Damien Jurado (born 12 November 1972) is an American singer in the indie-ro… Read Full Bio ↴Damien Jurado (born 12 November 1972) is an American singer in the indie-rock tradition of Seattle, Washington. His music is regarded as being heavily influenced by folk music. Over the years he has released albums on many labels; today his primary label is Secretly Canadian. He was once in the band, Coolidge, with Seattle's David Bazan.

Jurado's solo career began during the mid-1990s, releasing lo-fi folk based recordings on his own cassette-only label, Casa Recordings, beginning in 1995.

Jurado often makes use of found-sound and field-recording techniques, and has experimented with different forms of tape recordings. In 2000 he released Postcards and Audio Letters, a collection of found audio letters and fragments that he had found from sources such as thrift store tape players and answering machines. Also released in 2000 was Ghost of David,, Jurado's bleakest and most personal sounding record to date. I Break Chairs, (2002) was produced by long time friend, David Bazan. It was his last album for Sub Pop, and was a much rockier, electric affair. After signing for the Indiana-based label Secretly Canadian, Damien Jurado reverted to his trademark folk ballad-based style, releasing six more albums: Where Shall You Take Me? (2003), On My Way To Absence (2005), And Now That I'm In Your Shadow (2006), Caught in the Trees (2008), Saint Bartlett (2010) and Maraqopa (2012).

Official blog: iamcaughtinthetrees.blogspot.com

I Am The Greatest Of All Liars
Damien Jurado Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I'm the suicide with blanks
I am fire in the tank
I'm the dishes in the sink

I'm the silence you can hear
I'm a voice inside your head
I'm a word that's never said

I'm the blood upon your sheets
I'm the air you cannot breathe
I'm the darkness you can see

I'm the pain inside your back
I'm the joke that you don't get
I'm the razor at your neck

I'm the lie that you will tell
I'm the soul that you will sell
I'm the vomit on your sleeve

I'm the reason you all fell

Overall Meaning

At its core, Damien Jurado's song "I Am The Greatest Of All Liars" is a deeply introspective exploration of the darker aspects of the human psyche. Through a series of powerful and evocative imagery, Jurado paints a haunting portrait of a character who is not only capable of self-destruction, but who seems to revel in it. The song is a meditation on the idea that sometimes the greatest liars are the ones we tell ourselves, and that the only way to move past them is to confront them head-on.

Jurado begins the song by describing himself as "the suicide with blanks", a chilling metaphor that suggests a deep desire for self-destruction, but an inability to fully commit to it. He goes on to describe himself as "fire in the tank", a force that is both destructive and unstoppable. As the song progresses, Jurado weaves a complex web of imagery that speaks to everything from existential pain and disappointment ("I'm the joke that you don't get") to the ways in which we deceive ourselves ("I'm the lie that you will tell").

Line by Line Meaning

I'm the suicide with blanks
I'm the one who appears dead inside without showing obvious signs of despair or trauma, struggling silently like a gun without bullets

I am fire in the tank
I am the fuel that feeds the passion and ambition, burning with a desire to succeed and excel

I'm the dishes in the sink
I am the mundane and unnoticed chores that pile up, representing the little things in life that people often overlook

I'm the silence you can hear
I am the presence that is felt in a moment of stillness or calm, like an eerie quietness that implies something mysterious or unsettling

I'm a voice inside your head
I am the inner critic or guidance that speaks to you from within your mind, nudging your decisions and shaping your thoughts

I'm a word that's never said
I am the unsaid thought or unspoken feeling, lurking in the depths of your consciousness, but too taboo or repressed to voice aloud

I'm the blood upon your sheets
I am the evidence of pain or discomfort that is often hidden away, but can reveal itself in the form of a physical stain or injury

I'm the air you cannot breathe
I am the suffocating pressure or anxiety that grips your chest, making it hard to breathe or function normally

I'm the darkness you can see
I am the invisible threat or looming danger that is just on the horizon, but can be sensed or anticipated with foreboding clarity

I'm the pain inside your back
I am the literal or metaphorical ache that plagues your daily life, aching and nagging at you constantly

I'm the joke that you don't get
I am the punchline or humor that eludes you, leaving you feeling out-of-touch or lacking a sense of humor

I'm the razor at your neck
I am the looming danger or threat that is both imminent and deadly, like a razor poised dangerously close to your jugular

I'm the lie that you will tell
I am the dishonesty or betrayal that is just on the tip of your tongue, the temptation to deceive or hide the truth

I'm the soul that you will sell
I am the sacrifice or loss of integrity that comes with giving into temptation, the willing exchange of one's soul for temporary gain or pleasure

I'm the vomit on your sleeve
I am the physical manifestation of disgust, either self-inflicted or inflicted by others, that is both shameful and impossible to hide

I'm the reason you all fell
I am the catalyst or driving force behind a collective failure or downfall, the underlying cause of an undesirable outcome

Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Damien Jurado

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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