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I believe "Pacing the Cage" by Jimmy Buffet is one of the saddest songs ever written. I also feel that it is very self assuring. It speaks of how our choices enslave us and how we can all end up "pacing the cage."

"Sunset is an angel weeping, pulling out a bloody sword,
no matter how I squint I cannot, make out what it's pointing toward.

Sometimes you feel like you live too long, the days drip slowly on the page,

and you catch yourself, pacing the cage.

I've proved who I am so many times, the magnetic strip's worn thin,
and each time I was someone else, and everyone was taken in.

Powers chatter in high places, stir up eddies in the dust of rage,
set me to pacing the cage.

I never knew what you all wanted, so I gave you everything,
all that I could pillage, all the spells that I could sing.

It's as if the thing were written, in the constitution of the age,
sooner or later, you wind up pacing the cage.

Sometimes the best map will not guide you, you can't see what's round the bend,
sometimes the road leads through dark places, sometimes the darkness is your friend.

Today these eyes scan bleached out land, for the coming of the outbound stage,
pacing the cage, pacing the cage."

This song references personal demons, misuse of power, the dangers of trying to please everyone around you, and how our goverment has blanketed America in a white film. If after listening to this song, you have no emotion in your eyes, you have not been paying attention.

Learn more about this author, Todd Genge.
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