What does Misery Business mean?

Paramore: Misery Business Meaning

Album cover for Misery Business album cover

Song Released: 2007


Misery Business Lyrics

I'm in the business of misery,
Let's take it from the top.
She's got a body like an hourglass that's ticking like a clock.
It's a matter of time before we all run out,
When I thought he was mine she caught him by the mouth.

I waited eight...

  1. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jan 10th 2011 !⃝

    this story is deciphered in the way of events that happened in my life,which is why i think i can relate quite well.
    one of my ex girlfriends decided to dump me for my best friends and they both turned evil, she changed him into a different person.
    hayley sings of this guy she liked and some girl went out with him and changed who he was, the girl was pure evil deep down inside and the guy couldnt see it, only hayley could. the guy had become someone else entirely. after 8 months of meaningless sex and no relationship hayley won, she got the guy she was waiting so long for, and the girls true colours were revealed

  2. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Dec 21st 2009 !⃝

    Basically, she's met this guy, who she's really into. But before she has a chance to tell him, her slutty friend, or someone she's knows, comes along, and takes him for the hell of it.

    So she waits and waits, for ages, just waiting for him to be free again. And suddenly, she gets her chance, so she jumps in, before something else could happen. But the slutty "friend" is jealous, because she basically only took the guy, so she couldn't have him. And now of course, the slut has it out for her.
    In the chorus, I think she's being sarcastic, like "I Don't Wanna Brag, But Look!!" sorta... But then she says, "No, I didn't mean it like that, to take what you had, but it's a good thing you didn't destroy what good there was"
    The second verse is about the slut wanting a second chance, because she sees how happy her "friend" is, but is told there's no second chances, and that she'll always be sleeping around for the rest of her life.

    They're supposed to apologize, like good friends do, but they don't want to. And she tells the slut that the fashion may be to sleep around, but she's gonna refuse.

    And the last verse is basically, she's making his wildest dreams come true, and there's nothing the slut can do, and because she isn't friends with the slut anymore, she doesn't get to see the happiness of the relationship

  3. musicforlyfe
    click a star to vote
    Dec 7th 2009 !⃝

    I believe this song was made when Hayley was 18 and she was going through a rough time in high school.

    I'm pretty sure it's about this popular girl who is a total skank steals her boyfriend away from her and after they break up Hayley tells the guy that she loves him and how she really feels and the skank is out to get her after Hayley's happy ending.

  4. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Dec 5th 2009 !⃝

    um...basicly, her last boyfriend was taken by a whor and shes talking about how better her life is without her or him in hayleys life :)

  5. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Apr 14th 2009 !⃝

    It's about how a girl waited for this guy to dump/get dumped by a cumslut. And finally, they're together and they couldn't be happier without the cumslut. And she's just singing to brag.

    This probably hits close to home for everyone. Personally, I'm waiting for the guy to dump the cumslut, because we were together before and we couldn't have been better together. We even had plans for each other in the future, but the cumslut just had to bring it all back and take him away, and just fuck with him again, like she did the other time, before he was mine. Everyone knows that he should be with me, and all I can do is wait for him to realize she isn't for him, and vice versa...

  6. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Mar 11th 2009 !⃝

    Hayley has a boyfriend, but another stupid girl comes along and steals him away. Hayley doesn't like that...

  7. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jan 31st 2009 !⃝

    The video clip pretty much explains it,

  8. ynch
    click a star to vote
    Jan 20th 2009 !⃝

    if you really want to know what these lyrics are about go to paramoreband livejournal and hayley explains it and this is baisically what she says..
    its about one of her friends that she really liked and a girl started using him and having sex with him and really changed him and hayley really liked him and even thought she loved him and was so sad and bitter about this girl doing this to one of her friends, she also talks about using Gods name in the song and how she doesnt take her saviour lightly but thats how she felt at the time so thats just how she wrote the song...or something along those lines..so go read it from hayley herself on livejournal x(Y)

  9. ynch
    click a star to vote
    Jan 20th 2009 !⃝

    if you really want to know what these lyrics are about go to paramoreband livejournal and hayley explains it and this is baisically what she says..
    its about one of her friends that she really liked and a girl started using him and having sex with him and really changed him and hayley really liked him and even thought she loved him and was so sad and bitter about this girl doing this to one of her friends, she also talks about using Gods name in the song and how she doesnt take her saviour lightly but thats how she felt at the time so thats just how she wrote the song...or something along those lines..so go read it from hayley herself on livejournal x(Y)

  10. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jul 20th 2008 !⃝

    I could say so much about this but you have already covered it and it kind of explains itself!

  11. barx91
    click a star to vote
    Jun 26th 2008 !⃝

    Simply this song is about using wat you've got(body like an hour glass) to get what you want (I can't lie he was the only one for me) no matter what the consequences (she's got it out for me but I've got the biggest smile)

  12. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    May 15th 2008 !⃝

    Personally I think this song is catchy but the message is skewed.

    Paramore is supposed to be well they confessed/professed to be "Christians" yet this message is hardly that at all. Jesus didn't say rub peoples faces in their losses. No. He said to turn the other cheek to NOT hold grudges to let it go.

    Unfortunately even though the girl got the guy in the end, she is still bitter about his relationship with the "attractive" girl at school who supposedly "stole him" from her. Sorry ladies, but if a guy really loves you, he won't be "stolen" no matter how hard they try.

    Constantly comparing yourself to other people is a very dangerous thought pattern, if the character in the story stays in this mindset, then she will never be really free from her own jealousy and low self-esteem. A guy has got to love you for you, not because he "got smart" or was hurt so he falls back to "safe girl #1".

    Ladies wise up. If a man can be stolen he ain't worth wasting your time on. No matter how hot he is, cause there will always be temptation for him to wander around and cheat.

    Forgive and move on girls, find a guy who loves you for who you are 1st time round and not just cause you look good or are smart but for you including your flaws. Hell nothing beats knowing that someone loves you unconditionally but first you gotta love yourself too. Value who you are, and forget what the others think.

  13. jb132076
    click a star to vote
    Apr 30th 2008 !⃝

    "Misery Business" has its origins in a message Hayley put on the band’s Live Journal page, asking her fans to post what they’re ashamed of. “I found that people really were reaching out to someone to spill their guts to,” she recalls, “So I did the same thing lyrically in the song and let everything out. It’s more honest than anything I’ve ever written, and the guys matched that emotion musically.” Go to Paramore.net and check it out..

  14. catx
    click a star to vote
    Apr 28th 2008 !⃝

    Basically this girl was dating this guy and the school ho takes him off her and after 8 months the girl he dumped admits that she still loves him they get back together and the school ho is left on her own when the guy sees sense

  15. Gurl_E_Nerdd
    click a star to vote
    Apr 19th 2008 !⃝

    I think just from the video that the song is about how pretty can be pretty evil. Like in the video the popular girl ruled and caused everyone else's experiences in school hell.




More Paramore songs »


 


Latest Articles

 


Submit Your Interpretation

[ want a different song? ]




Just Posted

Steve's Going to London anonymous
Yes I'm A Mess anonymous
Droppin' Plates anonymous
Rat anonymous
Cry for the Moon anonymous
And the Snakes Start to Sing anonymous
Gingerbread Man anonymous
Not Like the Movies anonymous
This Masquerade anonymous
Birthday Suit anonymous
Dollhouse anonymous
Death anonymous
Copy Cat anonymous
I Hate Jimmy Page anonymous
I Hate Jimmy Page anonymous

(We won't give out your email)