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Scorpion Q+A 242

Question

Hi Scorpion!

Dread and the Fugitive Mind and Sweating Bullets are two of my favorites Megadeth songs. But can you tell me: what do they talk about? Dread and the Fugitive Mind seems to talk about a thief, or something, but I can't reckognize any specific one. And sweating bullets doesn't make any sense to me. Can you tell me what do they mean? Thank you very much Mr. Fall ofMan!

José Otaviano from Minas Gerais, Brazil

Answer

Dave has addressed the subject matter of both songs in the media. In 2001, he talks about Dread and the Fugitive Mind:
"It's about judgment. The great paradox is if there isn't a God and you live your life like a good person, you haven't lost anything. If there is a God and you lived your life like a dirtbag, you're screwed. Basically what I'm saying is, 'What if there's no judgment?' I think a lot of times people have gotten up on the moral hilltop and yelled down to the masses down at the bottom of the valley about their spiritual superiority and it just alienates you."

In 1992, he explains Sweating Bullets:
"I wrote that about myself. It was pointed out to me that I'm kind of schizophrenic and that I live inside my head. Which is something I don't subscribe to, but I enjoyed the theory nonetheless."
"I think all of us are sweating bullets all the time. Society's a joke right now, and people are getting more and more hostile. When you think about having an evil twin or schizophrenia, I think a lot of us are schizo, because we live inside our heads. There's someone we all confer with; it's called our conscience. Some people cannot control their other side; it takes them over. Everybody has that psychotic side. Everyone has a thing that will make them snap."

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