Dancing with the Devil - Intellectual

[Intro]

Life's too short to be dancing with the Devil

You best sleep with a blanket and a shovel

'Cause life's too short to be dancing with the Devil

[Verse 1]

Where am I? My hands are tied

Turn on the lights and I see you standing

Over me, it's hard to breathe

I can't believe that you'd do this to me

[Pre-Chorus]

Years of us building the trust up

No love was ever enough

I'm foolish to think we were friends

It's funny how it ends

[Chorus]

You know, when times get tough, you always give up

I know your smoking gun's the tip of your tongue

You take your aim to point the blame, it's time we let it go

So save your lies, behind those eyes, you're a devil in disguise

[Post-Chorus]

Life's too short to be dancing with the Devil

You best sleep with a blanket and a shovel

'Cause life's too short to be dancing with the Devil

[Verse 2]

Now it's time to pay the price

No playing nice when you live so selfish

Have a drink and make a scene

Embarrass me 'cause you're lost and hopeless

[Pre-Chorus]

Years of us building the trust up

No love was ever enough

I'm foolish to think we were friends

It's funny how it ends

[Chorus]

And you know, when times get tough, you always give up

I know your smoking gun's the tip of your tongue

You take your aim to point the blame, it's time we let it go

So save your lies, behind those eyes, you're a devil in disguise

[Post-Chorus]

Life's too short to be dancing with the Devil (Yeah)

You best sleep with a blanket and a shovel

'Cause life's too short to be dancing with the Devil

[Bridge]

You try to act as if you're saving me

But you wouldn't cut the rope if it was hanging me

I'm sick of people saying what you sow, you reap

'Cause I've been counting down the minutes of that, so to speak

Think of all the hours and hours of grind

That would turn it into sour findings

As I wonder if our resigning is becoming the silver lining

But I'm not a coward, I'm fighting

'Cause if they're the meat, then I'm biting

Go ahead ignoring and smiling

'Cause I'm climbing 'til I let

[Chorus]

You know, when times get tough, you always give up

I know your smoking gun's the tip of your tongue

You take your aim to point the blame, it's time we let it go

So save your lies, behind those eyes (Yeah, yeah)

You know, when times get tough, you always give up

I know your smoking gun's the tip of your tongue

You take your aim to point the blame, it's time we let it go

So save your lies, behind those eyes, you're a devil in disguise

[Outro]

Life's too short to be dancing with the Devil (Yeah)

You best sleep with a blanket and a shovel (Uh-huh)

'Cause life's too short to be dancing with the Devil

To put someone to sleep with a shovel is to kill that person.

“The Devil” in this song most likely refers to a toxic person in Cody’s life. He is saying that life is to short to deal with bad people (dance with the devil) and he is going to move on.

Maxx Danzinger, the drummer of the band, teased this line on Twitter 2 months before the songs release. He said in a post “Life’s too short to be dancing with the devil.”

some people in bad or difficult situations often “ignore and smile” which is to say that no matter what they feel inside they will keep smiling and keep acting ok or ignoring the situation

A “smoking gun” is an idiom meaning proof or very convincing evidence of something gone wrong. This line suggests that the person being written about caused a lot of trouble in the relationship with the words they said, and that became their downfall.

After Cody loves and invests in this person, it is not reciprocated. This other person is a “fair weather fan” and is not willing to try in this relationship. When things go bad, they don’t care enough to endure and work at the relationship like Cody has.

This is similar to the concept of ‘Killer in the Mirror’, in which Cody sings about people who are not his allies. He expresses this with lyrics like this one in the first verse: “Nobody’s got your back in this town.” In the refrain, repeated throughout the song, he says “Now I know there’s no one I can trust. I used to think there was.”, which is similar to this concept of how he trusted people and they betrayed him.

most likely referring to a combat or trench shovel useful for killing and burying

The sting of betrayal is echoed throughout this song. In a way, the concept of this song is incredibly comparable to the message of ‘Killer in the Mirror’. In the Killer in the Mirror music video, Cody is drowned by people who at first acted like they were his friends. However, when he was drowning, the people who he had just been talking to like comrades stood there and watched instead of helping. Here, we see the same type of situation, where Cody is dying and the people that he thought were friends do nothing to help.

Cody feels like he’s not benefiting from the effort he has put into something, whether it be his career, a relationship, or something else.

“You reap what you sow” is a reference to the Bible in Galatians 6:7, but is also a common phrase that means you will pay off in the long run for the effort you put in now.

This verse compares Cody’s betrayal to a kidnapping – Cody is completely disoriented and confused as to what’s going on until the perpetrator reveals themselves and their actions. He now understands what is going on, but can’t understand why.