Lyrics
i stand around at american weddings
i stand around for family
at my best when i’m terrorist inside
at my best when it’s all me
i was there when you took all the people
i was alone in a mental revine?
you breathe life when you break the walls down
you breathe life when you set me free
where is my head
where are my bones
why are my days so far from home
where is my head
where are my bones
can you save me from myself
can you save me from myself
free thinking renegade social
mr. moon man now
in a slipstream of my possibilities
i got the boat so we don’t drown
these are the days that I’m split down the middle
no words to calm me down
be sure that what you dream of
won’t come to hunt you out
where is my head
where are my bones
why are my days so far from home
ghostman?
where is my head
where are my bones
how come we get so lost
ghostman?
where is my head
where are my bones
can you save me from myself
can you save me from myself
About The Song
wtf does that word mean?:
slipstream [n.] The flow of air that is driven backwards by an aircraft propeller
the middle [n.] Split between two things
The terrorist line:
While the band touches on it, it should be given a brief mention. Unless you bought the CD as soon as it came out, your version of Golden State probably substitutes the word maverick for terrorist. Gavin hasn’t really decided which version he’s more comfortable with yet- he used maverick at the New York show, and most of the live concerts, but he’s used terrorist 2 or 3 times also. It’s probably an awkward situation, having to choose between a very loaded word, and an inoffensive, but syllabically inferior substitute. It really shouldn’t matter either way, but them’s the breaks.
Band Thoughts:
“I think that’s out most plaintive tempo. It’s got a sense of melancholy about it. I’m proud of how we all together came up with that tempo. It seems to just work exactly right. The ghosts are the different voices of reason in your head that go against your initial instinct to do something or to mess up if you’re a bit self destructive. It’s about being at your best when you’re a terrorist inside. When I wrote the verse I thought it was a bit Breeders-like, and I love the Breeders. It rolls onto itself. It’s got good momentum and it’ll be one to watch live, because I’m sure we’ll be playing it.”- Gavin
“….that chorus is huge when it kicks in.”- Dave
“Everyone has voices inside their head telling them to turn left or right, and sometimes the ghost is a rational voice in your head. Sometimes you find yourself in a position you never thought you’d be.”- Gavin
from an interview:
interviewer: After the Sept.11th attacks, you changed GS’s cover art and the title of ‘Speed Kills.’ Do you think musicians need to continue to be more sensitive in these difficult times or do you think things should go back to normal?
Rossdale: Well, I think this is an extraordinary event, or events, on that day. I’ve just actually changed, on ‘Head Full of Ghosts,’ with that line that goes, ‘at my best when I’m terrorist inside.’ Before the attacks, I’ve grown up with 30 years of IRA terrorism. We take Greenpeace with us on tour. I’ve supported PETA for a long time, so these people are ecoterrorists. Before Sept.11th, the word ‘terrorist,’ while having grave connotations, also just meant freedom fighters in certain ways. They’re not people that you wouldn’t have in your house. They’re people who are heavily committed to saving the environment and put their own lives at risk, so they call themselves ‘ecoterrorists.’ And I couldn’t put ‘eco’ in there, so I just put ‘terrorist.’ And it was a poetic license moment. Then after the attacks, it’s just so vile and so anti-human and so despicable that I didn’t want to sing that line anymore, so I changed it yesterday to ‘maverick,’ which is a better meaning, exactly what I meant. I think this track is coming out as a single in a few weeks and that will have ‘at my best when I’m maverick inside,’ and the next print run of the album will have that as well on it. Because I just don’t want that and I don’t care what people think as to whether you should change art and all that nonsense. It’s just what I wanted to do. I wrote it, so I can change it.
from an interview:
interviewer: Right after Sept. 11, the band decided to change the “Golden State” album cover – from the silhouette of a plane to a plain gold background – and the title of one of the songs (“Speed Kills” became “The People That We Love”). Did you also consider changing the line “I’m at my best when I’m terrorist inside” in “Headful of Ghosts”?
Gavin:I did change it, actually, to “maverick.” I change it in shows and for the radio version and on the album. If it’s still on the album the label sent you, then, well, that’s not very good. It means they’re not through with the first run (of CDs). But that word used to have different shades of meaning – eco-terrorist, for example. . . . Now, I don’t want anything to do with that (expletive) word. I think we should put that word in the fridge for a while, you know?
‘In “Head Full of Ghosts” there’s the lyric, “Be sure that what you dream of won’t come to hunt you out.” Well that’s the way, isn’t it? That’s the thing about blessings and curses how they kind of go together. If you spend a lot of time obsessing about something sometimes the obsession becomes more vital than the actual fact that you wanted it.’- Gavin
‘”I’m at my best when I’m terrorist inside,” …is the worst line on the album in this time. The fact that a lot of the time we’re guilty of sending out a representative of ourselves. You put a front on. It’s very difficult sometimes to be yourself. I was painfully shy when I was growing up. So often I wouldn’t quite represent myself in the right way and come off sounding wrong. Many times when I felt out of my depth, ‘I’m best when I’m terrorist inside. I’m best when I’m really…,’ funniest, is when you’re really being yourself.” – Gavin
“Absolutely. There definitely has. I guess I use violent imagery. You just find strong words. Terrorist is just an amazing word linguistically. Semantically, terror is an amazing thing, it’s a great word, but this is an awful time for it. I would change it, certainly if I was going to have it on the radio. Anyone who knows anything about us…I’ve never been a violent person, but it’s just unfortunate. I certainly didn’t mean it with any intention of harming anyone. Before, nobody would have blinked at it.”- Gavin
“”At my best when I’m a terrorist inside…..That was such a dramatic line, but it’s gotten to the point now where I don’t think I could sing that … with the same conviction that wrote it. Even though I meant a mental terrorist, it has to be changed now because it’s just … just wrong.”- Gavin
Staff Thoughts:
“ATTENTION SMART ASS DJ’S AND STUPID ASS FANS!!! Unless we have seriously underestimated Mr. Rossdale’s intelligence, he does not need to be informed of the location of his balls. Balls does NOT rhyme with home. Shut the fuck up. Thank You.”- Brandyn:
“I think he should have stuck with the terrorist line. Really, he didn’t add it cause of what happened and it does fit so much better than Maverick. I think that I’ve listen to the original song so many times that I just can’t get use to the new word.I also think this song has a striking resemblance to cold contagious. Maybe it’s just me.”- Laura
Fan Thoughts: