What does S.O.S. (Sawed Off Shotgun) mean?

The Glorious Sons: S.O.S. (Sawed Off Shotgun) Meaning

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Album cover for S.O.S. (Sawed Off Shotgun) album cover

Song Released: 2018


S.O.S. (Sawed Off Shotgun) Lyrics

Mother I don't wanna take my medicine
24 years in the gutter again, I'm losing it
I'm losing it

Everybody's acting like they're all alright
I can barely get myself to sleep at night, I'm sick of it
Yeah, I'm sick of it

Yeah, they sent...

  1. 1TOP RATED

    #1 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
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    Dec 2nd 2019 !⃝

    Hear me out here! Almost every comment on here talks about this song being about overcoming drug addiction. One commenter got it right: it's about so much more than that, and here's how:
    1: "Mother I don't wanna take my medicine, 24 years in the gutter again...." "Everybody's acting like they're all alright, I can barely get myself to sleep at night...." insomnia and mental health issues (gotten really good at spotting that....)
    2: "They sent the tax man...." .... that's what happens when you can't afford your taxes.... not a euphemism for being on drugs, sorry guys.
    3: "I lost my job...." straight up talking about losing his job.
    4: "Y(OU) got hooked on oxycodin...." It's not about HIS struggle with drugs, it's about someone else's, and it's only one line. I will admit that the person who is hooked on oxy could be contributing to the problem by being unable to help financially, but that by far is not the only (or even main, imo) point of this song.
    5: "They shut the lights off, they took the car and...." a direct result of what can happen when you lose your job.
    6: "I'd rather be crazy than to take these pills, I'm sick of being okay against my will in loading it, I'm losing it. Ain't a thing in this world that I'm gonna miss, it's all fake smiles and leather jackets we're full of it...." Mental health again. Those pills, like many, are double-edged swords. And, saying there isn't a thing in this world you're gonna miss.... that's the kinda thing a person seriously contemplating suicide would say.
    7: "I don't know who to trust...." When literally everyone in your life let's you down....
    I hope I've made my point.
    -AshleyLoudAndProud

  2. 2TOP RATED

    #2 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
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    Mar 19th 2019 !⃝

    You guys do realize this song goes way beyond just pills right? It's about going through the struggle of shit in life. I know because I'm living this song and it's my anthem because it helps me get through.

  3. 3TOP RATED

    #3 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
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    Mar 25th 2019 !⃝

    This is where I am now..I am day 2 off of Vicodin & it fuckin sucks. I gotta keep going though..i am a chronic pain patient & I’ve decided no more pills-I’m not living my life around a pill..these withdrawals are no joke. This is some hard shit. And it’s not the 1st time I’ve tried to kick it,but I am determined this is the last time..I want my life back from this shit.

  4. anonymous
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    Jan 17th 2023 !⃝

    I think this song is partly about not wanting to fit in, that it's ok to not be ok and to not hide it using medicine or drugs. That we should embrace the fact that we're different and not try to hide it.
    It's also about how life can be utterly shit and it drives us to the edge and sometimes over it. I don't think it glorifies suicide it just illustrates how sometimes shit can just pile up, one thing after another and push you over the edge.

  5. Miarich
    click a star to vote
    Sep 30th 2020 !⃝

    I agree that this is partly about getting addicted to drugs but it's also about more mental health problems along with being addicted. One was insomnia "I can barely get myself to sleep at night" that can have a lare effect on your mental and physical health. Also in the lines "I'd rather be crazy than to take these pills, I'm sick of being okay against my will" this shows how what I think is that they are depressed and they don't want to have pills to feel like they are okay because they aren't and they noticed that the pills were just hiding it. Why I agree that it's partly about doing drugs and getting addicted is because because of these mental and physical health issues they resorted to drugs to help them cope. It also states mentions of suicide when saying "Ain't a thing in this world that I'm gonna miss: and: I bought a sawed off shotgun" this shows how they are thinking of suicide because if you think there is nothing left that is good in this world then you wouldn't want to be in it, also a sawed off shotgun is used for more close range shots and I believe can come apart for easy travel, and considering the song most can presume the reason why he bought a sawed off shotgun. It also shows how building on top of there mental and physical health problems is there financial situation, it shows how the taxman came because they didn't pay tax and now they are taking away everything one at a time. This just adds onto the stress of everything which also makes them resort to drugs to take the pain away and they start believing that the only way to be "okay" is suicide.

