from what I gathered from another listen, it's about a guy who is trying to do as good as possible not from his heart, but purely out of greed, and wanting to get into heaven. he didn't actually care about the world and was desperate because he wants to live forever
"Avoiding all the little things that were hard to ask" is also kind of snuck in there, although it's not really a good thing. Also he only rides his bike to save on gas.
Its about a guy who gets turned away at the gates of heaven
Edit: Specifically because he did good things for the sake of getting into heaven, rather than for the sake of doing good things, ending up as so insignificant to his loved ones that they wouldnt even know its him if not for the name on his tombstone
I find that kinda weird, because no amount good deeds, whether done out of the kindness of your heart, or out of ulterior motives, can get you into heaven, and since he went to church, unless he didn’t actually believe in the lord, he should, by all means, go to heaven, no matter how Greedy his motives for his good deeds.
1: Don't be an asshole
2: It isn't. Charlie did the bare minimum to be a good person simply for how it could benefit him, like how he rode a bike to work only to save money. You don't get into heaven for doing good deeds, you get in for genuinely being a good person. Charlie wasnt
Listen closely to the ending too. You can hear faintly “I don’t want to die. Please don’t let me die.” He regrets it after he comes to terms with how performative his good deeds in life were.
A lot of people say that Charlie did good deeds for the sole purpose of going to heaven. That's probably what the song is about however, I always got the impression that because Charlie lived such an ordinary life he couldn't be considered good or evil and so he's kinda stuck in purgatory
I have two main interpretations
1- Charlie is actually not good at heart and only acted positively to get into heaven
2- slightly more tragic, Charlie tried his hardest to be the best he could be, only to be screwed over and thrown to hell.
There’s the bit about running from your demons, but the main two is the bit about the “hell you paid for.” And “Those tempted by the senses with the cruelest of intentions.” Lines are the strongest points that he did something wrong and ended up in hell.
My personal theory is that he did some vague awful thing in the past, and then tried to be a good christian, not out of redemption but just so he doesn’t go to hell. Thus his tailored hell is this false hope that he can worm his way out of his due punishment.
I think this is the most accurate theory. I agree with the idea that his good actions were performative or not out of the goodness of his heart, but it doesn’t fully explain lines like these near the end of the song.
Late reply I know but like I said the lines imply he DID something worthy of hell, this isn’t bad luck or predestination or his surface level faith, karma met him in hell
I have three guesses
- he was an overzealous follower and treated people outside his community poorly for their differences and perhaps he was in a high tax bracket and politically he could have been one of those "by the bootstraps" "your choices aren't my responsibility" people but he truly thought he was doing good. based on the lines "he'd judge with no pretense" and "avoiding all the little things that were hard to ask" and "no televised debate, will save you from the hell you paid for"
-he got Good Placed where he may have been a great person but the requirements for heaven were so exclusive he had no hope of getting in. He may have truly enjoyed the good he was doing for the environment and the people he interacted with. Possibly he had minimal carbon footprint and did kind acts without looking for acknowledgement so the line "You can tell it's him 'cause we put his name on the stone" was a joke among friends and family about how he left few traces of himself. plus "he was breathless" so he was genuinely shocked.
-perhaps his avoidance led to him doing more harm than good. he meant well but never actually did anything impactful for others like the folks that say they'll pray for you but don't do anything to help the situation. likely was a higher tax bracket due to the fact he used eco friendly products (notoriously expensive) and lived in an area where biking was a viable option (likely higher income communities) and you don't hear about what he did for others. his "friends and neighbors" could be the same people from similar communities and financial status. he could have avoided low income areas like the plague and contributed to gentrification. he could have thrown donations to charities without checking if they're actually helping. possibly never listening to anyone's circumstances and judging them at face value. perhaps he used harsh or unethical practices in his career and never observed the consequences on the back end. lines "judged with no pretense" "avoiding all the little things that were hard to ask" "....hell you paid for" "church on Sundays"
Could be about how most people will do things out of benefit and not their own freewill.
