Cults Oh My God Lyrics Analysis

By Aidan Cheng

Chorus

Oh my god, I'm stuck in exactly the same position I'm so tired of sitting around here with my boring life Wishing I could find another name to go by Late at night I'm dreaming about a time where I could change my side
Analysis: The song opens up with the words oh my god. This is a term used during disbelief or frustration. The tone is immediately negative. Sense of weariness and dissatisfaction evoked from words such as wishing, tired, sitting (static quality) and dreaming. These words establish the fact the lyricist and singer is yearning to be something they are not. The discussion of a new name indicates they are unhappy with not only their boring life but their very identity. During the night, the most loneliest and quietest part of the day, the lyricist is left to dwell on these thoughts.

Verse 1

Please don't tell me you know the rules to go by I can run away and leave you anytime Please don't tell me you know the plans for my life I can run away and leave you here to stay inside dreaming
Analysis: The opening word please indicates desperation or mock politeness as the lyricist is clearly bitter towards their counterpart. The phrase run away and leave you anytime suggests the lyricist and her counterpart are romantically involved or are blood-ties in any case, they are close and dependant on each other though the lyricist is prepared to challenge that. Plans for my life and rules highlight the fact the lyricist feels others are controlling her life and enforces the implication she is speaking to her parents/lover. Stay inside dreaming informs us that both the lyricist and her counterpart have created a better world through dreams in their mind, but only the former is prepared to join that world by leaving their current predicament.

Verse 2

I'm so tired of all these honest decisions Oh my god, I'm ready to walk right out that door I never wanted a single thing for my life All I wanted was to know that I have never wasted my time
Analysis: There is a sense of teenage angst and need for escapism in the third verse. The fact the speaker feels negatively towards honest decisions indicates juvenility and naivety. The refrain oh my god is repeated as emphasis of the lyricists state of mind. The lyricist attempts to justify themselves by isolating themselves from greed or needfulness claiming all (they) wanted was to know that (they) have never wasted (their) time. The term walk right out that door is an idiom meaning to make a swift and dramatic exit.

Verse 3

Please don't tell me you know the rules to go by I can run away and leave you anytime Please don't tell me you know the plans for my life I can run away and leave you here to stay inside dreaming
Analysis: The opening word please indicates desperation or mock politeness as the lyricist is clearly bitter towards their counterpart. The phrase run away and leave you anytime suggests the lyricist and her counterpart are romantically involved or are blood-ties in any case, they are close and dependant on each other though the lyricist is prepared to challenge that. Plans for my life and rules highlight the fact the lyricist feels others are controlling her life and enforces the implication she is speaking to her parents/lover. Stay inside dreaming informs us that both the lyricist and her counterpart have created a better world through dreams in their mind, but only the former is prepared to join that world by leaving their current predicament.

Chorus

Oh my god, I'm stuck in the same lame tradition I'm so tired of thinking about the things that I have been missing I never wanted a single thing for my life All I wanted was to know that I have never wasted my time
Analysis: There is an internal rhyme of same lame tradition emphasizing the repetitiveness of the lyricists predicament. The word tradition indicates continuity and repetition, tradition is ongoing, much like the lyricists lifestyle. They suggest they have been missing out on things highlighting the fact the lyricist feels cheated in her existence. Again, she repeats the refrain of not expecting much in life, only that her time not be wasted a further announcement of her innocence in the whole matter.

Final Verse

Please don't tell me you know the rules to go by I can run away and leave you anytime Please don't tell me you know the plans for my life I can run away and leave you here to stay inside dreaming
Analysis: A repeat of the former verses, which leads into an ending instrumental.