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Thrice – Image of the Invisible Lyrics 11 years ago
These are reasons that make me believe that the "we" is a group of unspecified religious persons. This is just my opinion, feel free to agree or disagree:

"We're more than carbon and chemicals"
//Describing humans as carbon and chemicals is commonly used by hard-core atheists, evolutionists, and naturalists. In this line, Dustin implies that there is more than the material aspects of humans. There is a spirit (as is described in the album).

"We are the image of the invisible"
// This part is pretty obvious to me. Who is the invisible? This is heavily implied to be God, or some sort of deity. I will further my point in the next line. (This line, as I have seen, has been avoided in other interpretations that disagree that this is about religion).

"We're emblematic of the unknown"
//In other words, we are representative of this unknown, invisible deity. This is another line besides the chorus line that implies that we are made in this invisible deity's image, most likely a God like figure.

"Though shadow overtake us, we are known"
//I've read some posts which make the argument that the song is about social outcasts. I find myself disagreeing because of this line (and the also because of the previous two). I don't believe that Dustin would describe social outcasts as the blinding light of goodness, and those who are a bit higher in the social hierarchy as the servants of Lucifer (we are all sinners, aren't we?). When you make a metaphor that describes being overtaken by the shadow, it is implied that this is a battle of good and evil (religion against the progressive tide?), not a battle of social outcasts.

"Though all the world may hate us, we are named"
//Although this line could be used to argue for the social outcast outlook, this is very similar to what Jesus once said: "All of the world will hate you because of my name."

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Thrice – Image of the Invisible Lyrics 11 years ago
In a progressive society centered around the destruction of religion (e.g. today). Also, in its earliest days, most of the disciples of Jesus were killed under Roman persecution. Christians were also killed in the middle east during certain time periods and rulers. And in communist china. And in soviet Russia.

There are many periods (not to mention today's generation) that are happily willing to destroy, not just Christianity, but any monotheistic religion. If you are only thinking about Christopher Columbus and the colonization of Africa and America, those decisions to influence or hurt the population were directed by politics, economics, and certain rulers, not religion itself.

Today is the era where Christianity is the cull. The affordable care act forces christian company owners and hospitals to fund abortions and contraception, despite the Constitution's right to freedom of religion. Moreover, society has degraded from any christian morals that had existed over 60 years ago. Booty shorts. Abortion. The rejection of a proper family unit. Miley Cyrus.The list goes on. Use a more open mind next time you post a comment, there is much more to the world than just christian stereo-types ;) .

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Thrice – The Artist in the Ambulance Lyrics 12 years ago
Well said sir!

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Thrice – To What End Lyrics 12 years ago
Its not that he's an atheist deep down, but rather, he asks him "to what end to we procceed?" He is challenging the atheists statement that we are nothing but matter. He asks, "Well, if we are just chemical reactions, then what about all the books? poems? poetry, dreams??? are they all simply inspired by matter? Are you saying that THOSE are worthless?"

To sum it up, he is not succumbing to atheist theology, but rather challenging it.

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Thrice – Where Idols Once Stood Lyrics 12 years ago
Well, I agree that as children, Washington and the gang did look more badass, but your final sentence is a little insensitive. The American revolution was nothing like the French or Russian revolution because it was not about economics or social equality. Rather, to put it as Jefferson said it, "The revolution begins in the mind of the people". In other words, the American revolution was a political revolutionl; idealistic, if you'd like. The founders thought that there was so much more freedom to be gained than what was offered: and look how right they are.

So don't give in to the "they cried about taxes" perspective, for that right there is the social conditioning that brain washes us into believing that our revolution was stupid. Stay strong comrade :)

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Thrice – Weight Of Glory Lyrics 12 years ago
If anyone remembers their bible readings properly, the scene with the girl and the line "The one who has not sin should throw a stone" is from the part where Jesus saves an adulteress from a stoning. He asks anyone in the crowd to throw the stone if they had not sinned once in their life. Realizing their own faults, and garnering some form of humility, the crowd left the girl.
John 8:7

I'm also sure that there is a connection to C.S. Lewis's Sermon :) .

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Thrice – Doublespeak Lyrics 12 years ago
Obviously political.

"I don't want to know who really pulls the strings
Just as long as it's not you or me"

"I keep my toes on the party line"

These two lines show a bit of flesh about the song. Its about conspiracy and ignorance.

I know that Thrice, has been known for their moral and religous references (which I very well enjoy), but they are also known for their songs about conspiracy, such as "Paper tiger" "Broken lungs" "the sky is falling" etc. So this song is obviously about being afraid to find out what is the source of corruption or issues; of letting go of things we know that are wrong in society and letting someone else handle the problem. Unfortunately, we are all "someone else" to someone else, and so letting the power fall in the hands of the few is dangerous.

