Warehouse

I think that this song is as simple as it appears; it is about dying:

See I'm leaving – He is dying This warehouse frightens me – Warehouse = life Has me tied up in knots – He is afraid of what is happening Can't rest for a moment – Although he is dying he doesn’t cease to be Soon I'm going I'm slipping slow away – Slipping away = dying Hoping to find something better – He is hoping he goes to Heaven Than I've got inside of here - Heaven would be better than life The warehouse slips away – He dies

Hey reckless mind – He is talking to himself Don't throw away your playful beginnings – Don’t forget who you are You and I will fumble around in the touches And be sure to

Leave all the lights on So we can see the black cat changing colors And we can walk under ladders And we can swim as the tide turns you around and around

Hey we have found Becoming one in a million – So many are dead Slip into the crowd – He is becoming nothing This question I found in a gap in the sidewalk

Keep all your sights on Hey the black cat changing colors And you can walk under ladders And swim as the tide choose to turn you

And here I sit – He is waiting to die Life goes on – Even though he is dying, life goes on End of tunnel, TV set – Tunnel being tied to a TV for the metaphor Spot in the middle – A light at the end of a tunnel when the TV is turned off Static fade, statistical bit – Nothing is real, no more pictures just static And soon I'll fade away, I'll fade away – Talking about his death

This I admit tastes so good – It feels good to be done with it all Hard to believe an end to it – Still dealing with the reality of dying Smell touch feel – His senses are stopping How could this rhythm ever quit – We don’t know anything else Bags packed on a plane – He is ready to go, nothing left to do Hopefully to heaven – Pretty self explanatory

Shut up I'm thinking – He is getting confused I had a clue now it's gone forever – Doesn’t know if his beliefs are correct Sitting over these bones – But when reflecting on spirituality… You can read in whatever you're needing to – Believe what you need to

Keep all your sights on Yeah man the black cat changing colors When it's not the colors that matter But that they'll all fade away

This I admit Seems so good – Death isn’t so bad Hard to believe an end to it – It is still really mind blowing (duh ;o) Warehouse is bare – His life is finished Nothing at all inside of it – No commitments, no attachments The walls and halls have disappeared – Things are starting to fade They disappear

My love I love to stay here – He will miss what he was attached to My love I love to stay here In a corner I was wondering – A part of his mind is still afraid If a change would be better than this – He is worried about heaven and what is left for him And then I worry Maybe things won't be better than they have been – Maybe Hell, maybe nothing Here in the warehouse – Life could be better than both At the warehouse How I love to stay here – He really did love life At the warehouse Every man and woman Get alive

That's our blood down there Seems poured from the hands of angels But trickle into the ground Leaves the warehouse bare and empty And my heart's numbered beat – Numbered, as in it will stop Still echo in this empty room – It is echoing because everything else is gone And fear wells in me – Last thoughts But nothing seems good enough to defend – It doesn’t matter, nothing he can do So I am going away, I'm going away… - He is dead

I don’t know if this is even close to accurate, but it has always just seemed to fit fine.

To me, the song is about a person that is on the verge of commiting suicide. The warehouse is symbolic of the world, you see that in the begining of the song the guy is saying that this place, the world, frightens him and he's ready to slip away. Then the part that says "hey restless mind don't throw away your playfull beginings" that's representative of the conscience or someone else telling the guy to not throw away his past, when things where good. As far as the leaving the lights on part goes, I think it's just saying.. we'll make sure to remember things, see it clearly-- like leave the lights on-- . The advisor, or conscience is saying things will change and you'll see your bad luck changing.

Then at the end, after listening to the advice given to him, and after seeing things for what they are, he's regretfull that he's dying and he sees how good life can be.

Great song, that's just what I got from it.

Dave was on acid. And he was singing about how he was feeling (:

I love this song, to me this is one of daves best songs when played life i dont think it gets any better than this, it just shows dave matthews as a complete band. guitar, violon, drum, daves voice, just everything melts into one amazing song.

Wow..I like your intepretation evilemice.. I feel exactly the same way about this song. Dave Rocks!! I'm going to see them perform in June 03!!

I can't say this is my favorite dave song, I honestly don't always like to hear it, but it's definately the most emotional for me. I don't know what Dave was thinking about when he wrote it, but to me it's about a place he wants to live, but for some reason now must leave.

A week before my junior year of college started, my parents announced they bought a new house nowhere near home "but it's OK because you're away at school anyway."

A few weeks later I heard this song for the first time. This was exactly what was in my head. every line. The empty house, my sadness and fright. The thoughts of hope, "In a corner I was wondering If a change would be better than this"

The last paragraph is the most striking. "That's our blood down there Seems poured from the hands of angels But trickle into the ground " literally the blood tears and sweat shead as children.

"Leaves the warehouse bare and empty And my heart's numbered beat Still echo in this empty room "

The first time I heard this, it was exactly my fear, my warm loving home, bare and empty, me knowing the time I could stay there was limited, my numbered beats, I swear I could've counted them.

"And fear wells in me But nothing seems good enough to defend " This was the keystone of the song for me. It took a while before I figured out about things good enough to defend. I defend my home with all I have, with my life, with my [figurative] sword and [literal] pen. I don't think I could ever be as passionate about another town anywhere, like my own. I think I'd lose much of my passion, and settle into the tired monotony of middle-class-suburbia.

"So I am going away, I'm going away..."

I've cried so much to this song. Not because of the song, just because, to me at least, Dave went through the same thing.

PS - I'm moving back to the same town when I graduate. I've traveled much of the world "Hoping to find something better" and I never did.

Alright there are some good interpretations on this site but i feel i needed to add a little to this one. The warehouse as i understand it is a refrence to the human boby as a storage place for the soul, and the lyrics are seen as the sould singing about the body and at first it is awkward but over time the soul becomes more used to the body and this world. then this grows into a love for the body and eventually a fear when the body is about to die and the soul doesnt really know what is coming next, and in my favorite line "Maybe things won't be better than they have been Here in the warehouse" the soul becomes scared because it cannot rationalize how anything could be better than the warehouse and its life on earth.

I know everything to be said about this song has already been said. I just wanna put in my 2 cents about the line "How could this rythm ever quit, bags packed on a plane, hopefully to heaven". Isn't that a very poetic way of talking about a sudden and unexpected death? I think so.

Yeah , its is definately about deaht and dying i thin because it just makes sense. The warehouse is his body he is leaving empty. And no matter what color you are, we all die.

Yeah , its is definately about deaht and dying i thin because it just makes sense. The warehouse is his body he is leaving empty. And no matter what color you are, we all die.