Waiting (Phase One)

@unsound: if he really was in a hospital because of cancer or anything similarly serious, he wouldn’t be crawling away. either walking or flying.

these lyrics depict a man who is on the one hand arguing about his situation and on the other hand enjoying it with relish.

“Waiting... to be born again” metaphor for beginning a new life (after having successfully crawled away of course). ironically to “be born” is not an action one can undertake, but something that is done to you without your help (and, in the literal sense of being squeezed through a chokingly tight tunnel out of your warm and comfortable mother into a cold and much too loud world, without your approval). so being born is quite the opposite to crawling away, which means an act of will and body, mustering your remaining strength to end a harmful situation, probably in order to save your very life. seems like he’s waiting for someone else to do the job for him.

“Waiting... for the drugs to make it real” word is, getting away from drugs once you really are in is quite an effort. again an act of body as well as spirit. but going back to “feeling nothing” is not exactly a very promising outlook.

“Waiting... to be disciplined” sounds like bdsm to me.

“Aching... for your nails across my skin” common picture: woman scratching man’s back while having sex.

“Wanting... the saddest kind of pain” “sad pain” can only be emotional (sorrow), or at least I can’t imagine what a sad bodily hurt could be.

he WANTS pain. he LIKES being disciplined (whipped? bonded?) and made sad. so why end it? makes the statement about wanting to crawl away seem pretty pathetic. at least he seems to be aware of the harmful potential of his situation.

disclaimer: in no way do I intend to compare bdsm-fans to drug-addicts. the former is about temporarily giving control over my self to a trusted, intimate person. the latter is about giving myself away to a chemical substance for good, denying to take responsibility for my life.

Okay, let me take a stab at this.

Waiting... to be born again

(He feels failure, he feels lost. "To be born again" = redemption, to live life again with meaning)

Wanting... the saddest kind of pain (this can be read two ways: 1) he wants the saddest kind of pain, or 2) wanting IS the saddest kind of pain. so, he either wants pain, or he feels it because he wants. based on another version of this song I've heard where the lyrics here are slightly different, I've recently learned it is in fact the first interpretation, which is unfortunate to me.) Waiting for the day when I will crawl away (hopelessness... thinking he SHOULD crawl away, just go away.)

Nothing is what I feel (feels nothing) Waiting... for the drugs to make it real (wants life to feel real again, but it's all dead) Waiting... for the day when I will crawl away

Waiting... to be disciplined (pretty clear) Aching... for your nails across my skin (I immediately think of a sexual scene. I'm thinking this whole song is about the failure of a perhaps unhealthy relationship where he was quite submissive, willingly.) Waiting... for the day when I will crawl away

To me, sounds like a submissive in a dom/sub relationship who is no longer enjoying the high that he/she used to get from being submissive and is contemplating another life outside the sub/dom relationship.

"the saddest kind of pain" - the pain you willingly subject yourself to as a sub

"waiting...to be disciplined" - knowing you're going to be subjected to pain of some kind

"waiting...for your nails across my skin" - one of the ways the sub is dominated

And the key line, "waiting for the day i will crawl away" - hoping to find the strength /courage inside to end the relationship but recognizing that when it does end you've still been used and humiliated and you willingly put yourself through that.

dissapointed at them for this? this song is brilliant.

it runs along with the theme of signify - monotony and apathy. giving up on living a life of meaning. he's just sitting there ......waiting.

It does the job it's supposed to do perfectly. Goes with the entire statment of Signify. It makes you shiver... Becasue this emptiness is too hurrible, yet very realstic in a way because it consits of daily-like activities. Of an average life basically.

This is about being bored with your life.

This song is brilliant in its simplicity. Just look at the choice of words. He's waiting for the time when he will take action and escape the opression of the situation, but the fact that he will 'crawl away' when he does means that he won't get away unscathed.

i like the live version better...bass line rocks

These guys kinda remind me of a cross between Pink Floyd and Stabbing Westward (especially with the lyrics and vocals to this song).

I think this can describe at least one point in every person's life. "Waiting...to be born again Wanting...the saddest kind of pain" These lines are great, and seem to share a Buddhist perspective, in that wanting causes us so much grief and pain. One of my absolute favourite PT songs.