Look At Yourself
Swear to God Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

You watched yourself
Turn into a piece of shit
Confined to a soiled bed
Living in your own filth
Your own descendents
Will watch your decline
They will learn no lessons
Only emulate your demise

Look at yourself
What you've got left
A worthless life
A pointless death

Look at yourself

Overall Meaning

In these lyrics from Swear to God's song "Look at Yourself," the singer is describing the descent of someone who has become a "piece of shit." The subject of the song is confined to a soiled bed and living in their own filth. The singer predicts that the subject's descendants will watch their decline and learn no lessons, but will instead emulate the subject's demise. In the final lines, the singer instructs the subject to look at themselves and consider what they have left: a worthless life and a pointless death.

Overall, this song is a harsh and unforgiving critique of someone who has fallen into a hopeless state. The imagery of being confined to a soiled bed and living in filth is bleak, and the prediction that this person's descendants will follow in their footsteps is both tragic and damning. The use of the second person ("you") throughout the song intensifies the sense of personal accountability and serves to implicate the listener in this harsh judgment.

Line by Line Meaning

You watched yourself
You observed your own actions and behaviors.

Turn into a piece of shit
Your actions and behaviors caused you to become a terrible and unpleasant person.

Confined to a soiled bed
As a result of your poor lifestyle choices, you are now unable to take care of yourself properly and are stuck living in uncomfortable conditions.

Living in your own filth
You are now forced to live in unclean and unsanitary conditions due to your own neglect.

Your own descendents
Your future children and grandchildren.

Will watch your decline
They will witness your physical and mental deterioration.

They will learn no lessons
Despite watching your decline, they will not take any steps to avoid making the same mistakes as you.

Only emulate your demise
Instead, they will follow in your footsteps and inevitably end up in a similar predicament.

Look at yourself
Reflect on your own actions and behaviors.

What you've got left
Consider what you still have in life, if anything.

A worthless life
Your lifestyle choices have left you with a life lacking in value or purpose.

A pointless death
Your death will be meaningless, without having made any worthwhile contributions or impact on the world around you.

Contributed by Xavier G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

To comment on or correct specific content, highlight it

TRACKS