Stranger Than Fiction

Song details

Bad Religion original
Yes
First released
1994
First release
Classic Traxx (bootleg)
Songwriter
Brett Gurewitz

Lyrics

Stranger Than Fiction

A febrile shocking violent smack And the children are hoping for a heart attack. Tonight the windows are watching, the streets all conspire, And the lamppost can't stop crying. If I could fly high above the world, Would I see a bunch of living dots spell the world stupidity? Or would I just see hungry lover homicides, loving brother suicides, And olly olly oxenfrees who pickaside and hide? The world is scratching at my door, My morning paper's got the scores, The human interest stories and the obituary. Cockroach naps and rattling traps, How many devils can you fit upon a match head? Caringosity killed the Kerouac cat, Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. In my alley around the corner, There's a wino with feathered shoulders, And a spirit giving head for crack and he'll never want it back. There's a little kid and his family eating crackers like Thanksgiving And a pack of wild desperadoes scornful of living. The world is scratching at my door, My morning paper has the scores, The human interest stories and the obituary. Cradle for a cat, Wolfe looks back, How many angels can you fit upon a match? I want to know why Hemingway cracked, Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. Life is the crummiest book I ever read, There isn't a hook, just a lot of cheap shots, Pictures to shock and characters an amateur would never dream up. Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction...

Versions & recordings

Grouped by recording

6

First released on Classic Traxx · 1994

Appears on

The Best SongsBootleg · 2005View 1 version →The Very BestBootleg · 2005View 1 version →Punk Rock Am Ring 2002Bootleg · 2002View 1 version →Image unavailableMr Brett Demo SessionsBootleg · 2004View 1 version →

Song statistics

Archive coverage at a glance

128release versions
#13

13th most featured song

503documented shows
#20

20th 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.

13

legacy memberOct 13, 2010

I think that the important part of this song involves the newspaper as "truth" and Brett's beat writers as "fiction" - except that the beat writers were writing stuff that was so emotional and tortured that they were losing their minds over their fiction, while the newspaper is full of trivial informatin that no one, ultimately, gives a shit about. The truth of what's going on - the violence, the hunger, the waste o…

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I think that the important part of this song involves the newspaper as "truth" and Brett's beat writers as "fiction" - except that the beat writers were writing stuff that was so emotional and tortured that they were losing their minds over their fiction, while the newspaper is full of trivial informatin that no one, ultimately, gives a shit about. The truth of what's going on - the violence, the hunger, the waste of life and potential - was too strange to make it into "nonfiction" print. You had to find a fiction book to read about what was really going on.
meanders2001Jun 18, 2009 · edited Jun 19, 2009

Anybody knows if Mr.Brett lists Mark Twain as another of his references? Found this quotation as being MT one: "Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't." Got it from brainyquote.com The odd thing is that is sponsored by a Scientology site ad. Anyway, considering Mr. Brett knew about the quote it can be said that maybe he partially agreed with the re…

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Anybody knows if Mr.Brett lists Mark Twain as another of his references? Found this quotation as being MT one: "Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't."
Got it from brainyquote.com The odd thing is that is sponsored by a Scientology site ad. Anyway, considering Mr. Brett knew about the quote it can be said that maybe he partially agreed with the referred citation. And maybe, actually, it´s "sometimes" because truth is a concept that is not unique as it was meant to be. Hence maybe truth can also accept the possibilities -all those alternate versions- once only fiction could construct.
WarstubMar 20, 2009 · edited Mar 20, 2009

The following is an excerpt of a 2000 words essay that I wrote on Stranger Than Fiction. It's kinda basic but goes into some depth about each line or verse. You can download the full essay [url=/files/you/Stranger Than Fiction Essay rewrite.doc]here (Word 2003 format)[/url]. "It's the human condition of 'why the fuck is this like this?'" Gurewitz never gets the opportunity to answer this question or whether or not…

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The following is an excerpt of a 2000 words essay that I wrote on Stranger Than Fiction. It's kinda basic but goes into some depth about each line or verse. You can download the full essay [url=/files/you/Stranger Than Fiction Essay rewrite.doc]here (Word 2003 format)[/url].