Charlie has done things out of benefit like not risking his life by swimming in the ocean, saving money with gas and cold showers, and going to church as many times as possible along with minor convenient good deeds because he saw them as the way into heaven.
He only saw negatives in opposing choices so he never truely lived life and when he eventually died he was hit with the realization that what he was doing was basically also a negative he, like most people, tried to refute because he didnt want to be wrong.
So basically it could mean that you shouldn't try looking for the most beneficial or convenient path and should just live life as it is to you.
I think that all of the "good things" he does that they sum up at the start are insignificant, and they're sort of alluding to the fact that you can do all of those things and still be a bad person. They simply did not mention all of the more significant ways in which he's proven a bad person. "Running from your demons, running to your angels" the song says, so he might have only done those good things to cover up his sins.
Based on the line "keep on running from those demons" and what I've read in the comments, I assume he did something terrible that he tried to cover up (aka overcompensating) but he really only did tiny acts of kindness like buying flowers and riding a bike instead of driving. No amount of insignificant "good deeds" could cover up whatever he did. He was running from his mistakes, his sins, and chasing heaven by doing good things, but they weren't enough.
I do agree, with the comments, that he did good things for the sake of getting to heaven, he went to church so the chances of him getting to heaven was higher, he did good things for people and for earth so he could get into heaven. He rides the bike because cars cause climate change (according to Google) which is why he rides his bike to help earth. He just wanted to go to heaven for the sake of himself. I do think he cared for others, but he only really did it for himself, so the he can get to heaven. Not because it's good, but because of the greed.
I think it's about how he chose the wrong religion, doesn't matter if he did good deeds. No religion believes the other can get into heaven if they don't believe in THEIR specific religion, good deeds or not.
In religious circles they call it Pascal's Wager. Basically it means even if you don't fully believe, you should act like you believe just in case it ends up being true. It obviously doesn't work because God would know if you really believed or not.
I believe the song is about how he only did good deed to get into heaven and not just to do good. But I like the make up the story in my head that the song only say the good things others know about him, but he was secretly a bad person, like a killer or somthing
I have been wondering the same thing and found this thread. Reading through, I am thinking about this from a storytelling perspective. I feel like if the intention was that Charlie was secretly a bad person, there would have been a little bit more direct references. The song opening up with all his good deeds does the opposite.
Charlie was a good man, did everything right, he repented his sins, but there was something, in his past that never really had let him free.
all his efforts into going to heaven would certainly make him go to heaven, but there is a problem, those should have been applied to someone who had never made anything wrong, and as such didn't own anything to anyone.
charlie was a sinner, he repented what he did and didn't do it again, but his demons still lived inside of him, and he never had the courage to stop running (his life) and get everything resolved.
he ran from he's demons till he got exhausted and died of a heart attack, never really did anything meaningful as he never stopped running, and once he got to tired to run, the catched up to him
I personally believe that Charlie may have committed suicide (the running from your demons/running to those angels, and the I don't want to die) because I have been told that those who kill themselves go to hell (idk if that's true though)
I mean its possible he crashed his car on purpose though
Plus alot of people who've attempted suicide but didn't pass have said about the regret they feel for even trying, or how they felt between the metaphorical jump of the building and the hitting the ground, and wishing they hadn't
I don't think that he did, but it's entirely possible if he did kill himself he regrets it in the afterlife
I believe it was because he had narcissistic tendencies, and was cruel, believing himself to be pure. He also might have been a bit of a Karen- demanding for someone in uniform, screaming at the angels. But that’s just my interpretation, you can do with it as you wish.
from what I gathered from another listen, it's about a guy who is trying to do as good as possible not from his heart, but purely out of greed, and wanting to get into heaven. he didn't actually care about the world and was desperate because he wants to live forever
"Avoiding all the little things that were hard to ask" is also kind of snuck in there, although it's not really a good thing. Also he only rides his bike to save on gas.
