The Themes of These Days

Hello all, as many as you may have noticed the album these days regularly gets a lot of praise on the board. For those of you who are interested I wonder if you'd offer your personal analysis about the themes of the album, if possible on a song by song basis. What is each song about to you? Some are more obvious, ie Hey God being about disillusionment with religion, on the other hand some are not so obvious and I like to hear your views on what theyre about. I'm thinking hearing someone else's interpretation might let me see the songs in a new way.

cheers guys.

Great topic! Every song can mean something different to everyone, to me:

1. Hey God is a song about the disillusionment with religion, as you say. It's a powerful song full of anger, that's saying: "Hey god, the world's going to crap. My life sucks, do you ever think about me? About us?". The question that we all asked at least once, "If there's a god, why's everything so hard? Why good people die? Why doesn't he stop the wars?".
2. Something For The Pain. Well, I never interpreted this song before, I like the groove and the lyrics on it, but that's all. "Give me something I can use to get me trough the night, make me feel all-right, something like you". Maybe it's something like: "I'm alone, I have nowhere to go, let's get the most of the night together? Give me something that makes me forget I'm alone, to ease the pain for this night?".
3. This Ain't A Love Song. Post breakup song, IMO. It says something like: "I thought everything was fine, but I should have got the signals you sent me, I was blind. Then we broke up, I cried, I thought my life was going to end as I never loved anyone like you but now the time has passed by and, maybe I didn't love you that much, maybe there's light at the end of this tunnel".
4. These Days. I don't think this is a complex song with a meaning but a song that captures the reality of the world with some invented stories of people that live on it. The thing is, that it captures it so well and in such a beautiful way that makes this song one of the greatest of this band.
5. Lie To Me. Song about hard times in a relationship, this talks about economical troubles. Everything sucks so bad that the only thing that keeps you going is her love, so you wish that if the don't love you anymore, that if the blames you for this situation, at least she lies to you... because that's the only thing that you're holding on.
6. Damned. "Damn, I know this is wrong. I know you have a boyfriend and I shouldn't be doing this, but **** it! I want you!".
7. My Guitar Lies Bleeding In My Arms. I see this as an dark introspective song, and I love it. Sometimes we feel a little like the character of this one: hopeless, feeling dead on life, without seeing hope or anything nice in the world. Also, it's nice to see the progression on the feelings, it starts with an empty soul, but then he starts thinking, letting all out and the screams full of hate appear.
8. It's Hard Letting You Go. Well, i gave a lot of interpretations to this one trough the years. I believe that it's about a guy that had lost his wife/girlfriend, lost in the way she died and now nothing it's the same, and it never will be, and it doesn't matter what he does, everything brings him back to the pain and the hopeless feeling that he will never be able to let her go.
9. Hearts Breaking Even. "This relationship isn't as it used to, we changed, we don't enjoy ourselves nor life the way we do. Let's call it a day, I know it's gonna hurt but it's better to end it in good terms that with a fight that's gonna hurt us even more".
10. Something To Believe In. Wow, this is one of the greatest songs Bon Jovi had ever done. I'm not really sure about the meaning, but I see it as someone that starts questioning everything: life, society, moral, religion. "I don't believe in anything, but I'll pretend I do just to keep playing the game of life, a game nobody wins".
11. If That's What I Takes. To me this song is about what we call here in Argentina "jugártela". Here, most of the girls want "que te la juegues" before start a relationship. "I love you and I'm gonna prove it to you doesn't matter how. That's what it takes? Ok, I'll do it".
12. Diamond Ring. Beautiful acoustic piece. Doesn't let much place for interpretation. A guy is in love, and wants his girlfriend to be his wife. He wants to take care for her forever, make her happy and tell the world they're together.

Note: When I use quotes with italic, they're quotes of the song, when I use quotes without them is what I think the song says. I think that I only did an actual quote on Something For The Pain.

1. Hey God:
The narrator of the song doubts God's existence because of poverty and social injustice. The narrator believes that if God does exist, then God is to blame for not doing anything about it.