  6. anonymous
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    Mar 3rd 2020 !⃝

    This Song is about more than just addiction to pain pills. And I believe it's about somebody else's addiction to begin with. When
    you love your life partner,Child, sibling, or
    Parent? Their addiction becomes yours. As far as losing ones job?
    That can happen to anybody. But. Once you lose your Job, and have an addicted person
    you are responsible for? You stop paying for things. Bills. The Light bill. Is one that falls short fast. I don't think the Singer is singing about His Oxy Addiction because He said YOU got addicted to oxycodone. Not I
    Got addicted to Oxycodone. But. He is paying for it. An addiction doesn't just effect the Addicted. It effects the Whole house. Everybody suffers. Funny he didn't mention
    the stealing that goes with it. Maybe that's
    the "I don't know who to trust part?
    It's obvious the singer is suffering mental
    issues. But. it's also obvious they are not
    His alone the I don't know who to trust?
    Taxes also become unimportant. And that's
    a bad move. Without a Car? you are double screwed. The sawed off shotgun is an Serious
    cry for help. Suicide is considered reasonable when desperation becomes a way of life.
    This song is more than a addiction song.
    It's a song that brings Attention to how desperate reasonable is when faced by addiction. And it mental Illness effects others.
    That's what I think anyway. IDC what anybody else thinks.

  7. anonymous
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    Aug 30th 2019 !⃝

    I totally relate this song to the begining of the end when first people flocked south to obtain a readily available lethal amounts of oxy,whether they needed it or not enough to sell and support your habbit.the miles people traveled the long lines waiting to get your monthly dose plus..greed causing medical professionals to go against their own code of ethics and pharmacies as well.govererment interviening and shutting it down and casper system,leaving many without,with no where to turn but heroine.i know this first hand but my husband never made it that far ,lost his job, quit paying house payment, they repo'ed his truck on sunday and he o.d. on monday...hell in a handbasket.

  8. anonymous
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    Jan 25th 2019 !⃝

    I think this song is about pharmaceutical drugs, and how readily prescribed they are. Wheather for physical or emotional pain, pharmaceuticals are heavily pushed by doctors and are often the first thing suggested. I know myself a suffer of ptsd. Every doctor or psychologists first thought is pills. I feel as a society we are drugging ourselves to be obedient, mindless slaves.

  9. anonymous
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    Jan 13th 2019 !⃝

    It about the consequences of having drug addiction particularly
    How pharmaceutical drugs creep in taking everything you worked for one at a time.

  10. anonymous
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    Jan 12th 2019 !⃝

    Kind of wonder if someone in the band went through this. I dont even like this sort of slow music but this is one of those that speaks to a hell of alot of us, whether your clean, high, in withdrawl, or stuck on methadone dosing every morning because your own body and mind betrayed you in the end. Ive been on methadone for a little over 5 years now and while I wish I didnt have to take it every morning (after this long I only have to hit the clinic once a month thank god) it gave me my life back. I went from having nothing but 2 pairs of pants, my leather jacket, a roll of tinfoil, and a pocketful of half broken lighters to getting married, working, and owning my own electronics that weren't buybacks from the pawnshop.

    So anyone going through this, take it from me - get into a clinic. Whether its methadone, suboxone, subutex, or that new 3 month injection. Just get help, I know someone out there is reading thinking about it and you know your not even getting fucked up anymore, your just getting well, so you might as well reduce cost to 10bux a day and build your life back up. If anyone wants to talk just email me at xyle666@gmail.com - in case theres shit you wanna know that the clinic may not tell you, or for anything else really

  11. anonymous
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    Jan 9th 2019 !⃝

    I don't think the artist is necessarily making a political statement as much as maybe talking about what's happening to him personally. I think he has mental problems that goes deeper than just an oxy addiction. From what I can tell, from the beginning he talks about how he doesn't want to take his medication. He said he doesn't want to take these pills so that he just feels "okay". Everything else sounds like a consequence of him not taking his pills for whatever mental illness that ails him. I think the "talking to the tax man" is just him saying basically, I didn't want to take my meds that make me a normal functioning person because it doesn't feel natural to him. Losing his job, car, getting addicted to oxy all symptoms of him refusing to take those pills.everything goes so much to shit for him he basically thinks well, fuck it I'm going to buy a sawed off shotgun and end it here.

  12. anonymous
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    Jan 9th 2019 !⃝

    I feel this song is not in support of any one thing. I feel the artist is speaking out about a number of government controlled topicis and the negative outcomes surrounding such topics such as over taxation of the lower and middle income brackets, how the government allows monopolies to form like vehicle distribution and how the debt that the cost of a vehicle strains these brackets but generates great wealth for the super rich that control the monopolies the same concept applies the perscription medication or the opioid epidemic issues that plague the country. I feel like the artist is speaking out about how the government has designed a system that allows most of the population to fail!