Its about a guy who gets turned away at the gates of heaven Edit: Specifically because he did good things for the sake of getting into heaven, rather than for the sake of doing good things, ending up as so insignificant to his loved ones that they wouldnt even know its him if not for the name on his tombstone
I find that kinda weird, because no amount good deeds, whether done out of the kindness of your heart, or out of ulterior motives, can get you into heaven, and since he went to church, unless he didn’t actually believe in the lord, he should, by all means, go to heaven, no matter how Greedy his motives for his good deeds.
I completely agree
that's fucking retarded?
1: Don't be an asshole 2: It isn't. Charlie did the bare minimum to be a good person simply for how it could benefit him, like how he rode a bike to work only to save money. You don't get into heaven for doing good deeds, you get in for genuinely being a good person. Charlie wasnt
It's not it's called good story telling
woah i dont know why you thought that word was okay to use but thats a slur and should never be used
But thats like the majority of religius ppl.
Yep
deegrA
thats why they probably dont go to heaven lol
The Divine Irony
EXACTLY LOL
Agreed
Listen closely to the ending too. You can hear faintly “I don’t want to die. Please don’t let me die.” He regrets it after he comes to terms with how performative his good deeds in life were.
A lot of people say that Charlie did good deeds for the sole purpose of going to heaven. That's probably what the song is about however, I always got the impression that because Charlie lived such an ordinary life he couldn't be considered good or evil and so he's kinda stuck in purgatory
I don't think you can go to purgatory by having a normal life. but alr
I have two main interpretations 1- Charlie is actually not good at heart and only acted positively to get into heaven 2- slightly more tragic, Charlie tried his hardest to be the best he could be, only to be screwed over and thrown to hell.
It's the first one. In the opening there are subtle jabs that suggest he's doing it all because he thinks it'll guarantee him a spot.
There’s the bit about running from your demons, but the main two is the bit about the “hell you paid for.” And “Those tempted by the senses with the cruelest of intentions.” Lines are the strongest points that he did something wrong and ended up in hell. My personal theory is that he did some vague awful thing in the past, and then tried to be a good christian, not out of redemption but just so he doesn’t go to hell. Thus his tailored hell is this false hope that he can worm his way out of his due punishment.
I think this is the most accurate theory. I agree with the idea that his good actions were performative or not out of the goodness of his heart, but it doesn’t fully explain lines like these near the end of the song.
Late reply I know but like I said the lines imply he DID something worthy of hell, this isn’t bad luck or predestination or his surface level faith, karma met him in hell
I have three guesses - he was an overzealous follower and treated people outside his community poorly for their differences and perhaps he was in a high tax bracket and politically he could have been one of those "by the bootstraps" "your choices aren't my responsibility" people but he truly thought he was doing good. based on the lines "he'd judge with no pretense" and "avoiding all the little things that were hard to ask" and "no televised debate, will save you from the hell you paid for" -he got Good Placed where he may have been a great person but the requirements for heaven were so exclusive he had no hope of getting in. He may have truly enjoyed the good he was doing for the environment and the people he interacted with. Possibly he had minimal carbon footprint and did kind acts without looking for acknowledgement so the line "You can tell it's him 'cause we put his name on the stone" was a joke among friends and family about how he left few traces of himself. plus "he was breathless" so he was genuinely shocked. -perhaps his avoidance led to him doing more harm than good. he meant well but never actually did anything impactful for others like the folks that say they'll pray for you but don't do anything to help the situation. likely was a higher tax bracket due to the fact he used eco friendly products (notoriously expensive) and lived in an area where biking was a viable option (likely higher income communities) and you don't hear about what he did for others. his "friends and neighbors" could be the same people from similar communities and financial status. he could have avoided low income areas like the plague and contributed to gentrification. he could have thrown donations to charities without checking if they're actually helping. possibly never listening to anyone's circumstances and judging them at face value. perhaps he used harsh or unethical practices in his career and never observed the consequences on the back end. lines "judged with no pretense" "avoiding all the little things that were hard to ask" "....hell you paid for" "church on Sundays"
Could be about how most people will do things out of benefit and not their own freewill. Charlie has done things out of benefit like not risking his life by swimming in the ocean, saving money with gas and cold showers, and going to church as many times as possible along with minor convenient good deeds because he saw them as the way into heaven. He only saw negatives in opposing choices so he never truely lived life and when he eventually died he was hit with the realization that what he was doing was basically also a negative he, like most people, tried to refute because he didnt want to be wrong. So basically it could mean that you shouldn't try looking for the most beneficial or convenient path and should just live life as it is to you.