"It's the human condition of 'why the fuck is this like this?'" Gurewitz never gets the opportunity to answer this question or whether or not these writers are worthy of the label heroes within the short time span of the song. He does however load the lyrics up with images that describe the world from his point of view. His view seems to be very pessimistic and somewhat unrelenting. Just by asking the question "would I see a bunch of living dots spell the word stupidity?" he's implying that the answer is "yes I would!" After all, isn't that what he's done, actually stepped out of his own life, looked at the world and seen stupidity which he goes on to describe? Maybe there's sympathy for the drug addicts of the world having been one himself – why else would he mention children in a song about adults other than to show how the drug culture has affected the youth? His only conclusion seems to be that life sucks, and he then goes on to describe just how ("cheap shots", "pictures to shock"…). To Gurewitz truth really is stranger than fiction.
legacy memberJan 14, 2008 · edited Date unknown

I find that this song is in fact two parted. One side that the truth is often stranger than fiction, in that some of the terrible things that happen in the real world are so heinous and awful that they are unimaginable. The other side comes from Mr. Brett and his love of the great fiction writers like Hemingway and Wolfe. These two, like others, were able to create a great fictional world but were unable to live in…

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I find that this song is in fact two parted. One side that the truth is often stranger than fiction, in that some of the terrible things that happen in the real world are so heinous and awful that they are unimaginable. The other side comes from Mr. Brett and his love of the great fiction writers like Hemingway and Wolfe. These two, like others, were able to create a great fictional world but were unable to live in the real one. Hence the truth, real world, stranger than fiction.
legacy memberMay 31, 2006 · edited Date unknown
does anyone know what it means, "wino with feathered shoulders"?
doobSep 4, 2004 · edited Date unknown
Sometimes the truth of the evil that happens in this world is stranger than the fiction in the Bible. It's about covering up the bad things in life with false hope.
legacy memberJul 11, 2004 · edited Date unknown

how many devils can you fit upon a match head?" This is the line that got me. It comes from an age old question "how many Angles can you fit upon the head of a pin". In other words: what is God? what is the substance of God? is like ours? material? or is it something else? and does it occupie space at all? I can't figure it out, perhaps he's saying: how much logic can you conjure up only to become complete nonsense.…

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how many devils can you fit upon a match head?" This is the line that got me. It comes from an age old question "how many Angles can you fit upon the head of a pin". In other words: what is God? what is the substance of God? is like ours? material? or is it something else? and does it occupie space at all? I can't figure it out, perhaps he's saying: how much logic can you conjure up only to become complete nonsense. I could use some help, anyone?
legacy memberJul 11, 2004 · edited Date unknown

I've always assumed that STF was a criticism of the American media, especially television. He mentions all these horrible things (with great images btw) but then seems to say that his interest into the causes of suffering is unfulfilled, and he feels let down by scandal driven media. Let's face it, not many of us will be involved with Satan assigned murders and such, but the causes of these things (despair, isolati…

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I've always assumed that STF was a criticism of the American media, especially television. He mentions all these horrible things (with great images btw) but then seems to say that his interest into the causes of suffering is unfulfilled, and he feels let down by scandal driven media. Let's face it, not many of us will be involved with Satan assigned murders and such, but the causes of these things (despair, isolation, addiction) are somewhat universal but largely ignored by conventional media outlets.
legacy memberJul 11, 2004 · edited Date unknown

He's saying that life is really screwed up. In the bible, comics, and other fictitious material, weird, strange and fucked up things happen, some universe is created and the creator has omnipotent powers, super humans battle evil etc... Yet in reality we are accepting most of this as fact, religion, churches, worshipers are all just ass-backwards fools who are existing in a make-believe 'Truth' that is opposite to al…

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He's saying that life is really screwed up. In the bible, comics, and other fictitious material, weird, strange and fucked up things happen, some universe is created and the creator has omnipotent powers, super humans battle evil etc... Yet in reality we are accepting most of this as fact, religion, churches,
worshipers are all just ass-backwards fools who are existing in a make-believe 'Truth' that is opposite to all and any sort of reality.
It also shows that the fictitious material may be mystifying and otherworldly, yet in true life, murders hatred, racism, sexism and other vile aspects of the human nature are occurring, and this is far stranger than the explosive fiction of religion.
legacy memberJul 11, 2004 · edited Date unknown

I don't think that the song is so strongly centered on various authors but on what is happening every day all around us. There are things going on which are extremely sad, happy, funny, shocking, etc. and we only notice them when 'the morning paper got the scores'. Then we believe that we feel exactly like those people who happened something to. Just like in a book - but if such a story was written by an author, many…

