I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Stop! Because I know just what you're doing.
I've encoded all the lines of encryption I've been fed.
Stop! Your fucking superpowers aren't working.
I won't suck you off to get something I want, I'll just give up instead.
So please stop thinking for me.
Start looking out for me.
And just because I'm paranoid
Don't mean that your not after me.
You: Awash in a sea of pretention.
You've got names to drop and bands to cash in on in your hip underground.
Me: Apparently music is none of my business.
Aesthetic disease and enemies in high places to keep me down.
So please stop thinking for me.
Start looking out for me.
And just because I'm paranoid
Don't mean that your not after me.
I was never on the team
So don't try to play ball with me.
DO YOU REALLY THINK I GIVE TWO SHITS WHAT YOU THINK
IS BEST FOR ME AND MY CAREER?
because I don't.
Try to ignore me, but I'll be that scare that won't go away.
Turn down the horns, or you can't be emotional
Scream: YEAH! (NO!) My demeanor's inexplicable
Because the moment you expose your boredom, we become expendable
So I'll defy your scene where every band is interchangeable
Rush to claim ideas bled dry as your own
Understand I'm doing something different because I'm capable
I do it cause I like it, and I like it 'cause you don't.
Shut your mouth about it.
No one wants to hear about it.
If music's an artistic statement
You don't have to speak for it and
I was never on the team
So don't try to play ball with me and
DON'T THINK I GIVE TWO SHITS WHAT YOU THINK
IS BEST FOR ME AND MY CAREER.
BECAUSE I DON'T.
I've encoded all the lines of encryption I've been fed.
Stop! Your fucking superpowers aren't working.
I won't suck you off to get something I want, I'll just give up instead.
So please stop thinking for me.
Start looking out for me.
And just because I'm paranoid
Don't mean that your not after me.
You: Awash in a sea of pretention.
You've got names to drop and bands to cash in on in your hip underground.
Me: Apparently music is none of my business.
Aesthetic disease and enemies in high places to keep me down.
So please stop thinking for me.
Start looking out for me.
And just because I'm paranoid
Don't mean that your not after me.
I was never on the team
So don't try to play ball with me.
DO YOU REALLY THINK I GIVE TWO SHITS WHAT YOU THINK
IS BEST FOR ME AND MY CAREER?
because I don't.
Try to ignore me, but I'll be that scare that won't go away.
Turn down the horns, or you can't be emotional
Scream: YEAH! (NO!) My demeanor's inexplicable
Because the moment you expose your boredom, we become expendable
So I'll defy your scene where every band is interchangeable
Rush to claim ideas bled dry as your own
Understand I'm doing something different because I'm capable
I do it cause I like it, and I like it 'cause you don't.
Shut your mouth about it.
No one wants to hear about it.
If music's an artistic statement
You don't have to speak for it and
I was never on the team
So don't try to play ball with me and
DON'T THINK I GIVE TWO SHITS WHAT YOU THINK
IS BEST FOR ME AND MY CAREER.
BECAUSE I DON'T.
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"Give me hope in silence It's easier, it's kinder"
He doesn't wish for his love to talk about the troubles they're facing; it's just easier to pretend that everything is fine.
"Tell me not of heartbreak It plagues my soul, it plagues my soul"
He just doesn't want to talk of heartbreak because if causes him pain facing the reality of the situation they're in.
"And bury me beside you I have no hope in solitude"
He just wants to be with her; he knows that without her he wouldn't be happy.
"And the world will follow To the earth down below"
I think that this part is basically saying that the world it's self will not matter anymore because it will "follow to the earth down below"; where he's "buried" beside her.
"But I came and I was nothing Time will give us nothing"
I think this part is explaining that he has a low ranking in society, and if she stays with him it won't change his status because he will still be considered "nothing".
"So why did you choose to lean on A man you knew was falling?"
He saying that she is just setting herself up for heartbreak because he isn't worthy of her, and that ultimately they can't be together.
Well, I'm not sure if that's totally right but I feel like I'm on the right track, haha. But besides that, I just love this song - Mumford and Son's are amazing.