What does Dance with the Devil mean?

Breaking Benjamin: Dance with the Devil Meaning

Tagged: Suicide [suggest]
Album cover for Dance with the Devil album cover

Dance with the Devil Lyrics

Here I stand, helpless and left for dead.

Close your eyes, so many days go by.
Easy to find what's wrong, harder to find what's right.

I believe in you, I can show you that I can see right through all your empty lies.

I won't stay long,...

  1. 1TOP RATED

    #1 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
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    Feb 18th 2008 !⃝

    I was at a concert in their home town. Before they played this song, Ben stated that they were about to play a song that he wrote about addiction. Any kind of addiction whether it be drugs, alcohol, or relationships.

  2. 2TOP RATED

    #2 top rated interpretation:
    erinw88
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    Nov 11th 2007 !⃝

    Ok, I've found that according to Ben, this song is about struggles in life, he wrote it while he was trying to become sober, and he said it's about any kind of struggle you may be facing in life.

  3. 3TOP RATED

    #3 top rated interpretation:
    immortalnight
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    Feb 22nd 2007 !⃝

    First off...
    This. Song. Is. So. Freakin'. Awesome.

    Anyways, I see it that he could be talking to himself, a girl, or a friend/family member (anyone!) The person the singer's speaking to is wanting to commit suicide and he's saying that they shouldn't.
    "Easy to find what's wrong, harder to find what's right," is saying how it's easy to commit suicide and just get life over with, and its harder to continue living.
    "I believe in you, I can show you that I can see right through all your empty lies," suggests that he's talking to a girl or friend who wants to commit suicide or who has failed at suicide. He's saying that he knows that whatever the person is telling themselves ("I'm not loved," "I'm not good enough," ect) are all complete lies.
    "Say goodbye, as we dance with the devil tonight/don't you dare look at him in the eye, as we dance with the devil tonight" is saying that the singer is trying to help the one who's committed suicide fight off death (as the devil usually represents death, evil, hell, ect).

    Anyhow... I love this song. Feel free to correct my interpretation.

  4. anonymous
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    Nov 25th 2020 !⃝

    Though I know this is not the meaning, when I listen to this song, I think of it as a man who is theoretically dancing with the devil, battling with depression and the choice to kill himself. At the end, there is one last "goodbye", which makes me think that he has succumbed to the devil, and that he has committed suicide.

  5. anonymous
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    Mar 21st 2020 !⃝

    I agree with imorratle light as i have had a friend kill himself and i tried everything i could to talk him out of it and i know this sing word for word i fn love it because i can relate to it

  6. anonymous
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    Aug 19th 2019 !⃝

    Dance with the Devil.

    What do you see by listening to this song? Cancer? Wrong decisions in general? Or someone dancing with the actual devil.
    In Christianity, the devil is (a mix out of) all that is evil. Therefore, he mustn`t be a real person.

    So what is the "Devil´s Dance"?
    It´s drugs, you see?

    Most of the modern Worlds evil is drugs. Heroin, cocaine, alcohol. Ruining innocent lives. Ultimately leading to your death.

    It isn´t like you can´t see it coming.

    When you`re addicted, you hand yourself the needle, knowing, you might not wake up.

    That does sound poetic in a way, like all of mans suffering.

    Drugs.
    It´s drugs.
    Can´t you see?

  7. anonymous
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    Sep 28th 2017 !⃝

    I think this song means something different to each person, depending on what they've experienced in life. For me, I translate this song as an affair song. The guy cares dearly for the girl and they metaphorically are dancing with the devil when they are engaging in an extramarital relationship/ affair. You know it's wrong and you shouldn't but you give into the lust.

  8. anonymous
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    Apr 26th 2017 !⃝

    She's wanting to give up and commit suicide over another guy. He tells her not to look at him in the eyes. Dance with the devil tonight... as in they're dealing with her depression. Hold on. He doesn't want her to end her life because he loves her and she needs to know that. She's trying to kill herself over someone she thinks she loves but he's trying to stop it. I think.

  9. anonymous
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    Feb 2nd 2017 !⃝

    I think this is a murder suicide. He whispers goodbye at the end and in my mind I feel like that's when she dies. He loves her but I also think she was either not in love with him or emotionally unavailable to him. "Feeling your cold dead eyes... stealing the life of mine."

  10. anonymous
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    Dec 15th 2016 !⃝

    It's clearly about drug addiction. Ben was an addict for some time.