Some people have mentioned George Orwell's "1984" which is a great interpretation (I'm going to read the book soon, can't wait).


Thats my bit.

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Thrice – All The World Is Mad Lyrics 12 years ago
Hahaha! Thats what I was thinking! :D

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Thrice – Stand And Feel Your Worth Lyrics 12 years ago
I'm not sure if anyone has noticed, but this song also makes references to the four elements from Alchemy index.

Perhaps the meanings are connected/related?

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Thrice – Like Moths To Flame Lyrics 12 years ago
Ok, peter's betrayal is probably right. I just read the song now for the second time and I was thinking Judas... but then again, remembering some readings, Judas's faith was never as strong as the other appostles (no **** lol), but yeah, it would make sense for the song to be about Peter's betrayal.

Thanks for clearing that up!

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Thrice – Of Dust And Nations Lyrics 12 years ago
These songs relate to the big picture in life. For christians, we find that meaning in the bible. For Muslims, the Quran. For aetheists, Darwin, Niche, and the rest. Notice how I didn't call Darwin or Niche a "douche-bag" or their writings "bitch-books".

Instead, I want to point out to you that people look for big life interpretations from where we come from, and the things that tell us how to live the better life. Hence, the Bible, the Quron, and for you aetheists, your progressive leaders.

Keep to yourself. No one is forcing you to do anything. People share ideas. Maybe you should open your mind too; you might just learn something that will help you along your path. Now provide something insightful and civilized, or gtfo.

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Thrice – For Miles Lyrics 12 years ago
Read John 15 of the bible (mainly lines 15-25), then you will have a better understanding of the song.

My interpretation: as God made us friends, not servants, we are to put ourselves in the shoes that Jesus himself were in: to be presecuted, and to be hated. Jesus died for us; not let us for him. Thats what I think the message gets outs in the end.

But of course, I feel that their are multiple messages to be pulled out of this song, just like the rest of Thrice's song. For instance, to share our stories and pains with friends and to receive their comfort, and then to help them in turn is also something you could pull out. There are many more.

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Thrice – Atlantic Lyrics 12 years ago
I've given consideration about this being a love song between the narrator and his love and all...

but then, someone explain to me how these lyrics fit into a love song:

"And tin cans and string for years
Is all that we've known"

I haven't finished with my interpretation, but perhaps you may want to take this into consideration before outright saying "its a love song".

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Thrice – The Earth Will Shake Lyrics 12 years ago
Check out Act 16:25-31 of the bible. Its probably where the song was inspired from.

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Thrice – The Earth Will Shake Lyrics 12 years ago
Close, but not on the mark :P

Try Act 16:25-31 (as papersun mentioned):

"And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God, and the prisoners heard them.
And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s bands were loosed."

source: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%2016%20&version=KJ21

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Thrice – The Melting Point of Wax Lyrics 12 years ago
The only inaccuracy is that Daedalus didn't die. Only Icarus died. Daedalus survived the trip, and in Sicily, built a shrine to Apollo, the sun God. He did this because he was sorry that he gave his son the power of the Gods; Apollo had punished Daedalus by killing his son (which was by melting the wax that forged his wings).

The morale varies. You can pull multiple ones out of this:

Listen to your elders
Do not try to be God
Do not set goals you cannot reach (where Icarus's death is a metaphore for the depression that comes with failing to reach a goal).

There are many more that can be interpreted. Just find the story yourself, and find out.

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Thrice – The Lion and the Wolf Lyrics 12 years ago
@cloakuncloak

Lol nice interpretation! I agree with the political message you pulled out of it, and it makes enough sense.

But I really think another interpretation that really stands out is this bible reference (you'll also see it else where in the comments), 1 Peter 5:8 and Matthew 7:15.

Both lines go together to set the theme of this songs. The wolf, who tempts us and tricks us, "lets the lion run through the door. The lion, of course, is sin itself.

Here are some links so you can see the passages.

Matthew 7:15 :
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%207:15-20&version=KJ21

1 Peter 5:8:
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Peter%205:8&version=KJ21

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Thrice – The Lion and the Wolf Lyrics 12 years ago
Good catch there on finding Matthew 7:15, it really compliments Peter 5:8-11. Now the song peices together ever more so!

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Thrice – Child of Dust Lyrics 12 years ago
Notes (for general information):

Corinthians 15:36

Look, fool! When you put a seed into the ground, it doesn’t come back to life unless it dies.

http://www.biblegateway.com/verse/en/1%20Corinthians%2015%3A36

Thrice's lyric

"For every seed must die before it grows."

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Thrice – The Lion and the Wolf Lyrics 12 years ago
Look at these lines:

And both the wolf and lion crave
The same thing in the end

I don't think they coincide with your statement. I'm not sure what to make of it though.

