Anesthesia     Brett Gurewitz's Interpretation

"Some people think this song is comparing love to drug addiction. Others think that it is 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."

   -Jakass

"I've also heard both of these interpretations before, but 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."

    -NoPrayerInSchool