Anesthesia

Song details

Bad Religion original
Yes
First released
1990
First release
Against The Grain (album)
Songwriter
Brett Gurewitz

Lyrics

Anesthesia

Everybody is talking about the girl Who went and killed the delivery man, But she looks so kind and gentle, It just doesn't stand to reason. I saw her right there just the other night As stately as a slot machine, But when she looked my way Something mad as hell came over me, yeah. Anesthesia, Mona Lisa, I've got a little gun, here comes oblivion. I never loved you, how did you find me? The cops will never prove complicity now. Anna... (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) All good children go to heaven! I remember your face that August night When we lied about the beautiful time to come, And that crazy old man who came much to late And caused a chain reaction. I've been hanging out here for eleven long years Like a church mouse wondering where the cat has gone, And looking at you now is driving me to distraction. Anesthesia, Mona Lisa, I've got a little gun, here comes oblivion. I never loved you, how did you find me? The cops will never prove complicity now. Anna... (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) All good children go to heaven!

Versions & recordings

Grouped by recording

7

First released on Against the Grain / Recipe for Hate · 1997

Appears on

Operation Rescue: Live In Dusseldorf Germany 12 4 1992 FM BroadcastBootleg · 2023View 1 version →The Best SongsBootleg · 2005View 1 version →The Very BestBootleg · 2005View 1 version →Hazard RadiationBootleg · 2004View 1 version →
Live in Denver 2003Bootleg · 2003View 3 versions →Florida 2002Bootleg · 2002View 1 version →Against the Grain / Recipe for HateMisc release · 1997View 1 version →American Punk InvasionBootleg · 1996View 1 version →Suffer And DieBootleg · 1996View 2 versions →Holy SmokeBootleg · 1995View 3 versions →Flat Earth SocietyBootleg · 1995View 1 version →Promise Of ProsperityBootleg · 1995View 1 version →Radiation HazardBootleg · 1995View 2 versions →Stranger Than Pulp FictionBootleg · 1995View 2 versions →21st Century Live In ConsertBootleg · 1995View 2 versions →Eat or DieBootleg · 1995View 2 versions →Power PopBootleg · 1995View 1 version →Live 94 RadioBootleg · 1995View 1 version →Christmas ShowBootleg · 1995View 1 version →All AgesCompilation · 1995View 27 versions →KROQ Christmas PartyBootleg · 1994View 1 version →Live USABootleg · 1994View 2 versions →NOFX Radio 93 featuring Bad ReligionBootleg · 1993View 1 version →Live And AliveBootleg · 1994View 1 version →U.S.A. 1993Bootleg · 1994View 1 version →Nevermind The CatBootleg · 1994View 1 version →Live USA 94Bootleg · 1994View 1 version →Turn On The MusicBootleg · 1993View 2 versions →Live '93Bootleg · 1992View 1 version →EpitaphBootleg · 1993View 2 versions →Only EntertainmentBootleg · 1993View 2 versions →NOFX and Bad Religion LiveBootleg · 1993View 1 version →Fuck The Government Bootleg · 1992View 1 version →Live In FranceBootleg · 1991View 2 versions →Loosing My LoveBootleg · 1991View 3 versions →Operation HollandBootleg · 1993View 3 versions →

Song statistics

Archive coverage at a glance

133release versions
#11

11th most featured song

713documented shows
#14

14th most played song

Live through the years

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Song Interpretations

What do you think this song is about? Share your interpretation and explain your reasoning.

7

Anesthesia Mona LisaJun 23, 2012
For this song, I just took it literally; the song is about a man who fell in love with a disturbed girl who killed a delivery guy. He's saying the "cops can never prove complicity," so he is safe from the law. The "crazy old man" who started the chain reaction was a witness to the murder.
smarti22Nov 27, 2008 · edited Date unknown
I heard someone equate the "little gun" to a syringe, so the "here comes oblivion" means the high is coming.
legacy memberAug 30, 2006 · edited Sep 7, 2010
I think that the song is about a love affair with a drug addiction.
The chorus with the line "I never loved you, how did you find me?" Every addict goes through cycles of love and hate; they can rationalize their beliefs that they won't ever do it again and maybe, just maybe, they never really did it to begin with.
"The cops will never prove complicity" Like you have no control over your own actions.
legacy memberDec 1, 2005 · edited Sep 7, 2010
I agree this song is about the Charles Manson Tate/Labianca murders. At Spahn ranch (Manson's lair) they found a door with 'helter skelter' and other things written on it. Also on this door (the picture of it can be seen in Vincent Bugliosi's book "HELTER SKELTER) is - 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 then under it - all good children , then under this in parenthesis - go to heaven.
legacy memberNov 17, 2005 · edited Sep 7, 2010
I guess it's about drug addiction; it seems to me that it's a depressant as he says "I've got a little gun here comes oblivion". As a matter of fact, anasthesias put you to sleep right? The drug addiction is obviously not appreciated in "I never loved you, how did you find me?"
legacy memberJul 11, 2004 · edited Sep 7, 2010

I think the song is equating drug addiction with an intimate relationship. I've always thought of the line opening line, "everybody's talking about the girl who went and killed the delivery man" as referring to the drug dealer who is killed by his own product. "I remember your face that August night when we lied about the beautiful time to come" - the junkie talking about his empty dreams of getting high and having…

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I think the song is equating drug addiction with an intimate relationship. I've always thought of the line opening line, "everybody's talking about the girl who went and killed the delivery man" as referring to the drug dealer who is killed by his own product.

"I remember your face that August night when we lied about the beautiful time to come" - the junkie talking about his empty dreams of getting high and having new experiences, like disillusioned lovers planning a non-existent future.

"I've been hanging out here for 11 long years like church mouse wondering where the cat has gone" - I think this line is talking about the person's inability to move on successfully because of their addiction, so they remain in the same place, unable to advance in life.
legacy memberJul 11, 2004 · edited Sep 7, 2010

This song might be about comparing love to drug addiction, but can also be about Charles Manson and the Sharon Tate murders. As a delivery man was killed purely because he arrived at Tate's house to deliver a package, referring both to the lines "everybody is talking bout the girl who went and killed the delivery man" and also possibly "the crazy old man who came much too late and spawned a chain reaction." The song…

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This song might be about comparing love to drug addiction, but can also be about Charles Manson and the Sharon Tate murders. As a delivery man was killed purely because he arrived at Tate's house to deliver a package, referring both to the lines "everybody is talking bout the girl who went and killed the delivery man" and also possibly "the crazy old man who came much too late and spawned a chain reaction." The song also quotes lines from a Beatles song, from the same album that Manson wrote lyrics of in blood on the walls of the house. The fact that "All good children go to heaven" may also be a reference to the child that the pregnant Tate was carrying at the time of her death. And the fact that the spectator of the song has been missing the character for eleven years may refer to the incarceration of Manson family members. Having said all that, I personally think it is simply Brett being typically cryptic in telling a quirky love story.