Annotations for Bulletproof Heart

Lyric: ’Cause everybody knows you don’t wanna give yourself up
 Tell the truth and God will save you
Annotation:
This is likely a reference to the Biblical phrase “the truth will set you free,” which is derived from John 8:32

Lyric: Is this our destiny?
 This world is after me
Annotation:
The narrator, possibly one of the Fabulous Four, is wondering if things might always be the way they are and if they will always have to be on the run. The world might always be after them.

Lyric: Will you mean it when the end comes reelin’?
Annotation:
Considering earlier lines in the song, it is possible that Bulletproof Heart is some sort of love song. In that context, this could be asking if whoever the song is about will still love them or ‘mean it’ when their lives inevitably end.

Lyric: And though I know how much you hate this (Ooh-ooh)
 Are you gonna be the one to save us
 From the black and hopeless feeling?
Annotation:
The Fabulous Four might not have wanted to be the figureheads of the fight against BL/ind, but it’s where they’ve ended up. The Only Hope for Me Is You explores this concept further. Everyone in the desert is looking to the four to save them. It could also mean that people are uncertain or divided on their idea of who will save them, given the fact that many androids view Destroya as the messiah that will free them.

Lyric: Stop your preaching right there
 ’Cause I really don’t care, and I’ll do it again
Annotation:
Similar to the line: Gravity don’t mean too much to me Which shows up often in the song,  this line is about his disregard to other people’s or society’s rules. He doesn’t care about what other people tell him or think of him, because he has his own set of morals.

Lyric: On the getaway mile
Annotation:
“The getaway mile” is a road that comes out of Battery City and through all the surrounding zones. It is also called Route Guano which is mentioned in “Jet Star and the Kobra Kid / Traffic Report.”

Lyric: I got a bulletproof heart, you got a hollow-point smile
Annotation:
Hollow-point bullets are an exceptionally destructive variety of bullet, designed to cause maximum damage to the inflicted target. Although it may not be completely true, hollow-point bullets are commonly believed to be more dangerous than most and are thus able to penetrate bulletproof vests. Having a ‘bulletproof heart’ would mean being emotionally strong, and no one can hurt you or you can’t love anyone. But she has a ‘hollow-point smile,’ so she can break through his emotional barrier and get to his heart. A possible reference to  “Jenny Was a Friend of Mine” is made  later in the pre-chorus. That song tells the story of a pair of lovers, in which one of them has died. This relates back to our theme of bullets. Bulletproof vests were also a ​theme of the band back in 2004.

Lyric: Coming ready or not, when the motor gets hot (Who wants to rock, to rock, to rock? Let’s go now!)
Annotation:
Even when your motor dies along the way, there are other ways to get to where you want to go. There is always a way for you.

Lyric: These pigs are after me, after you
Annotation:
He’s saving them from everyone else. Throughout the song, the speaker plots their getaway. Here, he explains that he’s protecting them from the people who want to take from them, or the ‘pigs.’ ‘Pigs’ could also be a reference to Gerard’s comic book series,  “Killjoys.” The enemy organization, BL/ind, is notorious for their brainwashing, and essential robbery of freedom. By leaving Bat City, they’re now protected from the industry. The BL/ind are referred to as pigs in the album’s  opening track, when Doctor D. says, Look alive, Sunshine 109 in the sky but the pigs won’t quit

Lyric: I’m shootin’ out of this room
 Because I sure don’t like the company
Annotation:
Again, “the company” refers to BLI/ind in the fictional world of Danger Days. They’re the ones the Killjoys are fighting to begin with.

Lyric: I ain’t gonna be the one left standing
 You ain’t gonna be the one left standing
 We ain’t gonna be the ones left standing
Annotation:
It states that you and I won’t be the ones left standin then reaffirms this with “We won’t be the ones left standing” this is another way of saying that they won’t survive the war, this turns out to be true because their Killjoy personas die in the end of Sing’s video.

Lyric: “Johnny, won’t you come back home?”
Annotation:
This line may have two possible inspirations. On one hand, it could be a reference to the song  When Johnny Comes Marching Home, as the song talks of people’s longing for their relatives to return home from war. Tying back to the album’s larger concept about the outlaw gang called the Killjoys fighting the oppressive Better Living Industries, this could possibly be a plea from their loved ones who want them to stop fighting their war and come home. On the other hand, it is possibly a reference to  The Outsiders by S.E Hinton, when one of the protagonists Johnny Cade runs away from home after killing a man, on the run from the police. The book is also centered on the lives of a small gang of teenagers called the Greasers who are not accepted by society, a similarity also shared by the Killjoys.

Lyric: “Jenny, could you come back home?”
Annotation:
This is a reference to the Killers song,  “Jenny Was A Friend Of Mine.” In the song, Jenny wants to run away from the writer so he ends up murdering her. Here, the story is twisted as Jenny has already ran and Gerard wants to save her by running with her.

Lyric: Let’s blow a hole in this town
 And do our talking with a laser beam
 Gunnin’ out of this place in a bullet’s embrace
 Then we’ll do it again
Annotation:
He wants to introduce chaos and anarchy. Calling it a town, rather than a city or a country gives it a more old-timey feel, perhaps alluding to the more conservative and conformist leanings of the idyllic cookie-cutter towns. He wants to threaten those who disobey, take risks and leave in the mists of danger. “Do our talking with our laser beams” is a spin on the phrase “I do my talking with my gun.” In the futuristic world of the Killjoys, they use laser guns to do battle. Saying that he’ll do it again both gives him an air of no remorse or regrets, makes it seem like their fun hobby.

Lyric: Gravity don’t mean too much to me, I’m who I’ve got to be
Annotation:
Nothing can stop him, not even universal laws. This could be a declaration of how he is an individual, and can’t be controlled. Alternatively, gravity also refers to graveness or seriousness, so he could be saying that he doesn’t see the things other people find serious as important to him.