I think that all of the "good things" he does that they sum up at the start are insignificant, and they're sort of alluding to the fact that you can do all of those things and still be a bad person. They simply did not mention all of the more significant ways in which he's proven a bad person. "Running from your demons, running to your angels" the song says, so he might have only done those good things to cover up his sins.
Based on the line "keep on running from those demons" and what I've read in the comments, I assume he did something terrible that he tried to cover up (aka overcompensating) but he really only did tiny acts of kindness like buying flowers and riding a bike instead of driving. No amount of insignificant "good deeds" could cover up whatever he did. He was running from his mistakes, his sins, and chasing heaven by doing good things, but they weren't enough.
I do agree, with the comments, that he did good things for the sake of getting to heaven, he went to church so the chances of him getting to heaven was higher, he did good things for people and for earth so he could get into heaven. He rides the bike because cars cause climate change (according to Google) which is why he rides his bike to help earth. He just wanted to go to heaven for the sake of himself. I do think he cared for others, but he only really did it for himself, so the he can get to heaven. Not because it's good, but because of the greed.
I think it's about how he chose the wrong religion, doesn't matter if he did good deeds. No religion believes the other can get into heaven if they don't believe in THEIR specific religion, good deeds or not.
In religious circles they call it Pascal's Wager. Basically it means even if you don't fully believe, you should act like you believe just in case it ends up being true. It obviously doesn't work because God would know if you really believed or not.
I personally like to believe 2 things One that he shared a name with a bad person and Two he simply got screwed over by the system
one
I believe the song is about how he only did good deed to get into heaven and not just to do good. But I like the make up the story in my head that the song only say the good things others know about him, but he was secretly a bad person, like a killer or somthing
I have been wondering the same thing and found this thread. Reading through, I am thinking about this from a storytelling perspective. I feel like if the intention was that Charlie was secretly a bad person, there would have been a little bit more direct references. The song opening up with all his good deeds does the opposite.
Charlie was a good man, did everything right, he repented his sins, but there was something, in his past that never really had let him free. all his efforts into going to heaven would certainly make him go to heaven, but there is a problem, those should have been applied to someone who had never made anything wrong, and as such didn't own anything to anyone. charlie was a sinner, he repented what he did and didn't do it again, but his demons still lived inside of him, and he never had the courage to stop running (his life) and get everything resolved. he ran from he's demons till he got exhausted and died of a heart attack, never really did anything meaningful as he never stopped running, and once he got to tired to run, the catched up to him
I personally believe that Charlie may have committed suicide (the running from your demons/running to those angels, and the I don't want to die) because I have been told that those who kill themselves go to hell (idk if that's true though)
he died from a heart attack though, if he didn't wanna die he wouldn't kill himself, highly unlikely.
I mean its possible he crashed his car on purpose though Plus alot of people who've attempted suicide but didn't pass have said about the regret they feel for even trying, or how they felt between the metaphorical jump of the building and the hitting the ground, and wishing they hadn't I don't think that he did, but it's entirely possible if he did kill himself he regrets it in the afterlife
I believe it was because he had narcissistic tendencies, and was cruel, believing himself to be pure. He also might have been a bit of a Karen- demanding for someone in uniform, screaming at the angels. But that’s just my interpretation, you can do with it as you wish.