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.
So afraid
To open your eyes
You know too well
That which awaits you
Something undefined
There in the halflight
The demon without
The demon inside
To plague and torment you
Feeling so sure
Feeling so uncertain
Something is wrong
Everyone's gone
You have been left behind
Everyone left the demon inside
Do you still hear the laughter
So hard to describe
And never forget
Faces that haunt you
Awake or asleep
I know you can't tell
Unable to sleep
Unable to fight
Unwilling to wake
To open your eyes
Face your oppressor
Sill you go on
Convinced it will end
Can you remember
A day when it was not
Not like this
Unsure of yourself
Unsure of your thoughts
Unable to know
Of what you think is right or wrong
Still you go on
Convinced it will end
But someone pushes
A blade through your mind
There on the edge
No one will find you
So hearing them laugh
No light at the end for you
Why is everything wrong
Here I am
Here I am
With these words
Trying to say
Something I can't
Something I can't tell you
Nothing is wrong
The demons they have left you
You were not left behind
You were not left behind
So open your eyes
So open your eyes
Unable to sleep
Unable to fight
Unwilling to wake
Please open your eyes
Here I stand
Unable to tell you
I'm trying to say
Nothing is wrong
Please open your eyes
Nothing is wrong
You were not left behind
To open your eyes
You know too well
That which awaits you
Something undefined
There in the halflight
The demon without
The demon inside
To plague and torment you
Feeling so sure
Feeling so uncertain
Something is wrong
Everyone's gone
You have been left behind
Everyone left the demon inside
Do you still hear the laughter
So hard to describe
And never forget
Faces that haunt you
Awake or asleep
I know you can't tell
Unable to sleep
Unable to fight
Unwilling to wake
To open your eyes
Face your oppressor
Sill you go on
Convinced it will end
Can you remember
A day when it was not
Not like this
Unsure of yourself
Unsure of your thoughts
Unable to know
Of what you think is right or wrong
Still you go on
Convinced it will end
But someone pushes
A blade through your mind
There on the edge
No one will find you
So hearing them laugh
No light at the end for you
Why is everything wrong
Here I am
Here I am
With these words
Trying to say
Something I can't
Something I can't tell you
Nothing is wrong
The demons they have left you
You were not left behind
You were not left behind
So open your eyes
So open your eyes
Unable to sleep
Unable to fight
Unwilling to wake
Please open your eyes
Here I stand
Unable to tell you
I'm trying to say
Nothing is wrong
Please open your eyes
Nothing is wrong
You were not left behind
Lyrics submitted by EagleSword
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I love this song. Thank you VNV Nation.
This song has such power... it is so... so... so... wonderful. Why aren't these great songs on the radio?!
I feel this is a direct response to forsaken, like the person who is sung about being gone in forsaken is talking back in response.
this is so beautiful..the lyrics are amazing..
the melancholy that this song brings to your heart cannot be described. it breaks your soul, it tears you apart just to leave you with a sweat tear of serenity on your face..
-There in the halflight The demon without The demon inside To play then torment you Feelings so sure Feelings so uncertain Something is wrong Everyone's gone You have been left behind -
the melancholy that this song brings to your heart cannot be described. it breaks your soul, it tears you apart just to leave you with a sweat tear of serenity on your face..
-There in the halflight The demon without The demon inside To play then torment you Feelings so sure Feelings so uncertain Something is wrong Everyone's gone You have been left behind -
First of all, DolesPshycho asked why these songs arent played on the radio? Well I dont knwo where youre from, or what radio is like there, but i know that the radio I have been exposed to is nothing but "teeny bopper" and "poser" garbage. VNV doesnt fit into either of those categories. Their music, as well as their lyrics require comprehension of a number of things... Ranging from Religion to death, to history, love, hatred... Subjects that are barely even expressed in "pop" music nowadays. Its all sugar coated or dripping with a feigned understanding of the human psyche and soul. VNV has a strong grasp of what makes us who we are. Asks the questions within. Makes valid and thought provoking points, while setting it to a pulse-beat that one could very easily get lost in. VNV is a category unto itself, and can be compared to little or no other... This song in particular, though without the throbbing beat one might associate with them, has a lot of meaning for me. A lot of people hear songs and think "wow I can relate to that". However this is the apitimy of that statement in my case. Its potency and reality strikes a fine chord within me that actually gives me goosebumps... Many of their lyrics have such an effect on me... But this song immediately consumed me with a reflection of myself.
~D~
This song has opened the flood gates on my built up emotion. The first 3 paragraphs are about somone looking in upon themselves, with a complete feeling of lonelyness, like every has left them, and only there demons remain. 'Unable to know; Of what you think is; right or wrong; Still you go on; Convinced it will end'
Then the last paragraph is somone else looking upon the person, trying to tell them that there here, theres nothing wrong, that they havnt been left behind.
Ive had this song on loop for half an hour now, and havnt stopped crying...
I think it's a complex song but a simple meaning in the end: Don't cry, open your eyes, look around you, the world's still here and the past is past. Give yourself a another chance and I will, too.
This song always gives me a vision of what it would be like after surviving a nuclear bomb. All of society gone and all you have is to move forward trying to find others without breaking down from the burden of all that you have lost