Paramore, as a quartet, released their debut studio album, All We Know Is Falling, in 2005. The band rose to prominence in 2007 after the release of the hit single Misery Business from their second studio album Riot!. Crushcrushcrush and That's What You Get were released as the following singles experiencing commercial success. The band was nominated for "Best New Artist" at the 2008 Grammy Awards. The band announced the official line-up addition of Taylor York in June 2009 prior to the release of Brand New Eyes due later the same year. Josh Farro (guitar) and his brother Zac Farro left the band the following year, resulting in Paramore to continue as a trio.
From 2013 to 2014, Paramore released several singles from the self-titled album, including the singles Still Into You and Ain't It Fun. The latter became the band's highest-peaking single as well as their first Top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and earned the band their first Grammy award for "Best Rock Song" the following year. At the end of 2015, it was reported Jeremy Davis (bass guitar) left the band.
In 2017, Zac Farro officially rejoined the band, prior to the release of their fifth studio album, "After Laughter".
Turn It Off
Paramore Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And found a demon in my safest haven, seems like
It's getting harder to believe in anything
Then just to get lost in all my selfish thoughts
I wanna know what it'd be like
To find perfection in my pride
To see nothing in the light
But turn it off
In all my spite
I'll turn it off
And the worst part is
Before it gets any better
We're headed for a cliff
And in the free fall I will realize
I'm better off when I hit the bottom
The tragedy, it seems unending
I'm watching everyone I looked up to break and bending
We're taking shortcuts and false solutions
Just to come out the hero
Well, I can see behind the curtain (I can see now)
The wheels are cranking, turning, so on the way we're working
Towards a goal, that's non existent
It's not existent, but we just keep believing
And the worst part is
Before it gets any better
We're headed for a cliff
And in the free fall I will realize
I'm better off when I hit the bottom
I wanna know what it'd be like
To find perfection in my pride
To see nothing in the light
But turn it off
In all my spite
In all my spite
I'll turn it off
Just turn it off
Again
Again
And the worst part is
Before it gets any better
We're headed for a cliff
And in the free fall I will realize
I'm better off when I hit the bottom
And the worst part is
Before it gets any better
We're headed for a cliff
And in the free fall I will realize
I'm better off when I hit the bottom
In Paramore's song Turn It Off, the lyrics are reflective of a person who is plagued with doubts, feelings of hopelessness, and an unyielding search for perfection. The singer's vulnerability is highlighted as she appears to be battling her inner demons. She has been wounded while in her safe haven, which is indicative of the fact that there is no place that is entirely free from pain.
As the song progresses, the singer seems to be grappling with feelings of despair brought on by the state of the world. She is disheartened by the failures of the people that she has looked up to, who are breaking and bending. She recognizes that people are searching for shortcuts and false solutions in their quest for heroism, while ignoring the fact that the goal in focus is non-existent. Despite being aware of the futility of their efforts people continue to believe in a meaningless end.
The singer desires perfection but realizes that it lies in her pride, which means anything she does to have perfection may cause her destruction. As she says "I'll turn it off'', she appears to be trying to silence her fears, doubts, and negative thoughts about herself. However, the focus of the song is not the desire to turn off the negative thinking, but the fact that you have to hit rock bottom before things can get better.
Line by Line Meaning
I scraped my knees while I was praying
I got hurt even though I was being religiously faithful
And found a demon in my safest haven, seems like
Even in the safest place, negativity can find its way in
It's getting harder to believe in anything
Believing in something is becoming increasingly difficult
Then just to get lost in all my selfish thoughts
Instead of believing in something, I get lost in selfishness
I wanna know what it'd be like
I am curious about something
To find perfection in my pride
To have complete and utter confidence in myself
To see nothing in the light
To be blind to the reality of a situation
I'll turn it off
I will try to ignore it
In all my spite
In all my bitterness and anger
And the worst part is
The most terrible thing is
Before it gets any better
Things will get worse before improving
We're headed for a cliff
We're going towards danger
And in the free fall I will realize
In the process of falling, I will come to an understanding
I'm better off when I hit the bottom
I will feel better once I have reached the lowest low
The tragedy, it seems unending
The tragedy appears to have no conclusion
I'm watching everyone I looked up to break and bending
I am witnessing the people I admired becoming broken and distorted
We're taking shortcuts and false solutions
We're opting for easy and unrealistic solutions
Just to come out the hero
So that we can be seen as the victor
Well I can see behind the curtain (I can see, yeah yeah)
I can see through the facade
The wheels are cranking, turning, so on the way we're working
We're making progress, but at a cost
Towards a goal, that's non existent
We're working towards a goal that doesn't exist
It's not existent, but we just keep believing
Even though it's not real, we continue to believe in it
Just turn it off
Ignore it
Again
Repeat
And the worst part is
The most terrible thing is
Before it gets any better
Things will get worse before improving
We're headed for a cliff
We're going towards danger
And in the free fall I will realize
In the process of falling, I will come to an understanding
I'm better off when I hit the bottom
I will feel better once I have reached the lowest low
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Hayley Nichole Williams, Joshua Neil Farro
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@JasonLSmallsJunior
[Verse 1]
I scraped my knees while I was praying
And found a demon in my safest haven, seems like
It's getting harder to believe in anything
Than just to get lost in all my selfish thoughts
[Pre-Chorus]
I wanna know what it'd be like
To find perfection in my pride
To see nothing in the light
I'll turn it off
In all my spite
In all my spite
I'll turn it off
[Chorus]
And the worst part is
Before it gets any better
We're headed for a cliff
And in the free fall I will realize
I'm better off when I hit the bottom
[Verse 2]
The tragedy, it seems unending
I'm watching everyone I looked up to break and bending
We're taking shortcuts and false solutions
Just to come out the hero
[Pre-Chorus]
Well, I can see behind the curtain (I can see, yeah yeah)
The wheels are cranking, turning
It's all wrong the way we're working
Towards a goal that's non existent
It's non existent, but we just keep believing
[Chorus]
And the worst part is
Before it gets any better
We're headed for a cliff
And in the free fall I will realize
I'm better off when I hit the bottom
[Bridge]
I wanna know what it'd be like
To find perfection in my pride
To see nothing in the light
I'll turn it off
In all my spite
In all my spite
I'll turn it off
Just turn it off
Again
Again, again
[Chorus]
And the worst part is
Before it gets any better
We're headed for a cliff
And in the free fall I will realize
I'm better off when I hit the bottom
And the worst part is
Before it gets any better
We're headed for a cliff
And in the free fall I will realize
I'm better off when I hit the bottom
@xoreign
Did anyone else ever have that realization that Paramore wasn't just a phase?
@ihatehaters6976
Of course!!!
@kimsteve1068
Definately
@lonepeanuts4473
Like, edgy teenager phase?
@queenc27
Xoreign I think relate to them more now than when I was a teen. As a adult this still hits you.
@Catallactic1
I'm in my 30's and I've loved Paramore since Riot!. There's more going on here than meets the eye. If their new one doesn't make sense, spend some time with the 80's first.
@JayCee2702
THIS SONG IS SO UNDERAPPRECIATED. I MEAN. HAYLEY'S HIGH NOTE. COME ON PEOPLE.
@stxriesunfold
jay SORRY IF I'M WRONG BUT IS YOUR ICON AWSTEN KNIGHT FROM WATERPARKS
@JayCee2702
Just Jazz YOU'RE DAMN RIGHT IT IS
@stxriesunfold
jay OMG HELL YES