  11. anonymous
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    Nov 27th 2016 !⃝

    I have a feeling that this song is about sleep paralysis. Trembling,crawling across my skin, feeling your cold dead eyes stealing the life of mine. Basically what you feel when theres something hovering over you and you can't move or scream for help( don't you dare look at him in the eyes: I don't even need to explain that one! I believe in you. Yes, because if you beleive in god you beleive in the Satan. I can see right through all your empty lies. Those empty lies are people telling you it's a disorder of some sort when it is really an evil spirit/demon messing with you.It's a good thing to know the problem so you can conquer it. Prayer before bed every night or instead of trying to scream yourself awake say Jesus be with me. When evil spirits hear his name they will disappear. They're terrified of him. I won't stay long in this world so wrong, because if you're having sleep paralysis, you feel like you're trapped in this other world or bubble and can't get out but you eventually wake up. Here I stand helpless and left for dead: That's how you feel when you're having sleep paralysis. Close your eyes so many days go by(without sleep)is what people tell themselves every night when they develope insomnia and can't sleep for days because they're afraid to fall asleep because they'll fall into it again. Easy to find what's wrong is what you're doing in your life that is causing this , harder to find what's right is when you're caught up in a lifestyle that's causing this to happen, lack of prayer, alcohol, drugs, evil deeds, dark secrets etc, even stress,working too much,anxiety and bad attitude, you could even be living a healthy lifestyle. And improving, the more you do good the harder the attacks get. This is satan trying to make you maybe drink a bottle so you have no feelings and crash, don't give in. Just pray before bed and face your fears, they will soon become more spread apart and not as strong or eerie. Harder to find what's right is when you feel like you're so caught up in a certain lifestyle that you don't know what's right anymore. Hold on... To reality, don't fall into it because you might not wake up. Ever wonder how some people mysteriously pass away with no signs of anything wrong with them then you wonder if it was sleep paralysis? Only people that suffer from what we're told is sleep paralysis can relate to this translation. You're welcome .

  12. supergifford
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    Sep 5th 2016 !⃝

    It could mean that the person is going to do something that could possibly end with their death, the fact that they could die doing this is like dancing with the devil.

  13. anonymous
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    Aug 1st 2016 !⃝

    Wel all i know is I love this song sooo much I can relate to it I tried suicide about 5 times or 6 times and I failed at it I'm stil living a miserable live and This song gives me hope in some way so even if the song is not about suicide i dont care I know this song helped me alot and it made me stronger and I started not giving a shit about haters and judgemental shits and if theres anyone out there who's being bullied or judged or whatever just stay strong dont try to commit suicide I onow you dont want to hear this but it wil get beter and you wil rise up from this live stronger then ever I believe in you !!!

  14. anonymous
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    Jan 28th 2015 !⃝

    I believe that "Dance With The Devil" is about Burnley facing Death itself. As you all know, Burnley has had an illness and many phobias and is willing to put off Death for as long as he can. Well, in this song, he dances with Death. For example, when one is about to fight another, sometimes they say "let's dance". "Say Goodbye;As we dance with the Devil tonight" could mean he has a chance of death as he goes off against him. "Feeling your cold dead eyes, stealing the soul of mine". As he's going against Death, he's losing the battle, and is possibly going to die. "Goodbye." Burnley has obviously lost the battle with the Devil and has possibly lost his life due to the loss of the conflict.
    Though, this is only my belief of this great masterpiece from the artistic band "Breaking Benjamin".

  15. anonymous
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    Dec 13th 2014 !⃝

    I think this song is about a girl.or a really close friend struggeling with an addiction. That he is realizing that it is a dangerous way of living. He says "i wont stay long in this world so wrong" witch could mean he wants to get rid of his addiction and wants the person he is refering to, to get rid of it to. And i think in the story he is telling "dance with the devil" that the person he is talking about took it to far and is now in the hospital and dying. And because of this person who took it to far he is realizing that something needs to change. Also the words "close your eyes, so many day go by" could be about a delirium. But that is just how i see the meaning if this song. Either way, it is a great song.

  16. anonymous
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    Sep 1st 2014 !⃝

    I believe it's about someone dying. A close friend or loved one. He's stuck next to this person, holding them. They're telling him that he'll be alright without them but he is too close to that person, could be all he's close to, and so he refers to those words as empty lies. By saying "as we dance with the devil tonight, don't you dare look him in the eye, as we dance with the devil tonight", he's showing this person that he's with them all the way, but don't look in the devils eyes, ie give up and die. They could be dying from anything long term, such as cancer, hence the beginning lines "close your eyes, so many days go by". Like everyone one els, he's only pointing out what the doctors are doing wring, and not the things they're doing right. He's telling this person that he doesn't want to live in this world without them, and as this song captures the final scene where he holds this person, they die, hence the last line goodbye.
    Just my opinion

  17. anonymous
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    May 27th 2014 !⃝

    I think that he's trying to help a close friend out of a hard time saying that we're in this together and we'll get through it "say goodbye as WE dance with the devil tonight don't you dare look at him in the eye" but I think the friend is just so depressed because of their hard time that they actually do commit suicide and he's letting them go at the end of the song because he's saying goodbye

  18. anonymous
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    Feb 23rd 2014 !⃝

    Well it may be about an addiction, but my interpretation is about him dancing with the actual devil. The line "I believe in you" brings me to this conclusion, since the devil's goal is to make people not believe in him. Also "I can see through your empty lies" well the devil is the master of deception so that ties to that. I ain't preaching, just stating my interpretation.

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