Digging In The Dirt

The first stanza is about depression - which is getting so bad, it's starting to overwhelm him, possibly to the point where he's considering suicide.

Something in me, dark and sticky All the time it's getting strong No way of dealing with this feeling Can't go on like this too long (suicidal thoughts)

When you're either Manic-Depressive or Bi-Polar, your mood swings go from one extreme to another and the change can be sudden and violent. So the flip side of depression is mania, which can involve rage.

In the video, we see him striking at the fly (depression), but missing it and accidentally hitting his wife/girlfriend. She's not understanding why he's doing this and shows irritation that he's hit her (later on, this turns into fear and finally disgust). The fly represents a nuisance. His illness isn't bad, but he's starting to hurt others because of it.

However, the fly becomes a wasp and stings him, demonstrating the pain of his illness is getting worse. Because of it, he hurts his wife/girlfriend again, worse than before. The further into the video he progresses, the worse his behavior becomes, to the point of breaking things and smashing a window with his fist (BTW, if you notice, that's the last time we see the wife/girlfriend, she probably left him when this happened).

"This time you've gone too far" - he's talking to himself at this point, showing regret at what he's done to hurt someone he cares about.

The "Don't talk back" lines represent mood swings, from rage to regret to depression. It starts as accusatory "Don't talk back" and paranoid "I know what you are" to shame or rejection "Don't turn around (and look at me)" and then apologetic "Stay with me, I need support."

He realizes there's a problem "The more I look..." and knows how it wholly affects him "I feel it in my sex, that's the place it goes." (Bi-Polars can have a VERY high sex drive during a manic episode.)

Him "Digging in the Dirt" represents trying to dig himself out of the hole of mental illness (hence the reason he's simultaneously underground, buried and above ground, digging)

So far as the scene on the beach is concerned, he feels a loved one - be it mother, father, whomever - has ridiculed (the woman laughs) and even may have hurt his feelings over his illness (the man kicks over his sand castle). We see him finally turning and running from them because of the pain they're causing (burning him with a hot liquid and being stung by a wasp).

The final scene shows his body being restored, him rising out of the dirt, ritually blooming like a flower and a butterfly spreading its wings. All of these images represent rebirth and starting anew.

Someone feeds him a strawberry, representing him being nurtured and loved. At the end of the song, he's finally gotten the support and help he needs to cope with his mental illness and feels better about himself.

And you may ask "how did you come to this interpretation?"

I'm Bi-Polar. I've been through this video (figuratively and literally) more than my fair share.