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Thrice – Silver Wings Lyrics 12 years ago
Btw, here is my sorta kind of interpretation :D

@ Mc Scratchnsniff

Have you ever looked at it like this? :

I will explain to you why it is possible that their is lots of room for religious interpretation:

The fire albumn actually does makes references to God. Have you listened to "Firebreather"? Its about people being persecuted for believing in God/the Truth/ whatever higher entity you believe in. In the water albumn, "Digital Sea" goes on to talk about those who have betrayed God, and how they drown in an unforgiving, dark water for their sins. Now here we are in the air albumn where "Silver Wings" could be talking about the rejection of God despite his gifts.

And I assure you friend, if you looked hard enough, you will find even more religious allegories. Try "Backdraft" once you've listened to the other previously mentioned songs.

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Thrice – Silver Wings Lyrics 12 years ago
Have you ever looked at it like this? :

The fire albumn actually does makes references to God. Have you listened to "Firebreather"? Its about people being persecuted for believing in God/the Truth/ whatever higher entity you believe in. In the water albumn, Digital Sea goes on to talk about those who have betrayed God, and how they drown in an unforgiving, dark water for their sins. Now here we are in the air albumn where silver wings could be talking about the rejection of God despite his gifts.

And I assure you friend, if you looked hard enough, you will find even more religious allegories. Try "Backdraft" once you've listened to the other previously mentioned songs.

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Thrice – Silver Wings Lyrics 12 years ago
When changing perspective, the alchemy index is multi-layered. Some of the songs could easily be talking about God. Or the element.

Or how about this: both.

Neither is wrong. Both are right. So stop chewing at eachother's feet and enjoy the songs! Post what you think without suppressing someone elses comment.

And if you really disagree with someone, start a civilized arguement instead of whining about how Christian or how stupid the comment is.
Ask "Have you ever though about.... Have you looked at it this way..." and then provide some facts/evidence.

Hopefully I will be able to read the comment section again without the garbage ;)

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Thrice – The Whaler Lyrics 12 years ago
Interesting note:

Other songs in the albumn have described the "Rising of the sea" as the flood that would destroy mankind (a metaphor to our sins).

Now, the water rises from the "two tiny seas in his waters eyes"
What a beautiful contrast... I don't know if it is significant or not, but the contrast really moved me.

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Thrice – Digital Sea Lyrics 12 years ago
The song is about the regret of leaving God.

I think that the sound is explanatory enough. Here is some evidence for my thesis:

1. A man shouts out "God, what have I done!"
2. "And I wept, but my tears are anathema here". An anathema is a formal curse of exile from the pope. In other words, his tears have been rejected by God because he has sinned without repentance.
3. "And the ghost of Descartes screams again in the dark
"Oh how could I have been so wrong?""
Descartes was a french mathmatician who rejected God later in his studies. Basically, Descartes felt that he knew so much about the world that God was but a figment of mankind's imagination. The song goes on to say that Descartes was indeed wrong, and he shouts "How could I have been so wrong?"

This song is almost like Dante's Inferno, but with a different element: Water.

Its brilliant! Swtiching the element of fire with water in Dante's Inferno! Its gives a whole new feeling to being seperated from God: Lost and lonely forever. Very creative.

Also, I think that this could be the flood in the tale of Noah and the Arc, or maybe a second flood. The people drowning are those who betrayed God.

So, in my opinion, its a play on the second flood after Noah's flood, or it is a reversal of elements in Dante's inferno.

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Thrice – Digital Sea Lyrics 12 years ago
Oh forgot, the defenition of Anathema is (dictionary definition):

1. a formal curse by a pope or a council of the Church, excommunicating a person or denouncing a doctrine.
2. something or someone that one vehemently dislikes.

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Thrice – Digital Sea Lyrics 12 years ago
It means his tears are unwanted in these dark waters. There is no one to comfort his regret.

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Thrice – Backdraft Lyrics 12 years ago
Well, for clarification...

The flame in the room is God/The Truth (whatever it is that you believe is true) that is being suffocated by man. Man believes that they are independent of God/The Truth.

Man is the one who opens the door. He is the one with "the jaded eyes", weary from enlightenment and rejection.

The house itself in which the flame is encased in is very symbolic! The house is home; and so, Man will always at one point return to it. Man will always return to "God" or "The Truth" because God/Truth lives at home; the house of God/Truth is forever entwined with Man.

Then, man will leave it in protest because of pride, and so the cycle continues and repeats. Thankyou Thrice, for such deep and meaningful songs!

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Thrice – The Red Death Lyrics 12 years ago
The song is practically a summary of edgar allan poe's "The Masque of the Red Death", hence not making the song a direct reference to christianity or even morals (Edgar Allan Poe never wrote his stories with didacticism).

