Collapse

this is easily sparta's best song on either album. i love it so much i dont even want to care what its about.

PS mars volta are better though

I agree with the person that said they thought it was about alcohol.

I’ve always taken this song as a struggle with addiction. Like the beginning of the song is the person as the host for abuse as they come down off their addiction (whatever that may be). They collapse and begin to pass out as they see “I search for sleep, the future has fallen short.”

They speak and choose the words to justify their actions. The can get it to make sense to continue their addiction but still always lose. When they see their tale coming apart for what it is they fail and abandon it to continue their addiction.

The people around them no longer want to listen to their tale. The person’s mouth is sewn shut. They start to realize trust is falling apart and their drunken tales are not even paid attention to anymore and it goes on and on.

When they finally fall apart there will be a crossroads of will they ever learn and set it down. To me it ends open ended of did they set it down or just fall apart.

I like the other meanings posted here too. I think the same song can mean different things for different people.

Block #1:

- Hes collapsing from his defeat and he feels like its a crime how things have gone or what has been done to him.  It even reminds him of two different crime scenes in different areas.  He goes on to say that he is tired and that the future that he thought his path would bring or achieve is falling short or is not so.  He talks at the end of the general time and place.

Block #2:

• Hes saying whenever he chooses his words carefully, speaks truth, and makes sense that he loses to the tall tale or the lie. Hes always trying to defeat the lies with truth, but he always fails. He keeps speaking truth, but never wins. He will always lose to the lie he says.

Block #3:

• This is about him being silenced and that he should trust those who are silencing him. However, they're bleeding him dry or slowly beating him down to nothing. The liars then celebrate their victory in a mocking way. He doesn't want to hear their formal toast or their drunken stories from a celebration based on deceit. This continues on and on and never ends he says.

Block #4:

• He now recedes and gives up from trying to defeat the lies with the truth because he has lost significant strength. He copes by going back to his safe place and listening to the sounds that mesh with the rhythm of his soul. This music empowers him and fills him with the energy he needs to fight again. He says he will never learn or that he will never give up. He will never give up because this is his nature and his sole will. He will always fight the lie with the truth.

Block #5:

• Hes talking to himself, contemplating that he may one day set this quest down. He goes on to almost taunt himself in a way to say that he isn't strong enough to carry on to the end.

Thoughts:

• Did he regain his strength and fight another day? I hope so. I hope he broke those lies spiraling out of control with his truth. Truth is the sharpest blade and the strongest hammer. It's mere presence doesn't demand respect, it commands that respect in all ways. Do not give up my gentle friend.

[Edit: fix]

i cant beleive no one has commented on this this song is beautiful, when the bridge kicks in with "to set it down" its the most beautiful thing ive heard, i couldnt stop listening to this song

ok my attempt at interpretaiton: it must have something to do with international hardships when he talks about bordeaux and the gold coast (in africa for those who lve in a cave)

the host of the show could mean god who hosts our lives if you want to get all gayly religious about it. and hes saying that he doesnt do much to help everyone in hard times he just comes to collapse on the ground.

then hes saying"the future has fallen short when the sun sets north and clouds fall from mirrored walls" like our days are being cut before the sun can set west, like were shortening our own future and oppurtunity

the chorus is saying that you can try to stop words and gossip and lies but youll never overcome them and iyou need to understand it and accept it

the host could also be just a hero figure and when his mouth is sewn shut he gives in cause he cant fight with words any longer. and you can spare the world of his eulogy because its the same old story, that the hero is defeated in our world.

and when it all falls apart he just has himself and escapism. then he says "ill never learn to set it down" which means hell never give it up and give in.

i dunno im just guessing you should try too instead of saying "OmGz this song totally rox my sox off" cause this is song meanings after all

Hmm I never understood what bordeux was. I always thought this song was about a man battling his faith, questioning it, and maybe dying and not experiencing what he was looking forward too, which is the afterlife. That the singer realises its all some fairey tale thats not true. Maybe he is trying to figure out the answers for himself, but I just never understood what the song was trying to say, just always had a feeling on the topic, which is mostly relegion and putting faith in it, to have it fail. I always looked as the gold coast as heaven, and I never understood bordeux, so it might actually help for me to understand the geography. Anyways your interpretation seems to make more sense to me then my own.

And yes man more people need to comment on this song, This is the correct title of the song, everyone is posting comments for this song under the song "the host" (including myself) which is incorrect. This is the best sparta song, and i usually feel dumb listening to a song on repeat, but this song is way different, and makes me think of my own struggle with god, even if thats not the songs meaning, thats the meaning i put to it.

To set it down You'll set it down You'll set it down

Simply Superb. . I have NO idea what it's about, but I bet you guys are right about on. .

I think this song is about two people killing somebody..........but I must admit I am on acid. The host of the show must be his partner in crime. He collapses from guilt, he revisits the crime scene in his mind. When his body is shut down in Bordeaux and on the Gold Coast, he is trying to run away. He cant sleep from the guilt, and the guilt has ruined his life(future fallen short). Then the chorus might have something to do with how pleads of innocence always fail to erase the guilt, but capsize the tall tale to others (alibi). Then it talks about the host having his mouth sewn shut, which means he swore to secrecy, but he gave in which is why he eventually collapsed. Fuck i dno? maybe not.

i don't know what's it about and it doesn't really matter much because i love the song no matter what...it's so sad and yet i can't get enough of it

anyway, what's with sparta and songs about guilt and running away from nightmares of murders and stuff? cause cut your ribbon also touched on dat stuff. did jim kill someone in real life or what?

Maybe this song is about an assasination. The host could be an important leader who keeps everything running and organized and without him the future seems to have "fallen short" and all hope appears to be lost. I can't think of someone who was assasinated in that part of Africa though.