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I don't think that the song is so strongly centered on various authors but on what is happening every day all around us. There are things going on which are extremely sad, happy, funny, shocking, etc. and we only notice them when 'the morning paper got the scores'. Then we believe that we feel exactly like those people who happened something to. Just like in a book - but if such a story was written by an author, many of us would disregard it as 'the crummiest book I ever read'. An example: In 2001 in Witten, a town in Germany, two people killed a man with 66 stabs and then punched his face with a hammer. Questioned by the police, they explained that they were assigned by Satan to murder this man. This could be directly from a bad horror flick, but sadly it is not. I think this is one of 'the human interest stories' which are 'stranger than fiction'.
legacy memberJul 11, 2004 · edited Date unknown

"I agree with the last guy... but just something to add about the general stranger than fiction part. Greg says 'sometimes truth is stranger than fiction,' and often it is. But a lot of the time we have something in our minds before the fact, that makes truth stranger than fiction by default. Like, say your friend tells you something out of a world record book... you go 'No way! That couldn't possibly happen!!!' But…

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"I agree with the last guy... but just something to add about the general stranger than fiction part. Greg says 'sometimes truth is stranger than fiction,' and often it is. But a lot of the time we have something in our minds before the fact, that makes truth stranger than fiction by default. Like, say your friend tells you something out of a world record book... you go 'No way! That couldn't possibly happen!!!' But it did, and truth is stranger than fiction. But you almost have that pre thought in your mind, you don't believe it.
legacy memberJul 11, 2004 · edited Date unknown

"I agree with most of what 'Havenpunk' had to say about the song, but I would like to add in a few of my own interpretations and footnotes. The entire song embodies a literal motif of 'famous' fictional authors. All of which most-likely had a large impact on Mr. Brett's life. Wolfe, Kerouac, Hemmingway are mentioned, and if you have seen the video, it shows people burning books which alludes to Ray Bradbury's 'Farenh…

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"I agree with most of what 'Havenpunk' had to say about the song, but I would like to add in a few of my own interpretations and footnotes. The entire song embodies a literal motif of 'famous' fictional authors. All of which most-likely had a large impact on Mr. Brett's life. Wolfe, Kerouac, Hemmingway are mentioned, and if you have seen the video, it shows people burning books which alludes to Ray Bradbury's 'Farenheit 451'. There are probably more allusions in the video that I have not recognized. The song depicts scenes from 'real life' showing how they themselves are just as 'strange' as fictional stories.
legacy memberJul 11, 2004 · edited Date unknown

This is a really cool song that showcases Gurewitz's strong beat influences, in both the lyrical style of the song and even specific beat literature references. The song begins with some sort of scene, presumably violent ('a febrile shocking violent smack, and the children are hoping for a heart attack' is a line that has strong allusions to domestic violence). Mr. Brett then describes the witnesses to the scene: w…

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This is a really cool song that showcases Gurewitz's strong beat influences, in both the lyrical style of the song and even specific beat literature references. The song begins with some sort of scene, presumably violent ('a febrile shocking violent smack, and the children are hoping for a heart attack' is a line that has strong allusions to domestic violence). Mr. Brett then describes the witnesses to the scene: windows, lampposts, streets...no living person knows that this unique little 'story' is happening. The next couple of lines describe the major theme of the song: humanity cannot be generalized. The 'bunch of living dots' are people whose experiences (hungry lover homicides, loving brother suicides, etc.) cannot be summed up in one word. The pre-chorus takes the vantage point of an average citizen, whose only relation to the vast expanses of our world is their daily newspaper. All the experiences and stories and humanity of people are generalized in human interest stories and obituaries, both terribly unable to convey the true complexity of what has and is actually transpiring. The next two lines are complicated prose that I simply cannot decipher (any help?) but the line about caringosity is a reference to Jack Karouac, a legendary writer of the beat generation and huge influence of Brett's. Caringosity perhaps refers to Kerouac's immense knowledge of the complexity of humanity, and his inability to deal with it all that eventual embittered and killed him. The title of the song, 'sometimes truth is stranger than fiction' means exactly what it says. The next couple of lines describe the lives of a small cross-section of people in a Miami, another depiction of the complexity of peoples' various lives. The pre chorus repeats itself, substituting the Karouac line for references to Kurt Vonnegut's 'Cat's Cradle' and the author Tom Wolfe, yet more of Brett's influential figures. The final literary reference is reserved for Ernest Hemmingway, who committed suicide. Why did Hemmingway crack? Such a complex question simply cannot be summed up, in fiction or any other medium. The final outro uses a book as a metaphor for human life, saying that if our lives are summed up in nice little paragraphs and tidy sentences, they would be "crummy" indeed. Or perhaps our lives really are that simple, and therefore "crummy". Not really sure, but the interpretation of these couple of lines changes the meaning of the song as a whole.