What does I'm Still Breathing mean?

Katy Perry: I'm Still Breathing Meaning

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Album cover for I'm Still Breathing album cover

I'm Still Breathing Lyrics

I leave the gas on
Walk the allies in the dark
Sleep with candles burning
I leave the door unlocked
I'm weaving a rope and
Running all the red lights
Did I get your attention
Cause I'm sending
All the signs and
The clock is ticking
And I'll be...

  1. 1TOP RATED

    #1 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Feb 1st 2011 !⃝

    It's pretty obvious I think. It's about a girl and a boy's relationship that is falling apart,and the girl is writing a suicide letter to him. Here's what I think this incredible song is about:

    "I leave the gas on
    Walk the allies in the dark
    Sleep with candles burning
    I leave the door unlocked
    I'm weaving a rope and
    Running all the red lights
    Did I get your attention
    Cause I'm sending
    All the signs "
    (she's talking about all these dangerous things that she's been doing for him to actually notice her and maybe care a bit more. She tries to tell him that she is in pain by doing all this stuff)

    "The clock is ticking
    And I'll be giving
    My 2 weeks
    Pick your favorite
    Shade of black
    You'd best
    Prepare a speech
    Say something funny
    Say something sweet
    But don't say that you loved me"
    (she's refering to her funeral after her suicide. "and i'll be giving you two weeks to pick ure favorite shade of black" that means her funeral will be by then. "you'd best prepare a speech" . By this I believe her point is that people will wonder why she would take her own life, and as her boyfriend, they'd probably go to him for answers)


    "'cause I'm still breathing
    But we've been
    Dead for awhile"
    (the relationship is not working and it hasn't for a while. Yes, NOW she is still breathing, but she doesn't see the point in living a life that seems so dead)

    "this sickness has no cure
    We're going down for sure"
    (there's absolutely no saving this relationship anymore)

    "already lost a grip
    Best abandon ship"
    ( could either mean that the relationship is already so bad, so breaking up would be a good idea, ooor, it could mean that she is already like a ghost,bascically dead,so why not take it all the way)


    "Maybe I was too pale
    Maybe I was too fat
    Maybe you had better
    Better luck in the sack
    No formal education
    And I swore way too much
    But I swear
    You didn't fucking care
    Cause we were in love"
    (this is the part where she talks about why it went wrong. First she starts by telling about some flaws that she has, but then the "maybe you had better luck in the sack" part, could mean that he's been cheating on her,or left her for another woman. However , she goes back to the fact that she knew that he loved her,and that he didn't care about all the flaws at one point)

    "So as I write this letter
    And she'd my last tear"
    ( I think she's talking about a suicide letter that she's going to sen to him)

    "No, it's all for the better
    That we end this here
    Let's close this chapter
    Say one last prayer
    But don't say
    That you loved me"
    ( it's for the best if the relationship leaves off here. Still,she doesn't want him to tell everybody that he loved her, I guess she feels like he would be lying)

    All this talk about suicide could of course also be a kind of exaggeration of her just breaking up with him,I don't know. Please tell me what you think!

  2. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Dec 17th 2016 !⃝

    I think this song is about knowing you need to get out of a relationship and wondering why it all went wrong.

  3. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jul 12th 2014 !⃝

    What I got from this song is that its about a relationship that doesnt work out. Both the women and the men just lost the ghost, that they dont know what to do next, the love just gone and they both know it but not willing to over it.

  4. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Sep 15th 2012 !⃝

    I think the "giving my two weeks" part is actually resigning from her job :)

  5. Lucky24
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    Jun 12th 2011 !⃝

    I agree with anonymous about the 'figurative funeral' part; it makes sence, because obviously she's still alive. Its about her trying to move on after the failed relationship between her and her boyfriend, but she still has a bit of feeling left over.

    Verse one
    "i leave the gas on/cause I'm sending all the signs" you can see in that part of the song that she still has some feeling left for him. All the things she mentions doing are somewhat dangerous and could hurt her, so she could be trying to say two things: either that there's no point in trying to live safe because she lost everything important to her (I sleep with candles burning, I leave the door unlock) or that shes trying to get him to see that he's hurt her and that if he really loves her, then he'll go back to he before she hurts herself (am I getting your attention? Cause I'm sending all the signs.)

    "the clock is ticking/but don't say that you loved me" this is where the mention of a funeral comes in. Traditionally, you wear black to a funeral, (pick your Favourite shade of black). What I think she's referring to is a figurative funeral; not of her suicide, of he death of their relationship. You also would typically give a speech at a funeral (you'd best prepare a speech) so she states that he should should say something funny or sweet, but dont ever say that he loved her because he was the one that left her.

    Chorus - "I'm still breathing, but we've been dead for awhile" is saying that she still loves him, but the relationship has been over, or 'dead' for awhile.

    "this sickness has no cure, were going down for sure ... " is saying that there's no salvaging what's left of them, the damage is done, it's over, and there is no chance of a reconnection.

    Verse two - "maybe I was too pale, maybe I was too fat" this is where she questions whether he left her because of her flaws or something else,

    "maybe you had better luck in the sack" this is also saying that maybe he left her because there was another girl who was better than her in bed.

    "no formal education, I swore way to much" this is where she questions on if it was the way she was brought up, or how she acted as to why he left her.

    "but I swear you didn't care, cause we were in love" she thought her flaws didn't matter, because he used to love her.

    "so as I write this letter, and shed my last tear, it's all for the better, that we end this here" she's crying over the result of their relationship for the last time, and shes moving on, saying it's better if they end everything the way it is.

  6. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jun 6th 2011 !⃝

    This is about a boy who broke up with a girl who still loved him, and that she is the only one trying to keep the relationship going. I think that the funeral part is supposed to be figurative, saying that their relationship is dead, not her, and that he should think about the times they had together, the funny and sweet times, but don't say that he loved her, because they are supposed to be over.

  7. anonymous
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    May 18th 2011 !⃝

    "i'm still breathing but we've been dead for a while" means she's trying to hold onto the threads of their relationship because it isnt working out, and how their love for each other is dead.

  8. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Mar 17th 2011 !⃝

    Also, I think the I'm still breathing is not her actually still breathing but that she is still in love and trying when he isn't and when the relationship is over.

  9. anonymous
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    Mar 17th 2011 !⃝

    I only have a few things to say about what you got from this song. I think the part about the funeral speech is not because he is her boyfriend but because they usually ask people to say a few words and I don't think the correct lyric is don't say that you loved me I think it's don't say that you left me. As in she wanted to end it in this fantasy that he still loved her even though she knew he didn't and that he left. I also think all the part about her flaws is not that she was fat or too pale it was that when you don't know why someone cheated or left you can feel like your had those flaws when you didn't. Like maybe he thought she was too pale or too fat or that she wasn't good enough in bed. Just looking for reasons for why he left.


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