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.
Was that somebody screaming
It wasn't me for sure
I lift my head up from uneasy
Pillows
Put my feet on the floor
Cut my wrist on a bad thought
And head for the door
Outside on the pavement
The dark makes no noise
I can feel the sweat on my lips
Leaking into my mouth
I'm heading out for the steep hills
They're leaving me no choice
And see, as our lives are in the making
We believe through the lies and the hating
That love goes free
For want of an option
I run the wind 'round
I dream pictures of houses burning
Never knowing nothing else to do
With death comes the morning
Unannounced and new
Was it too much to ask for
To pull a little weight,
They forgive anything but greatness
These are scoundrel days
And I'm close to calling out their names
As pride hits my face
See, as our lives are in the making
We believe through their lies and the hating
That love goes free through
Scoundrel days
I reach the edge of town
I've got blood in my hair
Their hands touch my body
From everywhere
But I know that I've made it
As I run into the air
And see, as our lives are in the making
We believe through the lies and the hating
That love goes free
Through scoundrel days
It wasn't me for sure
I lift my head up from uneasy
Pillows
Put my feet on the floor
Cut my wrist on a bad thought
And head for the door
Outside on the pavement
The dark makes no noise
I can feel the sweat on my lips
Leaking into my mouth
I'm heading out for the steep hills
They're leaving me no choice
And see, as our lives are in the making
We believe through the lies and the hating
That love goes free
For want of an option
I run the wind 'round
I dream pictures of houses burning
Never knowing nothing else to do
With death comes the morning
Unannounced and new
Was it too much to ask for
To pull a little weight,
They forgive anything but greatness
These are scoundrel days
And I'm close to calling out their names
As pride hits my face
See, as our lives are in the making
We believe through their lies and the hating
That love goes free through
Scoundrel days
I reach the edge of town
I've got blood in my hair
Their hands touch my body
From everywhere
But I know that I've made it
As I run into the air
And see, as our lives are in the making
We believe through the lies and the hating
That love goes free
Through scoundrel days
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Great version of a great song,
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I think that this song is very confusing... It's very metaphorical without anyone knowing what the metaphors mean exactly. The lyrics could be about suicide but I tend to doubt it, its not really A-Ha's style... I personally think it is just about escaping a very bad place.
Beautiful song though... very deep and haunting. Another winner for A-Ha.
@sarge331 I agree it's deeply haunting though I think the lyrics are rather more literal than metaphorical. The lyrics mingle past and present through trauma flashbacks (I've got blood in my hair/Their hands touch my body From everywhere) vs. the existing shattered psychological state of the person (waking up from nightmares, willfully or unwillfully contemplating suicide to escape the pain). The only metaphors I've deduced are when he compares his psychological death and rebirth as a shattered individual to the image of houses burning, death, and the rise of a new morning. In my interpretation, I had indicated that his trauma could've stemmed from abuse in the industry but, on second thoughts, I believe it may equally apply to trauma that he might have encountered long before that (possibly in his childhood/adolescence - depends on how one interprets the term "lives" in "As our lives are in the making") - i.e (childhood/adolescence vs. professional musical career debut). Either way, the lyrics reveal a very troubled individual who's constantly haunted by his trauma and is forced to feign a very different public persona of himself as an artist to an unforgiving audience.
@sarge331 The Blood that moves the body has a very similar writing style though.