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Shot by Both Sides
Magazine Lyrics


Jump to: Overall Meaning | Line by Line Meaning

This and that, they must be the same
What is legal is just what's real
What I'm given to understand
Is exactly what I steal
I wormed my way into the heart of the crowd
I wormed my way into the heart of the crowd
I was shocked to find what was allowed
I didn't lose myself in the crowd

Shot by both sides
On the run to the outside of everything
Shot by both sides
They must have come to a secret understanding

New offenses always in my nerves
They're taking my time by force
They all sound the same when they scream
As a matter of course

I wormed my way into the heart of the crowd
I wormed my way into the heart of the crowd
I was shocked to find what was allowed
I didn't lose myself in the crowd

Shot by both sides
On the run to the outside of everything
Shot by both sides
They must have come to a secret understanding

Why are you so edgy Kid?
Asks the man with the voice
One thing follows another
You live and learn, you have no choice

I wormed my way into the heart of the crowd
I wormed my way into the heart of the crowd
I was shocked to find what was allowed
I didn't lose myself in the crowd

I didn't lose myself to the crowd
I didn't lose myself to the crowd
I was shocked to find what was allowed
I didn't lose myself in the crowd
But I wormed my way
But I wormed my way
But I wormed my way
But I wormed my way
But I wormed my way
But I wormed my way
But I wormed my way
But I wormed my way

Shot by both sides
I don't ask who's doing the shooting
Shot by both sides
We must have come to a secret understanding

Overall Meaning

Magazine's "Shot By Both Sides" is a song that illustrates the speaker's internal and external struggles with conformity, social order, and morality. The speaker seems aware of the hypocrisy and the contradictions in society, but in the end, he chooses not to get lost in the crowd. The lyrics suggest that conformity and rebellion are two sides of the same coin and both are oppressive in different ways.


The opening lines of the song, "This and that, they must be the same, What is legal is just what's real, What I'm given to understand, Is exactly what I steal," suggests the speaker's disillusionment with the status quo. The lines describe the paradox that exists in society where the legal is often a facade that masks the real issues that plague society. For the speaker, to find meaning and truth, he has to excavate beneath the legal facade to the core of the problem—the heart of the crowd.


As the song progresses, the lyrics highlight the speaker's desire to be part of the crowd, even as he adamantly refuses to lose himself to it. The phrase "I wormed my way into the heart of the crowd" appears repeatedly throughout the song's three verses. The lines suggest the speaker's desire to belong to the crowd, despite the crowd's indifference, powerlessness, and conformity. In the song's chorus, the speaker repeats the line "Shot by both sides," suggesting that the speaker feels trapped between conformity and rebellion. He feels oppressed by both sides and is thus forced to run to the outside of everything.


Line by Line Meaning

This and that, they must be the same
I'm perceiving similarities between things that should be different


What is legal is just what's real
Laws are often a reflection of what's actually happening


What I'm given to understand
What I think I know


Is exactly what I steal
I'm taking information, ideas or actions and transforming them for my own purposes


I wormed my way into the heart of the crowd
I managed to become an accepted part of a popular group or movement


I was shocked to find what was allowed
I was surprised at what was acceptable behavior within this group


I didn't lose myself in the crowd
I didn't allow myself to become completely absorbed by the group and its values


Shot by both sides
I'm being targeted or criticised by opposing forces


On the run to the outside of everything
I'm trying to escape from my current situation and break away from conformity


They must have come to a secret understanding
It seems as though my critics or enemies have made some sort of deal or agreement in their attacks on me


New offenses always in my nerves
I'm constantly being irritated or bothered by fresh negative comments or actions aimed at me


They're taking my time by force
My opponents are using tactics to distract me or waste my resources


They all sound the same when they scream
My detractors are using similar methods of attack, making it difficult to distinguish between them


As a matter of course
It's what's expected or considered normal


Why are you so edgy Kid?
Someone is questioning my anxious or tense demeanor


Asks the man with the voice
A person with authority or power is inquiring about my emotional state