Although I did notice one thing while reading the summary of the story.
The symptoms of the "Red Death" are two things:

Severe Anxiety
The Sweating of blood

Those two symptoms are the ones that Jesus had suffered when praying in the garden in the week previous to his crucification. It was the one moment where Jesus feared Death.Therefore, I believe Poe does indeed play a little with christianity in the story, even though it he does not explicitly mention it.

The idea of the story is that the Guests and Prospero himself (the Host of the party) fear the inevitable: death. So did Jesus during his time of grieviance.

By the way, this is not an interpretation of the song, just something I noted while reading a summary of the Red Death.

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Thrice – Don't Tell And We Won't Ask Lyrics 12 years ago
I went to listen.org, but I couldn't find the interview: do you think you could post a direct link or something?

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Thrice – Paper Tigers Lyrics 12 years ago
I think that this song isn't about 9/11 as others have stated.

Thrice has been known to be a religious band. So, what I did was connect the song with a reading from the gospels, which some of his songs do. In this case I believe that the song Paper Tigers is making a reference to Matthew 6: 1-18 in the gospel.
Here is the reading from Matthew:

"Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven."

The writing speaks of a hypocritical Jewish priest who made himself look virtuous in front of people. He obviously wasn't; if he was, he would not have had gone looking for the public to approve, for earthly judgement is not the same as Gods. That is what Matthew 6: 1-18 talks about.

Source: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew%206:1-18

Hence the name "Paper tiger". The term paper tiger refers to something that may look great, powerful, or virtuous, but is really weak or contradictory to what it may appear to be. Just like the Jewish priest mentioned in the Bibel.
Except in this case, the Paper Tiger is obviously not the Jews; it is the anti-religious.
Anti-religious propagandists make themselves appear poweful and moral, but inside, they are really out for the one thing that counts, that which the jewish priest was looking for:

Power.

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Thrice – Deadbolt Lyrics 12 years ago
I accidently hit the button twice sorry!

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Thrice – Deadbolt Lyrics 12 years ago
This song is based on proverb 9 of the bible. Here are the words of proverb 9:

"13 The woman named Folly is brash.
She is ignorant and doesn’t know it.
14 She sits in her doorway
on the heights overlooking the city.
15 She calls out to men going by
who are minding their own business.
16 “Come in with me,” she urges the simple.
To those who lack good judgment, she says,
17 “Stolen water is refreshing;
food eaten in secret tastes the best!”
18 But little do they know that the dead are there.
Her guests are in the depths of the grave.[a]"

If you compare the lyrics of the song to the proverb, its meaning is clear. Its not about a love affair (although I'm sure you could an affair as an allusion to the proverb), but it is about the never ending battle with temptation.

Source: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs+9&version=NLT

Extra notes:

The "true love" or lover (Stanza 5, line 2) is God calling out to the sinner. God is being personifed (I would say mortalized, but I'm just using proper figurative language terms) as the girl that the sinner really loves. This is most evident when God refers to Dustin as "darling" (Stanza 5, line 5).

Although "love" (Stanza 5 line 2) in the allusion represents the love for his real girl, the one that he would truely be happy with, the non-allusion's version of "love" is that of the love for God.

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Thrice – Deadbolt Lyrics 12 years ago
This song is based on proverb 9 of the bible. Here are the words of proverb 9:

"13 The woman named Folly is brash.
She is ignorant and doesn’t know it.
14 She sits in her doorway
on the heights overlooking the city.
15 She calls out to men going by
who are minding their own business.
16 “Come in with me,” she urges the simple.
To those who lack good judgment, she says,
17 “Stolen water is refreshing;
food eaten in secret tastes the best!”
18 But little do they know that the dead are there.
Her guests are in the depths of the grave.[a]"

If you compare the lyrics of the song to the proverb, its meaning is clear. Its not about a love affair (although I'm sure you could an affair as an allusion to the proverb), but it is about the never ending battle with temptation.

Source: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Proverbs+9&version=NLT

Extra notes:

The "true love" or lover (Stanza 5, line 2) is God calling out to the sinner. God is being personifed (I would say mortalized, but I'm just using proper figurative language terms) as the girl that the sinner really loves. This is most evident when God refers to Dustin as "darling" (Stanza 5, line 5).

Although "love" (Stanza 5 line 2) in the allusion represents the love for his real girl, the one that he would truely be happy with, the non-allusion's version of "love" is that of the love for God.

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Thrice – Eclipse Lyrics 12 years ago
Nice review! I like how you spotted that Catcher in the Rye quote as well. I only differ to you on the fact that the song can't easily be referenced to Christianity without being hypocritcal. I think it can. Think about it: Christians adobted many pagan holidays, one of those being halloween. So just because it makes a very nice reference doesn't mean it can't be related to a single-God religion such as Christianity, islam, or judaism.

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