There are things that I said I would never do
There are fears that I cannot believe have come true
For my soul is too sick and too little and too late
And my self I have grown too weary to hate

The more I stay in here
The more it's not so clear
The more I stay in here
The more I disappear
As far as I have gone
I knew what side I'm on
But now I'm not so sure
The line begins to blur

Is there somebody on top of me?
I don't know, I don't know
Isn't anybody stopping me?
I don't know, I don't know
Well I'm trying to hold my breath
I don't know, I don't know
Just how far down can I go?
I don't know, I don't know, I don't know

As I lie here and stare
The fabric starts to tear
It's far beyond repair
And I don't really care
As far as I have gone
I knew what side I'm on
But now I'm not so sure
The line begins to blur


Lyrics submitted by Angie Christ, edited by Mellow_Harsher, blackcats111

The Line Begins to Blur Lyrics as written by Trent Reznor

Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.

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The Line Begins to Blur song meanings
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  • +1
    General Comment

    Good points by both, Schizima and PCS153. Year Zero IS pure political and With Teeth in my opinion is purely drug related. However, I think that EVERY single song that Trent Reznor ever produced has something to do with Philosphy. I don;t remember who I got this from, but theres a philosphy that Time and Reality is a Pattern, and we are all Threads in this Weave of Life. Notice how the logo for With_Teeth is tearing apart, its like reality is tearing apart or tahts what Trent Reznor must be feeling considering his drug abuse. But what IS reality? Each one us percieves things in a differnt way, each on of us is lviing in their own version of reality. Another great philsphy is that i can relate to Trent Reznor's song Right WHere it Belongs is how do we know that is isnt an elobrate dream. you could be in a coma right now, and all you know is just a hallucination. In the end, reality of the truth is Lies. A quote i myself amde up is: "The Truth is merely a Lie that the majority agree on." This emanigns that we can never know for sure what is and what is not, one person can say the sky is orange at daytime, while 99.9999999% of the world says its blue. does that mean its blue? no. the one person can be right, we can all be colour blind. Sorry, got dragged away with ym philsohy again, but Trent Reznor is a fucking genius philosher. Btw, the person who wrote taht hes talking about clothing ripping apart, how the fuck do u breathe on your own? Diind;t know people that stupid esist. Fuckign waste of sperm, go run into a knife, ur useless. Im gonna repost this on The Line Begins to Blur, Beside You in Time, and Right Where ti Belongs, which are three sperate philosphies linked together.

    Lies.on June 09, 2007   Link

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