“From Yesterday” by Thirty Seconds to Mars
First off, it should be noted that Jared Leto, lead singer of Thirty Seconds to Mars and co-writer of this track, has stated that it is open to interpretation by the listener. The intended effect was for it to be a “very cinematic” and “very visual song”. And in that regard, it has achieved its purpose, even outside of the fact that its music video is considered to be the first by an American band to be filmed exclusively in China.
“From Yesterday” is centered on a character who appears to be eccentric, to say the least. His main characteristic is avarice, as in being on an incessant quest to obtain “a fortune”. In addition there “is a map of the world” “on his face”, implying that he is willing to go to the ends of the earth in his search for wealth.
In the second verse, he is described as someone who lives a reprobate life. This includes preying on the innocent, including by taking lives.
This individual is also influenced by some type of entity emanating “from yesterday”. It induces a feeling of fear in him. As such, it can be said that he is motivated by both greed and dread. However, the way the song plays out, this can also be symbolic of something to the effect of justice, as in the sins of the past catching up with him, in addition to him being unable to shake this feeling.
The end of the song insinuates that the subject of the track is indeed a real person. And this piece is more or less intended as a “message” to him. However, he will be reluctant to actually give it a listen. So at the end of the day, even though the song is not intended to have any hard meaning behind it, it is clear that it still follows a distinct storyline.
Always thought it was from the POV of a soldier of fortune, that with the years participated in wars/conflict to earn money. But ends with him regretting it.
I am a 30STM fan, so have seen this vid a few times. I wonder if it is written as an interpretation of the historical record of an Emporer (….The last Emporer) and his wars, and message to his people and the world. In the end it will come back to you as real.
It’s a beautiful song with a deep meaning, no matter what your interpretation is.
Fascinating song! Jared Leto is genuinely an incredible singer and 30STM hit the mark with this song. Despite the age of this song, I am able to listen to it constantly and find out something new about it in every listening. I love the emotion, meaning, and depth of the words. Truly fabulous!
I see this soon about boyhood, and being forced into an angry aggressive civilization, the best way to show this, is through a young barley adolescent emperor, who has so much power in his hands and it shows what he could be capable of whilst showing all the disgusting things that greed and power have put the Eastern and Western societies through. This is experienced by the West being shocked at the Easts ideologies. But the young emperor doesn’t wish for war own his birthday, he chooses to just have fun, which shows growth and the next generation not wanting these same rituals, they want something completely new, 30 seconds to mars, is symbolic of this and partnering with the West, so that both generations of East and West new generations join together to prevent the old ways. Also east and West has always been a massive tradition is folk stories.