This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
At first I see an open wound
Infected and disastrous
It breathes chaotic catastrophe
It cries to be renewed (Please renew me!)
Its tears are the color of anger
They dry to form a scab
To the touch, it's stiff and resilient
Underneath, the new skin breathes, yeah
It's all been saved
With the exception for the right parts
But when will we be new skin?
As outwardly cliche as it may seem
Yes, something under the surface says "c'est la vie"
There is a circle, it is a plan
Dead skin will atrophy itself to start again
Look closely at the open wound
See past what covers the surface
Underneath chaotic catastrophe
Creation takes the stage, so
Dead skin will atrophy itself to start again
Dead skin will atrophy itself to start again
Dead skin will atrophy itself to start again
It's all been saved
With the exception for the right parts
But when will we be new skin?
It's all been seen
With the exception for what could be
But when will we be new skin?
Until the twentieth century
Reality was everything humans could touch, smell, see, and hear
Since the initial publication of the chart of electromagnetic spectrum,
Humans have learned that what they can touch, smell, see, and hear
Is less than one millionth of reality
Fallacious cognitions
Spewed from televisions
Do mold our decisions
So stop and take a look
And you'll see what I see now
Now
It's all been saved
With the exception for the right parts
But when will we be new skin?
It's all been seen
With the exception for what could be
But when will we be new skin?
Skin
Infected and disastrous
It breathes chaotic catastrophe
It cries to be renewed (Please renew me!)
Its tears are the color of anger
They dry to form a scab
To the touch, it's stiff and resilient
Underneath, the new skin breathes, yeah
It's all been saved
With the exception for the right parts
But when will we be new skin?
As outwardly cliche as it may seem
Yes, something under the surface says "c'est la vie"
There is a circle, it is a plan
Dead skin will atrophy itself to start again
Look closely at the open wound
See past what covers the surface
Underneath chaotic catastrophe
Creation takes the stage, so
Dead skin will atrophy itself to start again
Dead skin will atrophy itself to start again
Dead skin will atrophy itself to start again
It's all been saved
With the exception for the right parts
But when will we be new skin?
It's all been seen
With the exception for what could be
But when will we be new skin?
Until the twentieth century
Reality was everything humans could touch, smell, see, and hear
Since the initial publication of the chart of electromagnetic spectrum,
Humans have learned that what they can touch, smell, see, and hear
Is less than one millionth of reality
Fallacious cognitions
Spewed from televisions
Do mold our decisions
So stop and take a look
And you'll see what I see now
Now
It's all been saved
With the exception for the right parts
But when will we be new skin?
It's all been seen
With the exception for what could be
But when will we be new skin?
Skin
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Great song! I wish current artists would address issues similar to those Brandon focused on in S.C.I.E.N.C.E. rather than hide behind the clichés of "brutal realism."
This song is Brandon's attempt to question when our society will recognize/realize, learn and grow from the fallacies of our traditional modes of thinking and operating. He compares the outside of a wound (scab) to our contemporary society. Underneath the new skin (and for that matter, our adapting society) breathe and grow to eventually replace the "chaotic catastrophe" (scab) residing on the outside. Brandon is saying that this change is natural and almost expected..."it is a circle, there is a plan." Regarding the needed recognition of our ill-fated attempts at perfection (or more appropriately, our current society), Boyd extends a hand and offers some advice to those willing to listen and receive..."Fallacious cognitions spewed from televisions do mold our decisions. So stop and take a look!" Keep your heart and mind OPEN but wary of influence. After all, life (and by extension, reality) is inevitably going to change. Hell, until the 20th century, most the world believed that only white light (visible light) existed... I would love to see them face OUR reality with our talking stones (cell phones if you couldn't pick that one up) using radio waves... and microwave ovens using LIGHT to heat up and cook our food! If reality can be turned on its head as fast as it has in the past 200 years can you imagine what we'll be seeing in the near future!?
On behalf of the hibernating human animals, we deeply thank you Brandon (and the rest of Incubus) for being our vitamins...
:)
"Brutal realism" isn't a cliche, you idiot. Bands today don't talk about "brutal realism", because they're not lyrically talented, they all suck. You're going on about radio waves and everything, it's ridiculous. It's the sign of someone who takes a song and completely misses the core meaning of the lyrics. Might go for a shorter explanation next time. By the way, you're "explanation" completely clashes with the audio sample in the song about reality for humans being only what we can hear, touch and smell.
i think this song is about war. "look closely at that open wound, see past what covers the surface. underneath chaotic catastrophe, creation takes the stage." i think that if we look past all of the horrible things about war such as guns and mass killing, we gain from it. we learn something about society and can build upon what we learn to make today's society better to live in.
"until the 20th century reality was anything humans could touch smell see and hear. Since the initial publication of the charter electormagnetic spectrum humans have discovered that what humans can touch smell hear and see if less than one millionth of reality"...im just wondering whose voice that is...there has been a myth about the face on incubus's cd's where the guy is named chuck, im wondering if this is his voice. btw that part isnt posted in this lyric
@MistaTwista Buskminster Fuller.<br /> <br /> en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Buckminster_Fuller<br /> <br /> Ctrl+f & search: "electro". The quote is about halfway down the page.
@MistaTwista it's a quotation from Buckminstrer Fuller - he of the ball. There are a few videos of him on YouTube holding forth about metaphysics & futurism. It may well be his own voice - one would have to watch all the interviews - but they've distorted the pitch & tempo somewhat, if it is.
Brandon sees society as a scab that will hopefully heal to be sommat better.
society is in a hole right now
Of course! I prefered it when Brandon sang about his views on society and other things. Now he just sings about his failed relationships! And HE says that he doesn't want to become nu-metal!
awesome chorus but i dont like the rhyming, it means something like life just doesnt make any sense. at least thats what i think anyways
I love the energy of this song. When I put it on my CD player, I feel instantly better. And when they play it in this club in my town on a Thursday night, the dancefloor fills up. If we're lucky, the dj will play this and A Certain Shade Of Green. I love that song too. I love every Incubus song except Consequence.
Has to possibly go down as one of my favorite songs, its a toss up between Pardon Me and this for my fav incubus tune. The chorus is awesome here, and I like the strange way he rhymes his words throughout the song. Great tune.
It's great live as well. Brandon gets his bongo out! ;-)