This song is basically about how one man's journey through life whilst constantly hammered with the decision of whether or not to follow Christianity (it may be another religion but due to the capitalization of "God" in the lyrics let's presume the religion is Christianity) leads him to insanity and eventually his own demise.
"Subdued and repressed; Coaxing, tugging, grinding; Step inside and taste the shackling thoughts that devour all confidence; Submerged, battered and numb" Basically what these parts are saying is that people are urging him to follow this one specific faith and all of this urging is grinding away at him. His confidence in his beliefs is devoured by uncertainty, because those surrounding him continuously pound Christianity into his mind. "A son of the vortex in faceless progress," could be referring to Jesus, who Christians believe to be the son of God. "So elevated So God," is probably refering to the Christian bigots who are pounding all of this into his head, because bigots are people who think of themselves as high and mighty and holier than thou as clintmman 47 said. "Refit this vessel of confusion to bring the eloquence of the mute; Incorporate this forfeit cause, assimilate and fake it mine; Their eyes fixed in the distance, default to conform to the new." The man is being brainwashed by the bigots and he pretends to refine his belief system and become part of the faith while remaining silent about what he truly believes. Meanwhile, all of the other Christians fix their eyes in the distance, probably on a pastor, and default to conform themselves to whatever words he speaks in a sermon. The entire second part of the song (They animate me - complete in my diversity) is about how the man was saved by God when he renewed his faith. "I bow my head and taste the lies that I'm fed, all to claim my reward" is apparently about how a prayer of accepting Jesus as the savior of mankind leads to the reward of eternal life. Master and servant obviously means a God and a mortal. One for all and all for none probably means that everyone who has this religion practices it in vain. "Ignorant to the distant hymns of chaos, the progressive stand before me." The first part of this implies that the Christians are unable to empathize with those suffering in the world. The second part can be broken into two pieces, progressive which means that the church wants to help the needy, and stand which means staying still and not progressing in issues such as the rights of homosexuals. "Ripples race across my eyes; breaking out in acid sweat; disintegration of my inner self," indicates the man beginning to feel the effects of the neurotica brought on by the intense pressure inflicted on him through religious repression. "Wills shrivel and crack; Stillborn soul shaped and molded; A borrowed talent filled with copied goals." The person's will is not clear to him, and any of the essence of this will that remains his own has been killed because God's and the religious community;s suppressing of him has shaped and molded it. He now shares the same goals as all the other followers of the faith: to obey the laws of the Lord and such. "A shed shell of a being of disgust; done is the cleansing; complete is the surgery of the soul." This entire phrase is a way of describing baptism (the word cleansing indicates water), as well as confession which is a practice in the Catholic branch of Christianity. It is also very interesting to note that the words "Surgery Of the Soul" are an anagram for S.O.S. which is a well known call for help which stands for "Save our Souls." Realizing I'm lost again refers to the confusion and insanity of his will in terms of what he actually believes. "Being no more than a mutt with a fake pedigree." The man's purity is false and he is living in hypocrisy because although he claims to be a Christian, he is still a sinner. "I can live an eternity in a minute's time." Eventually the man will renounce his faith, but this is a sign that he will eventually do this because the line seems to indicate the embracing of Epicureanism; living life to the fullest. "The carcass of hope lies dead beneath the fabric of dreams." This essentially means that what he wanted to be was killed and buried within his dreams by his destroyed will. "Facing the truth within the mirror of souls." The presence of a mirror means there must be a reflection, so the man could be reflecting on the truth of what he has been told to believe. "Haha this is what I've become; Just a mindscape fit for illusion to make fear into reign and fulfillment of pain." This shows the man finally accepting the existence of what Christians believe to be merely an illusion. "Always been in this emancipated state," is what the speaker says about his past of being trapped by religion. "Kneeling in perm; the minions of the inside claim me." In finality, the inner being inside claims the man's soul. "Re-animate me cause I was once alive; defeat smears out my focus; consciousness subsides; unmovitated" He has died after having renounced his faith that had caused him so much mental agony, and he is defeated because now it is too late to try and regain this faith. Therefore he sees no purpose in trying to escape his impending doom. "Beheld by scorching eyes; infinity stares back at me; the surging darkness coils to strike." The scorching eyes mentioned are the eyes of Satan watching the man as he plummets downward into the infinite depths of hell. The word coils was used because a snake is one of the symbols of evil and Satan, and these dark coils eternally torture the man who renounced the Christian faith which he believed to be false.
So anyway that was the meaning I got for this. It is also interesting that this is one of the few songs by Meshuggah for which the lyrics were written by their rhythm guitarist, Marten Hagstrom, instead of their drummer, Tomas Haake, who usually writes the lyrics. In an interview, Marten once stated that he is "allergic to conformity." Since religion is about conforming one's belief system, and much of the lyrics are written in first person, I think Marten might have actually been referring to himself as the person in the lyrics. Except for the part about dying and falling into hell, of course, because Marten Hagstrom is still alive. |
