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.
So you were late
But you never told me you were
You didn't want to say
Till you were sure
But that song and dance
Won't work no more
Because you got no rhythm
To save your soul
I don't care how much it hurts
So you can tell it
To the Roman Catholic Church
I don't run away
From my mistakes
But this is one, honey,
That I didn't make
And I can't catch you
And I can't get you
But I can't let you catch me
Oh no, you can't catch me
And you never will
So you can plant black roses
In your window sill
I'll be free
And you'll be suicidal
While you press black roses
In your family Bible
So now it's all
Left up to your discretion
And you can spill your guts
In your next confession
Lift your eyes up to the sky
Give 'em ten Hail Marys
For one white lie
Your mother always said
I would bring you down
If she could only see you now
Clinging tight to your rosary
Saying, "This wasn't how
It was supposed to be . . ."
Forget about a snow-white
Wedding gown
And you can toss black roses
In a hole in the ground
Roses are red, roses are black
Tell your mother what you did
And give her a heart attack
Someday when I'm cold and dead
You're gonna find black roses
By your hospital bed
But you never told me you were
You didn't want to say
Till you were sure
But that song and dance
Won't work no more
Because you got no rhythm
To save your soul
I don't care how much it hurts
So you can tell it
To the Roman Catholic Church
I don't run away
From my mistakes
But this is one, honey,
That I didn't make
And I can't catch you
And I can't get you
But I can't let you catch me
Oh no, you can't catch me
And you never will
So you can plant black roses
In your window sill
I'll be free
And you'll be suicidal
While you press black roses
In your family Bible
So now it's all
Left up to your discretion
And you can spill your guts
In your next confession
Lift your eyes up to the sky
Give 'em ten Hail Marys
For one white lie
Your mother always said
I would bring you down
If she could only see you now
Clinging tight to your rosary
Saying, "This wasn't how
It was supposed to be . . ."
Forget about a snow-white
Wedding gown
And you can toss black roses
In a hole in the ground
Roses are red, roses are black
Tell your mother what you did
And give her a heart attack
Someday when I'm cold and dead
You're gonna find black roses
By your hospital bed
Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings
Black Roses Lyrics as written by J. Barron D. Thompson
Lyrics © BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Sounds to me like this song is a woman getting pregnant and not telling her boyfriend about it until well into the pregnancy. He wants her to get an abortion. I'm not sure if she does or not, to be honest, but he leaves her either way.
The eponymous black roses might be a reference to the fat that she did get an abortion in spite of her Catholic upbringing, or to the argument that they had over it when she resisted.
Lines like "you can't catch me and you never will" are obviously referring to the man refusing to raise a child or pay child support.