospective, watchin this man, and other people verbally abuse and criticize this woman. They're throwin "stones at her". When I hear the part, every action in this world will bare a consequence, I imagine her abuser, or abusers trying to keep her around by controlling what happens to her next. Example: She goes to a concert, and her abusers organize something terrible to take place at the concert. So then the abuser can say "If you didn't go to the concert this wouldn't have happened to you". It kinda reminds me of the story of Jesus and Mary of Magdelain. If you listen to the rest of the album, all suggestions point to a similar story.

  12. anonymous
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    Nov 20th 2010 !⃝

    I know it's probably not what it's meant to be, but I can interpret this song to be about suicide. The subject of the song is the suicidal one while the 'he' is everyone around.
    For example:
    Face down in the dirt she said
    This doesn't hurt she said
    I finally had enough

    Being face down in the dirt means she is at her lowest emotion, so much so that her face is to the ground. At first she keeps saying that it doesn't hurt, meaning she's fighting the urge to kill herself saying that it doesn't hurt enough to actually commit suicide. But then she says she finally has enough and she's ready to commit suicide.

    One day she will tell you that she has had enough

    By killing herself, shed be telling everyone that she has had enough.

    All those lines about being abused could be taken in a different way. It doesn't have to mean physically. It could be describing how everyone around her is hurting her.

    The beginning verses can be death talking to her.
    Hey girl you know you drive me crazy. One look puts the rhythm in my head. Still I never understand why you hang around - can mean that death has it's eye on her and doesn't understand why she's still hanging around and hasn't just embraced death.
    The line 'A pebble in the water makes a ripple effect.' can be related to the 'snowball effect' that is usually what causes people to commit suicide. 'Every action in this world will bear a consequence' is about how much people can effect a person even if they think it's such a small action.

  13. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    May 14th 2010 !⃝

    My name is Julie, I am 16 years old. I have been thru. alot. Abusive relationships run in my family. My mother died because she stayed with my dad. He beat her so much, sometimes in front of me. One day he killed her. My big sister in in the worst abusive relationship. Shes abused all the time, sometimes in front of her friends and other people. I'm in an abusive relationship right now, No matter how hard I try, I'm always convinsed he loves me. It kills me to know that I can't leave this horrable person, because I'm making myself believe he loves me. I think people should try their hardest to avoid being in this situation, and if you know somebody whos in this, help them out, don't wait untill it's to late.

  14. eyezrgreen
    click a star to vote
    Apr 23rd 2010 !⃝

    This song is about me, my marriage, my life. I met someone reciently that I wanted to spend the rest of my days hugging...but I am afraid to leave my husband. Someday he is going to end up killing me.

  15. lordsumner
    click a star to vote
    Apr 21st 2010 !⃝

    The obvious: a girl is being abused by boyfriend, whatever.

    The mentionable: The narrator is in love with the girl who is abused b/c of the lines "hey girl, you know, you drive me crazy" and "as your lies crumble down, a new life she has found" (he is the new life).

    What I found interesting: the chorus (face down in the dirt) seems to have several different interpretations in my opinion...

    1- she is "face down in the dirt" still in denial saying "this doesn't hurt", and I think the narrator is talking to her here b/c "she said", as in she is talking to him. Finally he convinces her to leave him so "she said I've finally had enough".

    2- the guy is "face down in the dirt" b/c she stood up to him, and now she fought back, "this doesn't hurt" (b/c HE is the one who is hurt)

    3- I was talking to someone about this and she said something very interesting, that perhaps the girl is DEAD. She had said that face down means dead, as in face down in the water implies a floating dead body. So we thought about it and this is what we came up with: she is "face down in the dirt" b/c she never left through all her denial and it was so much he ended up killing her. "she said this doesn't hurt": she is in heaven and now she feels no more pain, so she is painless for the very first time. "she said I've finally had enough": she realizes she is dead after being surprised she's painless, and she knows that she has physically "had enough" (b/c if you're tortured to dead, you can't have more torture, you've "had enough").

    Tell me what you think, especially about the last part, as I think its a very interesting and abstract way of interpreting the lyrics. Thanks!

  16. Minerman
    click a star to vote
    Apr 20th 2010 !⃝

    I've looked at everyones interpretation and nobody has posted that this is what his childhood was live, and if you where to go onto YouTube and look at the video facedown by just2pale there's an animated video and it gives a much more clear vishual of what he's saying. Plus it's areally good video you need to check it out.

  17. bwaygurl123
    click a star to vote
    Aug 27th 2009 !⃝

    When I listen to this song I think of my friend and how she constantly stays in her relationship...I agree that I think its more of an observation as if he is a close friend or family member of the girl...The video is just to interpret the song visually...I think the song is very powerful...The reason why I think its an observation is because of the first few words of the song..."Hey girl you know you drive me crazy"...and so on...till "I see whats going down"...Hes observing the situation at hand...The words that really got me was "You cry alone and then he swears he loves ya"...Its very personal because I observe this in my friend's relationship...she sits in her house crying and then her boyfriend calls still saying he loves her and he acts like nothing is wrong...The chorus is also pretty powerful as if he is standing up for her and talking to the guy who abused the girl...The second verse starting with "A pebble in the water makes a ripple effect" all the way to "I see whats going down" is another observation but more of a general observation rather than focusing only on the problem at hand...It more like a cross reference...To me " a pebble in the water..." means you can't hide the abuse forever...someone is gonna find out just like someone knows something is in the water when they see the ripple effect..."every action in this world will bear a consequence"...He's gonna get what he deserves..."If you wade around forever you will surely drown"...Stay with him and its gonna continue...Your gonna drown in his lies over and over of how he loves you but still hits you...Face down in the dirt she says this doesn't hurt...she says I finally had enough...its like a declaration of her freedom from this boy who abused...shes abused to the point where its doesn't even hurt and she's tired of it...I love this song because its so real...it makes so much sense and I only hope people in the same situation will "finally have enough"

  18. octanedude45
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    Jul 6th 2009 !⃝

    personally i believe that is almost an observation.... in my opinion the narrator is someone who has an incredibly close relationship with this girl and is trying to help her get out of this abusive relationship (heed my lecture) but the girl is trying her absolute best to convince herself that it wont ever happen again but she cant let her family find out (cover up with makeup in the mirror tell yourself its never gonna happen again)... the narrator realizes that there isnt a way he can get her to break up with him so he confronts the abuser (do you feel like a man when you push her around?... and so on through the rest of the chorus).... please note that this is a personal opinion and that i have no evidence to back it up

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