What does My Body mean?

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Young the Giant: My Body Meaning

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My Body Lyrics

Stop!
The train is riding
Down to the station where you lived
When we were school kids

Hey!
The rails are caught now
And I am falling down
Fools in a spiral
Round this town of steam

My Body tells me no!
But I won’t quit
I want...

  1. 1TOP RATED

    #1 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
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    May 12th 2012 report

    For me when I hear 'My Body tells me no!
    But I won’t quit
    I want more, I want more
    My Body tells me no!
    But I won’t quit
    I want more, I want more' it reminds me of being diagnosed with severe inflamatory rhuematoid arthritis at 30 after living a clean life and being an athlete that has even competed in world events. I went from being a healthy jock with no family history of auto-immune diseases to within 6 months of starting with flu like symptoms to thinking my immediate future will be in a wheelchair. My body was saying NO! I didn't quit and kept going from Dr to Dr til eventually I got to see the best Rheumatologist in the city. I just wanted more from my life in spite of my body suddenly revolting on me and causing me agony day and night.
    For me 'His eyes are open' is my Rheumatologist finally seeing how my immune system was beating me down. He saw how to help me and prescribed heavy duty meds such as biologics to beat down my immune system so I can get back to living. To me the war they mention is my war against this disease.
    When I found out what was wrong I started to cry and wonder what I did wrong since I always followed the 'rules' on how to live healthy. This lyric expresses it well 'Hey!
    Is it my fault that
    The fallen embers burn
    Down in a spiral
    Round your crown of thieves'. I thought I somehow did something to my epigenetic code thus 'the fallen embers burn down in a spiral' since DNA is spiral shaped. My Dr told me I didn't do anything wrong and sometimes its just a fluke. For me the crown of thieves was my immune system crowning itself victorious as it attacked me from within leaving my mind untouched and struggling to understand, come to terms with, and look for relief from my new reality.
    At the moment it looks like the medicines and rehab exercises are allowing me to get back to a normal life and get back 'on the train'. Getting so sick has given me massive perspective on life and more empathy for our aging population since a year ago I moved worse than a gimpy 100 year old (according to my Rheumatology team that was teary eyed when they first saw me move during my first appointment).

    Thanks for the song!

  2. 2TOP RATED

    #2 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
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    Sep 2nd 2011 report

    FROM YOUNG THE GIANT:
    We wrote "My Body" when we were all still living together in this condo loft on Sunset in Hollywood. We have quite a strange writing chemistry/ritual. All five of us are mutual writers, and most of our songs start from free form jams that everyone equally takes part in, so it makes sense that some of our most honest stuff comes from the inspiration of cooperated living. After a long day, however, the chaos of a five-way song-writing session can be tough to say the least, and so some songs take days/weeks to complete. My Body was completely different. Eric had the guitar riff stored away somewhere in the back of his brain, like most of his best work. It was a hot day in fall, and all of us were tired from playing in the heat of the amplifiers and sound system. We had spent a long time trying to write this slow building song that we were all getting a little tired of, so in semi-jest, Eric popped out the original guitar riff. It was something aggressive, vibrant; completely different from what we had been working on, so we immediately gravitated towards it. Fran added the four on the floor, and within ten minutes, the song was finished in its entirety. Ironically, "My Body" was the least edited track in pre-production—I guess it said something for us that really needed to come out. I started some aggressive yelps and yells, something different than a normal smooth delivery. From there, almost immediately, the words for the chorus popped out of my mouth. It was graphic and somewhat comical to me, and provoked a second listen, so I stuck with, "My body tells me no, but I won't quit, I want more!" I found it funny because, normally, it's the mind that tells the body not to do things—don't do this, you'll regret it. But in this role reversal, it was the body that attempts to restrain the mind from imagining things, as if it were it's own separate consciousness. From inside out, the song is all about the power of youthful aggression and resilience.

  3. 3TOP RATED

    #3 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
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    Oct 29th 2013 report

    so its not about sex...?

  4. anonymous
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    Oct 15th 2020 report

    I always thought this song was about an older person fighting to stay alive. The train has come to take him away and he's unconsciously having flashbacks of the past (life flashing before his eyes). But he's fighting to stay alive; "his eyes are open". and he's back into the conscious world again, and the train rides on without him.
    It will always be an inspiring song to me about fighting until the bitter end. Even when the body says no, don't quit.

