In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
Sifting through the ashes
With unsteady hands
Searching for the remnants
Of a broken man
A history of hollow lives
And low ideals
A backlog of wrongdoing
We never conceal
I rise to my feet
And walk away from the dross
Towards the doorway
Of our mutual and harrowing loss
The only way I know
To shake myself of this curse
Is to bring myself to something
That is measurably worse
CHORUS
I sought refuge in a house on fire
I took shelter in a wall of flame
I built a prison in my own subconscious
There's nothing else left
Nothing else left to blame.
Emerging from the wreckage
Of a life that once was
Confounded by the damage
My own psyche does
I bear the scars
Of an insufferable will
And the tyrannical reign
it threatens to instill
Some seek control
By grabbing hold of their lives
In a futile attempt
To help themselves survive
I dig myself
Into a much deeper hole
Running from a fate
That I can never control
(Chorus)
I woke up
In a column of ash
While the world came down
In a horrible crash
I was naive
For ever wanting this much
Using self-deception
As my only crutch
Footsteps diverge
From the path they once walked
Words are eclipsed
By the language they talked
Actions betrayed
By promises broken
Flames consume intentions
Best left unspoken
(Chorus)
With unsteady hands
Searching for the remnants
Of a broken man
A history of hollow lives
And low ideals
A backlog of wrongdoing
We never conceal
I rise to my feet
And walk away from the dross
Towards the doorway
Of our mutual and harrowing loss
The only way I know
To shake myself of this curse
Is to bring myself to something
That is measurably worse
CHORUS
I sought refuge in a house on fire
I took shelter in a wall of flame
I built a prison in my own subconscious
There's nothing else left
Nothing else left to blame.
Emerging from the wreckage
Of a life that once was
Confounded by the damage
My own psyche does
I bear the scars
Of an insufferable will
And the tyrannical reign
it threatens to instill
Some seek control
By grabbing hold of their lives
In a futile attempt
To help themselves survive
I dig myself
Into a much deeper hole
Running from a fate
That I can never control
(Chorus)
I woke up
In a column of ash
While the world came down
In a horrible crash
I was naive
For ever wanting this much
Using self-deception
As my only crutch
Footsteps diverge
From the path they once walked
Words are eclipsed
By the language they talked
Actions betrayed
By promises broken
Flames consume intentions
Best left unspoken
(Chorus)
Lyrics submitted by gasmask
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The subject of this song has "built a prison in [his] own subconscious." He has turned in on himself, torturing himself in self-doubt and existentialism. The fast beat only serves to show the madness that comes with this kind of suffering.
"Some seek control By grabbing hold of their lives In a futile attempt To help themselves survive"
Existentialism and a "carpe diem" sort of thinking may not be able to help everything, but I think they do a great deal to make you happier and allow you to live a fuller, healthier life. That has certainly been my experience, at least. So I'm not sure what is meant by that all being "a futile attempt". Existentialism can't stop fate from hurting you, but it usually help you recover from the hit.
"I dig myself Into a much deeper hole Running from a fate That I can never control"
So I'm not sure what Damocles means, in saying the subject of the song is "torturing himself in self-doubt and existentialism", because it appears to me that the subject of the song does not live or think in existentialist terms. I may just have a poor understanding of existentialist philosophy, though. I've always related the way I think to existentialism, and my system provides for the world sometimes being an uncaring destroyer of people.
Cry of one who is trying to match his ideals with reality?<br /> <br /> "The only way I know<br /> To shake myself of this curse<br /> Is to bring myself to something<br /> That is measurably worse"<br /> <br /> <br /> This line makes me believe Tom is speaking about ideals, thoughts and perspectives we hold too. As many of us find out through our lives, some of our ideals don't match well with the real world and often can leave us bitter and scarred. Yet, we often cling to them because view the alternative of astronomically worse.