bow down before the one you serve

AFI lyrics often remind me of Nine Inch Nails lyrics.

"hurt myself today" is a lyric in The Last Kiss (AFI) and Hurt (NIN)
"Hurt myself today -- it's all for you." -- The Last Kiss
"I hurt myself today to see if I still feel..." -- Hurt

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The AFI title "I Am Trying Very Hard To Be Here" reminds me of "I'm Looking Forward To Joining You, Finally"

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AND MISS MURDER. HOLY HELL.

"beauty will last when spiraled down" is totally a Downward Spiral reference.
I feel that the whole song is sorta a continuation of TDS...

"Hey, Miss Murder can I?
Hey, Miss Murder can I?
Make beuaty stay if I
Take my life?"
This is from the perspective of the character who narrates The Downward Spiral. 'Miss Murder' is another name for his girlfriend (the subject of Piggy, Closer, ad probably Eraser) who he had used for control through sex, who left him. He's asking her if he can make up for his sins if he takes his life, for at the point of the song "The Downward Spiral" (penultimate track) he realized how badly he's screwed up and commits suicide in that song.

"With just a look
They shook
And heavens bowed before him
Simply a look
Can break
Your heart..."
This is a reference to the tyrannical "God" figure the character overthrows then becomes (Heresy, Ruiner, Big Man With A Gun, etc...).

"The stars that pierce the sky
He left them all behind
We're left to wonder why
He left us all behind."
Pretty obvious, about his suicide.

"Dreams of his crash
Won't pass
Oh, how they all adored him
Beauty will last
When spiraled
Down."
Basically very obvious. People loved him, he couldn't see it, he threw it all away.

"The stars that mystified
He left them all behind
And how his children cried
He left us all behind."
Same thing as the first part of this verse and the last part of the first verse.

"What's the hook, the twist
Within this verbose mystery?"
"verbose mystery" could be a reference to the album itself.

"I would gladly bet my life upon it
That the ghost you love
Your ray of light will fizzle out
Without hope..."
This is about the relationship he had with his girlfriend, Miss Murder or the piggy. Also may be a reference to Ghosts I-IV

"We're the empty set
Just floating through
Wrapped in skin
Ever searching for what we were promised
Reaching for that golden ring
We'd never let go
Who would ever let us put their filthy hands upon it?"
This is from the character's point of view once more. "We're" is possibly talking about the song Reptile, "wrapped in skin" means they have no souls. The "golden ring" is power, something he was aiming for in the beginning, power, control, self-identity. Their hands are filthy from what they have become.

We return to the chorus, his pleas to Miss Murder or the piggy for an answer. Yet, in the end, he still commits suicide. His downward spiral ends.