  5. anonymous
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    Jul 14th 2014 report

    It's a great workout song! My mind tells me to keep working out but my body tells me "No!" But I won't quite because I want more. I want a healthy more fulfilling life. It can mean anything for anyone. Yes the chorus would suggest it refers to a drug addiction but think outside the body. There are so many other things it could refer to. It could even mean breaking bad habits such as waking up late.

  6. anonymous
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    Jun 24th 2012 report

    Many people say this song is specifically about drug addiction. But i believe that this song in general is about addiction. It could be an addiction to a person, to drugs, to anything. The train shows the opportunity to get back on in your old path, something from the past that hits close to home (the destination was his hometown) but the song is about them beating the addiction. They are stopping the train and doing something better for their life even though they have no idea what life has in store for them.

  7. anonymous
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    Feb 4th 2012 report

    I always thought this song was about the liberation war in Bangladesh (based on the album cover). I guess not.

  8. anonymous
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    Oct 24th 2011 report

    this is sooo coincidental, the lyrics also seem to describe Jesus' last day from His perspective.......what do u think Young the Giant ????

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  9. anonymous
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    Sep 24th 2011 report

    Lol! “Young the Giant”, after all those attempts to define the possible meaning behind what seems to be a very soulful song you just admitted that you threw together whatever sounded cool within a few minutes . Not much meaning to it. How sad.
    polar.amity

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  10. anonymous
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    Aug 29th 2011 report

    in response to anonymous may 31st 16:24:
    but in actuality the people who are on the train act like they have it together and know their place in the world. maybe he wants more than to just go with the flow and be like everyone else. just a thought.

  11. anonymous
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    Aug 11th 2011 report

    This song is about the temptation to succumb to the tangible excess of the world, which the speaker is faced with. I would assume the excess refers to that of substance abuse. The song speaks, "his eyes are open," in my opinion this is referring to a forboding feeling on behalf of the narrater himself or a not-so-distant memory of someone the speaker knew personally who met his or her demise due to some sort of substance abuse. The song is a cry for help and/or a simply an individual who does want more, in other words, an idividual who is addicted. In all, I see the song as a honest narrative for drug addiction and the true feelings that follow. The song itself is a testament of the narrator's inner strength in spite of the temptations of the outside world and a haunting past.

  12. Rebecca Bielecki
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    Jun 28th 2011 report

    Could it be about a soldier in combat? The train are flashbacks to a safe time/place in his life. His eyes are open, a downed soldier?

  13. anonymous
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    Jun 17th 2011 report

    It's about beating your addition to drugs, anyone who thinks it's anything else is not paying attention to the words.

  14. anonymous
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    Jun 17th 2011 report

    Its definitely gotta be about a homosexual relationship.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  15. anonymous
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    Jun 13th 2011 report

    When I first heard the song I believed it to be about gay sex. xD

    He's thinking back on how when he was younger no one knew and now his world is spiraling out of control because some people don't approve that were close to him.

    "The rails are caught now
    And I am falling down
    Fools in a spiral
    Round this town of steam"

    and he also says how it is his war. "It's my war"

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  16. anonymous
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    May 31st 2011 report

    This song is about trying to find your place in life and all the mishaps and other things that happen along the way. It's hard to find your place and your "body tells you no" because it's tough to find your place in this world. The "fallen embers" are the people who don't find their place in life and fall to the wayside and don't do anything. The train throughout the song is the fact that everyone else knows where they are and what they're doing with their life, and it's the rush to know what you're doing with your life and to find your place. It's the natural human desire to be like everyone else.

  17. anonymous
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    May 1st 2011 report

    Yup this song is deff about someone struggling with a drug addiction. "My body tells me no" -the harmful effects of drugs on the body. "But I won't quit cus I want more" -the pyshical addictions craving the drug.

    Amazing song.

  18. anonymous
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    Feb 8th 2011 report

    This song is about the struggle of addiction. The train station is a metaphor for the whole environment that surrounds drugs and people he met.


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