This Time Imperfect

To me this song is about the inability to express oneself. Sometimes when one feels pain internally, they struggle to convey to others and these feelings are kept within them. "Asphyxiate on words I would say " suggests the inablity to form the right words to say, as if words are choked on as he tries to say them.

If this is what the song is about, then I believe that many have had the feeling before, of having so much pain trapped within our bodies, on the verge of breaking down, and when the oppertunity is there to tell someone of the pain, we are still unable to voice it.

sometimes you're staring at the source of your pain in the face, yet you cannot get yourself to put into words the anger or pain that you want to direct at it.

i think that feeling is what this song is about.

i agree with what emorocks said. my second favorite song on the new album. I'd share with you Could I only speak Just how much this hurts me Just how much this hurts me Just how much you... thats my absolute favorite part of the song..like how someone can be causing you so much pain but they really have no idea, and no matter how hard u try u just cant say anythin..i relate to it so much maybe thats why i am in love with it. still like old afi better though~

The first time I heard the song I was really depressed and sad, and when it finished I ran to search for the lyrics, I think Davey is trying to express how a person feels when:

It's life has no sense When he/she doesn't know what to do (I cannot leave here I cannot stay) When it's life is hopeless (forever haunted more that afraid) When he/ she doesn't know hot to express him/herself (asphyxiate on words i would say) *And when depression seems to kill him/her (I'm drowned to a blackened sky as I turn blue)

It although tells that very deep inside of you there is some happines but you cannot express it 'cause it's drowned by you depression (I'd show a smile but I'm too weak)

It speaks when you want to talk to someone but you don't know how to express yourself (I'd share with you could I only speak just how much this hurts me)

And finally it shows that he/she feels like no one's there to help (no one will appear here and make me real).

Ok, that was my interpretation, hope you like it, I'm open for suggestions.

I think this song is about a breakup that with a girl that he really truly loved

ack, this is a long post... enjoy, if you feel like reading it all.

this song, IMO, is about suicide. from the perspective of the commiter, and the

person close to him/her. i'm going to say that the suicidal is a girl, and the

lover is a boy.

note: when i say "here he's blah..." i'm talking about davey havok, the singer.

after that, i'll talk about him as the actual person in the song. as a he or

she.

I cannot leave here, I cannot stay Forever haunted, more than afraid Asphyxiate on words I would say I'm drawn to a blackened sky *As I turn blue

here he's someone close to the suicide. most likely an old friend, or lost

lover. in the first line, he's feeling the sudden panic and gripping sadness of

hearing about it. like time stops. shocked and frozen. the "forever haunted" is

him being followed around by the thoughs of 'could i haven helped? could i have

done something?' the last lines are him not being about to tell her how he

cares, because she's dead.

There are no flowers No, not this time There will be no angels Gracing the lines Just these stark words I find I'd show a smile But I'm too weak I'd share with you Could I only speak Just how much this hurts me

here he is the suicidal. the first 5 lines, she's talking about the funeral, and

how it's empty. no one knows her, no one cares. the last lines are her talking

to the person she cared about, and how she wished they recipercated. the very

last line is her pain from their coldness.

I cannot stay here, I cannot leave Just like all I loved, I'm make-believe Imagined heart, I disappear Seems no one will appear here *And make me real

this verse is still the suicidal, but before she's dead. she's just talking

about how alone, and make-believe she feels. especially when you look at this

and the above/below together. the line "seems no one will appear here and make

me real" is her wanting that someone, but not getting them.

There are no flowers No, not this time There'll be no angels Gracing the lines Just these stark words I find I'd show a smile But I'm too weak I'd share with you Could I only speak Just how much this hurts me

again, this is him as the suicidal person. look above for my whole comment.

I'd tell you how it haunts me I'd tell you how it haunts me Cuts through my day And sinks into my dreams I'd tell you how it haunts me Cuts through my day And sinks into my dreams You don't care that it haunts me

back to the lover. he's become distant from the suicidal, and not really noticed

how deeply she's sunk into her depression. until she dies. then, as seen in this

bridge, he's struck by remorse and sadness. the rest of his life, he's followed

by the momory of her, and the what-if's. ties back to the first verse.

There are no flowers No, not this time There'll be no angels Gracing the lines Just these stark words I find I'd show a smile But I'm too weak I'd share with you Could I only speak Just how much this hurts me Just how much this hurts me Just how much you...

same as the above, but with a difference. here, she say's the same thing, with

the "just how much this hurts me", the "this" being his coldness and is

distance. but, in the last line, she kills herself, her last waking thought

being "just how much you...", or, i love you, but i can't take the pain anymore.

it's a terribly sad song. but hey, it's AFI. this isn't britney spears, or

justin timberlake.

anyways, please comment. i'd like some feedback.

noah

This is one of my favourite songs on Sing the Sorrow and anyone who bought the CD and missed it coz they thought the record had ended, is definitely an idiot who doesn't know what they're missing. It's such a beautiful song and Davey sings it perfectly. I actually cried the first time I heard it. It holds alot of meaning for me personally, possibly the most meaning of all the songs in the album.

I interpret the song as having to put on a facade due to fear of one's emotions, or fear of being judged for one's thoughts or emotions. And the truth haunts him because he's become no longer "real" in his own eyes. I think the song takes place around the breaking point of his frustration, and he wants to tell someone the truth and/or how he feels, but no words come out. However, he's finding it hard to continue the sunshiney facade he's been putting up, and all the pretty pleasant things he's used to cover up the truth (flowers etc.) no longer hold any meaning to him. He wants to let them go and just acknowledge the stark reality of what really is. Only, he's afraid.

That's my own interpretation, anyhoo. Like Davey's said before, he doesn't like to talk about the meaning of his lyrics coz he wants fans to find their own meaning in the songs. And this song definitely spoke to me.

ya, this song is definately one of the best on the new album. I think hes just saying that this song isnt happy. "no angles gracing the lines" The lines of the song perhaps?

i always liked daveys reference to "There are no flowers No, not this time " he always puts flowers in his song and i think it refers to being happy and this song is anything but happy. i just thought it was kinda cool of him to add that in

i believe this song is about how hes about to tell a girl he loves her, "Asphyxiate on words I would say" meaning he cant get the words out and this is all hes feeling. I agree with the flower thing. When he says "Id show a smile but Im to weak Id share with you could i only speak." Basically meanings all he is feeling is killing. And it haunts him too. very very good song I love it

i agree with skopivy,

i think he is talking about his everyday pain, suffering or loneliness in this song