One thing follows another
Things happen sequentially or logically


You live and learn, you have no choice
I need to accept that I'm gaining experience and knowledge, whether I want to or not


I didn't lose myself to the crowd
I remained true to my own individuality and beliefs


But I wormed my way
However, I did still manoeuvre or infiltrate my way into the group


I don't ask who's doing the shooting
I'm not concerned with the identity of my attackers


We must have come to a secret understanding
It appears as if some sort of agreement or truce has been reached between me and my opponents




Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Mute Song Limited
Written by: HOWARD DEVOTO

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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Most interesting comments from YouTube:

Primera Calle de la Soledad

This and that, they must be the same
What is legal is just what's real
What I'm given to understand
Is exactly what I steal
I wormed my way into the heart of the crowd
I wormed my way into the heart of the crowd
I was shocked to find what was allowed
I didn't lose myself in the crowd

Shot by both sides
On the run to the outside of everything
Shot by both sides
They must have come to a secret understanding

New offenses always in my nerves
They're taking my time by force
They all sound the same when they scream
As a matter of course

I wormed my way into the heart of the crowd
I wormed my way into the heart of the crowd
I was shocked to find what was allowed
I didn't lose myself in the crowd

Shot by both sides
On the run to the outside of everything
Shot by both sides
They must have come to a secret understanding

Why are you so edgy Kid?
Asks the man with the voice
One thing follows another
You live and learn, you have no choice

I wormed my way into the heart of the crowd
I wormed my way into the heart of the crowd
I was shocked to find what was allowed
I didn't lose myself in the crowd

I didn't lose myself to the crowd
I didn't lose myself to the crowd
I was shocked to find what was allowed
I didn't lose myself in the crowd
But I wormed my way
But I wormed my way
But I wormed my way
But I wormed my way
But I wormed my way
But I wormed my way
But I wormed my way
But I wormed my way

Shot by both sides
I don't ask who's doing the shooting
Shot by both sides



Chris Coughlin

@Keith Bate Agreed - 'post-punk' was invented by post punks. It became lazy short hand used to describe the second wave era and as I say - got retroactively slapped on power pop guys like Peter Case - who had already been busking on the streets of SF since '72 - and whose writing partner Jack Lee gave Blondie their big break with 'Hangin' on the Telephone.'

In this purity test garbage that Lydon helped impose on the scene in the press, late 'hardcore' arrivals to the scene here in America were encouraged to dismiss bands like Dr Feelgood and Graham Parker and the Rumour.

Because they weren't falling all over themselves to don the phony primitivist uniform. I don't think Wilko era Feelgood ever even did an honest to goodness full tour here, if memory serves.

BTW - Much as I still am indebted to Nick Lowe for bringing so much of this legendary musical history together, I still have a hard time forgiving him for the way he and Elvis stole Graham's thunder.

Not to mention his band - with the formation of Rockpile.

Anyway, suddenly 'New Wave' became synonymous with watered down and radio ready after the Pistols got themselves banned - DELIBERATELY.

Suddenly anybody that had even modest ambitions of getting a regular meal out of their career was a sellout - to the chumps that bought into Lydon's self aggrandizement anyway. I'll never forget the panic that set in at Tom Petty's camp when clueless radio programmers began to confuse HIS Heartbreakers with that of Hell and Johnny Thunders.

EEEK!! My meal ticket!!!

Today I have enduring respect for Petty's songbook, but c'mon - it was not an especially flattering glimpse into his fear of their supposedly radioactive status at the time.

The stupidest part? It was all manufactured controversy.

Out of glare of the spotlight?
Steve Jones and Glen Matlock were frank about their admiration for Ronnie Lane and Marriott. Even Page/Plant.



Chris Coughlin

@Keith Bate Saw the pistols in the UK myself - on theirs infamous 'SPOTS' tour.
(That'd be 'Sex Pistols On Tour Secretly' - after they were banned)

Sorry - but Sid Vicious and the Pistols copped their look from Richard Hell and the Neon Boys (later Television) circa 1973.
The cover photo of their Indie 45 - 'Love Comes in Spurts' - documents the early evolution of Hell's torn t-shirt and 'oh well, it'll grow back' haircut aesthetic.

Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood have admitted as much - over and over again.


The UK certainly brought their own distinctive take to punk - especially with the labor strife that beginning to roil the North in Durham and Newcastle with the mineworkers.

Not to mention 'The Troubles' in the 6 Counties of Northern Ireland.

US Punk always had post industrial origins too. MC5, Iggy, were Detroit guys. Cleveland had Peter Laughner, Rocket From The Tombs and The Dead Boys. Peter Case - a Buffalo Native - left for LA to found the Nerves. 2 or 3 years later my own blue collar Southern California hometown would give the world Minutemen.

The thing that really distinguished Verlaine, Hell, Lloyd - the people that BUILT the CBGB scene in '73 (literally) - was the fact that they didn't make a big show of pretending that they were rejecting the longhairs.

Or pretend that they were inventing it all from scratch - in the absurd way that UK punks were openly dismissive of the obvious debt they owed to Ray Davies and Pete Townshend.

Hell - at the same time that Lydon was spouting this Year Zero nonsense, the Pistols were covering Jonathan Richman's 'Roadrunner' FFS!!

Verlaine, by contrast, was quite upfront about his admiration for the Byrds, for example - and the impact McGuinn had on Television''s sound.



Dean Hatch

<3

This and that, they must be the same
What is legal is just what's real
What I'm given to understand
Is exactly what I steal
I wormed my way into the heart of the crowd
I wormed my way into the heart of the crowd
I was shocked to find what was allowed
I didn't lose myself in the crowd
Shot by both sides
On the run to the outside of everything
Shot by both sides
They must have come to a secret understanding
New offenses always in my nerves
They're taking my time by force
They all sound the same when they scream
As a matter of course
I wormed my way into the heart of the crowd
I wormed my way into the heart of the crowd
I was shocked to find what was allowed
I didn't lose myself in the crowd
Shot by both sides
On the run to the outside of everything
Shot by both sides
They must have come to a secret understanding
Why are you so edgy Kid?
Asks the man with the voice
One thing follows another
You live and learn, you have no choice
I wormed my way into the heart of the crowd
I wormed my way into the heart of the crowd
I was shocked to find what was allowed
I didn't lose myself in the crowd
I didn't lose myself to the crowd
I didn't lose myself to the crowd
I was shocked to find what was allowed
I didn't lose myself in the crowd
But I wormed my way
But I wormed my way
But I wormed my way
But I wormed my way
But I wormed my way
But I wormed my way
But I wormed my way
But I wormed my way
Shot by both sides
I don't ask who's doing the shooting
Shot by both sides
We must have come to a secret understanding



All comments from YouTube:

Neven Nekic

John McGeoch guitar work was just trailblazing. He continued his unique approach with Banshees. Today he is sadly missed.

Joseph King

There’s a new autobiography out about him. An amazing read

John Foxx

Dan Dugan You can hear the roots of the opening guitar line of Visage's Malpaso Man in this song.

Lord Stirling

I think Magazine is one of the most underrated band of its day.

BigKdog

Underrated?? Seriously??

Damander97

For the Post Punk genre I'd probably give that to Trvialia or Phantasmagoria; still obscure to this day.

Howalk

I think its depents where u live and what comunity ur join, if u live with neighbors that love post punk, yeah its not underrated but if u live with 14 years old girl that falling in love with kpop, yeah its band underrated

Jah Rastafari

@Brian Woods Wait till you hear the 2nd album...

RighteousBrother

@Jim James well as long as you and your friends liked them.

12 More Replies...

Lee Wood

They played in Cambridge at a University hall when this came out in 1978 with all the desks still in there from the exams that had taken place in the day.
They ripped the fucking roof off the place. By the end, we were all dancing on the tables. It was one of the best gigs I've ever been to.

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