2. Something for the Pain:
A song about someone dealing with depression and loneliness who needs someone to lean on.

3. This Ain't a Love Song:
The narrator of the song is grieving the end of a relationship, but has come to realise that the relationship was never what he thought it was.

4. These Days:
A song about having the courage to just be yourself and to not give up on your dreams, even if things are more difficult these days than they used to be.

5. Lie to Me:
A song about a married couple dealing with financial trouble. She is about to leave him, because she blames those troubles on him. He is begging her to stay and to pretend to still love him at least until he can fix their troubles.

6. Damned:
A song about a man having an affair with a married woman. He feels a lot of guilt, but can't let go.

7. My Guitar Lies Bleeding In My Arms:
The Narrator is trying to write a positive, upbeat song, but he is too depressed to write anything.

8. It's Hard Letting You Go:
The narrator is grieving his wife's death. He has trouble moving on and wishes she had broken up with him, because that would have made it easier for him to move on with his life.

9. Hearts Breaking Even:
The narrator has serious commitment issues. He doesn't believe that love lasts, so whenever a relationship starts to get serious, he breaks it off...breaking two hearts in the process: hers and his own.

10. Something to Believe In:
A song about someone who is so jaded by life he lost faith in everything, including faith in his religion and faith in his friendships. However he is tired of only pretending he still has faith and realises he can't go on like this, so he tries to find something new to believe in.

11. If That's What It Takes:
The narrator of the song is trying to convince a woman, who has had many relationships end badly and isn't ready to get into a new one, to take a chance on him. He says he'll do whatever it takes to prove he's sincere.

12. Diamond Ring:
The narrator of the song has an unhealthy obsession with his wife. He sees her as his possession. The idea that he is not always on her mind and in her dreams, makes him jealous. The ring is only there to remind her and others that she is his.

13. I Want Everything:
The narrator talks about people he knows who couldn't deal with reality: one ran away from home, the other overdosed on heroin. The narrator basically says he doesn't want to end up like them.

14. Bitter Wine:
The narrator talks about an unusual relationship he was in. After the relationship ended, they tried again, but it just wasn't the same.

This is why these days is popular with so many people. It hits a nerve that we all have felt at one time or another. Grown up issues written and sung by a grown up band. The nineties were the absolute top for bon jovi. After crossroads they could have released anything. These days is mature and deals with real issues sung with meaning and passion. It sure beats anything released recently...

No individual comments on the tracks from me as the whole album deals mainly with relationships and the struggles they can bring. For me it is their most complete album.

I wasn't actually a fan of this album at all. I really started to love this album when I could relate to it, especially when life was tough and there were relationship issues this album was really strong. I can't describe just how powerful this album can be in the right situation

I don't think many of the songs are open to interpretation, it's all pretty obvious what the messages are, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Love, hate, death, suicide, religion, addiction, infidelity, pain, greed are just some of the subjects covered in this album and we can all relate to them to a point. It was the band at their most honest and hard working and that's why it sticks with some of us so much.

Its quite a depressing album if you think about it.

Depressing is good. Life isn't rainbows and happyness.

Aloha !

I'm not sure the poster intended people to really describe what the songs are about, but more as to what they mean to you personally. I don't think he's waiting for 40 people saying This Ain't A Love Song is about a breakup.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

I think the album title is absolutely prefect. In my mind the whole album is about time passing and everything that revolves around it.

Hey God - all about a grim pessimistic future.

These Days, Something for The Pain, Something to Believe in, My Guitar, Lie to Me, Hearts Breaking Even - all about being stuck in some form the present, into the NOW, and it's ugly, it's not right, but here we are...

Letting Go, Bitter Wine - about getting to grip with the past, with a memory that just won' t stop daunting you.

And of course, there are the more generic Bon Jovi songs that are just great songs but don't necessarily fit into any of those buckets...such as the rest really.

Great album. Absolutely fantastic album. Pretty much, one of the best anyone has ever recorded.