Darkness

Love, love, love this song. Such an intensely evocative combination of lyric, arrangement, and delivery. The sum is definitely greater than its parts. At the broadest level, I think the song represents the struggle any of us faces once we decide to acknowledge the true depths of our humanity, including our potential for both profound good and profound evil. I also hear some strong parallels in the lyric to what is often referred to as "Buddhist psychology," particularly the notions of mindfulness and acceptance:

"when I allow it to be, there's no control over me"

In fact, given the progression from the almost tentative delivery of the initial statement of fears through the subsequent intensification and eventual re-evaluation of the fearful experience (which occurs through going "deeper" into unknown parts of the self), I can also hear this song as a representation of processes that may characterize good (i.e., meaningful and helpful) psychotherapy. From this perspective, it's especially interesting to note how the gentle reassurance of "It's not the way it has to be" is answered with a more strident--even violent--statement of the "swallowed" fears.

(Relative to these tensions, I sometimes hear "Darkness" as a sort of sister song to "Digging in the Dirt." For instance, in addition to the obvious parallels related to fear, darkness, depth, and hope for healing, compare the lines "Don't mess with me, my fuse is short" and "Don't tell me everything's all right" with the vitriolic "you've gone too far/shut your mouth" sections of DitD.)

It's about facing your fears... and discovering that they are not so dreadful after all.

lovely line: "im afraid of loving women, im afraif of loving men".. yes, mr.germ, the line "i cry until i laugh" makes your explanation quite possible.

To me, easily the best song on the album. I adore the chorus melody.

Like stated above,the song is about overcoming and controlling your fears.

The song looks at fears the same way, lets say, we might look at a wild animal we're squared off with in the woods - it may look scary, but it's just as scared as we are.

We grow up and we realize all those things we were scared of really aren't that scary.

Now that I think about it, the whole album does have this growing up thing to it, no pun, of course.

Now THAT'S how you open an album. Whatever might have been ambiguous in the lyrics is cast into focus by the arrangement, which turns on a dime between industrial dissonance and exquisite tenderness. The rest of the album continues to play with this tension, both musically and lyrically, and then "Signal To Noise" brings it all full circle.

The man is a genius. There can no longer be the slightest question.

I agree--this is definitely the best song on the album. I can't get it out of my head.

In this song when it is played loudly it's Peter's panic in seeing his fear but when the music goes quieter it's his reason in facing his fears. Brilliant song.

Reminds me of the physical, emotional and mental roller-coaster of getting off of morphine.

To me this song is about a man who was abused as a little boy. To the point where he becomes a "monster" with a short fuse. Walking into the undergrowth to the house is his memory of when he changed into a monster. Way back when he was a boy. Take another listen...

OMG! To Bskuhl! Thank You! You too?