  13. anonymous
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    Dec 30th 2018 !⃝

    Me...it’s a complete representation of my life or past life...

  14. anonymous
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    Nov 22nd 2018 !⃝

    *Sawed Off Shotgun lyrics*
    Mother I don't wanna take my medicine
    24 years in the gutter again, I'm losing it
    I'm losing it

    Everybody's acting like they're all alright
    I can barely get myself to sleep at night, I'm sick of it
    Yeah, I'm sick of it

    Yeah, they sent the taxman
    I lost my job, and
    You got hooked on oxycodone
    They shut the lights off
    They took the car, and
    I bought a sawed-off shotgun
    Yeah, they sent the taxman
    I lost my job, and
    You got hooked on oxycodone
    They shut the lights off
    They took the car, and
    I bought a sawed-off shotgun

    I'd rather be crazy than to take these pills
    I'm sick of being okay against my will
    I'm losing it, I'm losing it

    Ain't a thing in this world that I'm gonna miss
    It's all fake smiles and leather jackets
    We're full of it, yeah we're full of shit

    I don't know who to trust

    Yeah, they sent the taxman
    I lost my job, and
    You got hooked on oxycodone
    They shut the lights off
    They took the car, and
    I bought a sawed-off shotgun
    Yeah, they sent the taxman
    I lost my job, and
    You got hooked on oxycodone
    They shut the lights off
    They took the car, and
    I bought a sawed-off shotgun

    I'm losing it
    I bought a sawed-off shotgun
    I'm losing it
    I bought a sawed-off shotgun

    I don't know who to trust
    They need people like us

    Yeah, they sent the taxman
    I lost my job, and
    You got hooked on oxycodone
    They shut the lights off
    They took the car, and
    I bought a sawed-off shotgun
    Yeah, they sent the taxman
    I lost my job, and
    You got hooked on oxycodone
    They shut the lights off
    They took the car, and
    I bought a sawed-off shotgun

    *Sawed Off Shotgun Meaning*

    This song is about what occurs in someone's life when they get hooked on pain pills, as evident by the line "you got hooked on oxycodone". It's displaying the mental, emotional, and financial breakdown that happens. Pain pills are highly addictive and your body builds a tolerance to them quickly and once your prescription from your doctor no longer lasts you through the month, you head to the streets to find a way to get through until your next appointment. This is a very expensive habit to have and unless you have a job making damn good money, your life falls apart so quickly. Every penny you earn ends up going toward a habit that you have to support because the pain and symptoms of withdrawal from the medication is so terrible. Once you reach the point that you begin to lose those things in life you need (job, electricity, your car, your family... A lot of times your freedom if you turn to crime to earn the money for the habit) that's when the depression gets the best of you and you begin to look for a way out, as through the line "I bought a sawed off shotgun". This is a very real epidemic in our nation and the band is literally shining a light on what the majority of those who gets hooked on pain pills goes through. Many turn to heroine because it's less expensive and in turn lose their life to overdose.

  15. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Nov 22nd 2018 !⃝

    No, this song is absolutely about the tragedy that occurs in someone's life when they get hooked on pain pills, add evident by the line "you got hooked on oxycodone". It's displaying the mental, emotional, and financial breakdown that happens. Pain pills are highly addictive and your body builds a tolerance to them quickly and once your prescription from your doctor no longer lasts you through the month, you head to the streets to find a way to get through until your next appointment. This is a very expensive habit to have and unless you have a job making damn good money, your life falls apart so quickly. Every penny you earn end up going toward a habit that you have to support because the pain and symptoms of withdrawal from pain medication is so terrible. Once you reach the point that you begin to lose those things in life you need (job, electricity, your car, your family... A lot of times your freedom if you turn to cringe to earn the money for the habit) that's when the depression gets the best of you and you begin to look for a way out, the sawed off shotgun. This is a very real epidemic in our nation. And this song is literally explaining what the majority of anyone who gets hooked on pain pills goes through. Many turn to heroine because it's less expensive and in turn lose their life to overdose. I believe the band is shining light on this very real and very tragic situation.

  16. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Nov 21st 2018 !⃝

    I would say it either supports gun violence or suicide. The main character in the song appears to have mental issues that are being treated with medication that he does not like and is going through economical difficult times in his life. In the chorus, he says he buys a firearm. A sawed off shotgun is a concealable weapon allowing the character to attack the perceived sources of his current situation. The weapon also has a short barrel that would allow the character to easily commit suicide. The choice is open for you to make. In own current culture, I would deem this a very dangerous song to popularize in either interpretation.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway

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