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.
You come out at night
That's when the energy comes
And the dark side's light
And the vampires roam
You strut your rasta wear
And your suicide poem
And a cross from a faith that died
Before Jesus came
You're building a mystery
You live in a church
Where you sleep with voodoo dolls
And you won't give up the search
For the ghosts in the halls
You wear sandals in the snow
And a smile that won't wash away
Can you look out the window
Without your shadow getting in the way?
You're so beautiful
With an edge and charm
But so careful
When I'm in your arms
'Cause you're working
Building a mystery
Holding on and holding it in
Yeah you're working
Building a mystery
And choosing so carefully
You woke up screaming aloud
A prayer from your secret God
You feed off our fears
And hold back your tears, oh
Give us a tantrum
And a know-it-all grin
Just when we need one
When the evening's thin
You're a beautiful
A beautiful fucked up man
You're setting up your
Razor wire shrine
'Cause you're working
Building a mystery
Holding on and holding it in
Yeah, you're working
Building a mystery
And choosing so carefully
Ooh, you're working
Building a mystery
Holding on and holding it in
Yeah you're working
Building a mystery
And choosing so carefully
Yeah, you're working
Building a mystery
Holding on and holding it in
Oh, yeah, you're working
Building a mystery
And choosing so carefully
You're building a mystery
That's when the energy comes
And the dark side's light
And the vampires roam
You strut your rasta wear
And your suicide poem
And a cross from a faith that died
Before Jesus came
You're building a mystery
You live in a church
Where you sleep with voodoo dolls
And you won't give up the search
For the ghosts in the halls
You wear sandals in the snow
And a smile that won't wash away
Can you look out the window
Without your shadow getting in the way?
You're so beautiful
With an edge and charm
But so careful
When I'm in your arms
'Cause you're working
Building a mystery
Holding on and holding it in
Yeah you're working
Building a mystery
And choosing so carefully
You woke up screaming aloud
A prayer from your secret God
You feed off our fears
And hold back your tears, oh
Give us a tantrum
And a know-it-all grin
Just when we need one
When the evening's thin
You're a beautiful
A beautiful fucked up man
You're setting up your
Razor wire shrine
'Cause you're working
Building a mystery
Holding on and holding it in
Yeah, you're working
Building a mystery
And choosing so carefully
Ooh, you're working
Building a mystery
Holding on and holding it in
Yeah you're working
Building a mystery
And choosing so carefully
Yeah, you're working
Building a mystery
Holding on and holding it in
Oh, yeah, you're working
Building a mystery
And choosing so carefully
You're building a mystery
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Fantastic song from the peerless Sarah McLachlan.
I took the song as to be about facades. "Wear sandals in the snow/Smile that won't wash away" evidence a superficiality to an absurd degree. On one hand the man dons "Rasta wear" (invoking carefree hippy culture) and "Struts a suicide poem" (a will to express existential crisis). In the song the man's greatest struggle is to maintain the facade but reality shows through at times so he prevents an air of confusion hence the "mystery" he builds onto with his lies and unavoidable truths.<br /> <br /> The "window" is a representation of how others see him. The mans inner conflicts "cast a shadow" or block how others truly perceive him and his perceptions of them. The conflicts is between the image the man wishes to present vs the man that really shows. I think the concluding lines are perhaps intending to say with a facetious air: "You really you know everything... Oh, you're a beautiful one. You f***ed up man.". up man Externally, the mystery remains "Who are you really?" internally the question is "Have I forgotten who I am?". <br /> <br /> <br />