The Last Firstborn

I cannot see how this song is about war. I do see how he relates to Jesus in the song.

And now I feel what you felt And now I feel what you felt inside brother And now I feel what you felt

I think "This isn't worth it, It isn't worth it" means it's not worth fighting people who taunt you about your religion. Jesus never retaliated against people who persecuted him.

I agree with Tanalius, to me the song is about war. More specifically, i think its about the Americans in Iraq at the moment

While the first verse sounds religious, to me its not.

I believe the first verse explains how a father has left his child to go fight in a war. Then the second verse opens with:

"Now I wait to take my turn to bleed" meaning that he has become a soldier, just like his dad.

"Like a kid playing with a razorblade" means he does not know exactly what he is doing in a warzone, but thinks its a good thing to do because his father did so.

The chorus goes about how he becomes a "silent killer" fighting in fear:

"I hear the sound of a heart from the shadow in the dark waiting for the poison to hit its mark" Explains how he kills people, in fear that they will kill him first

"I see the darkness surround the shape on the ground the killer straight up and a body face down" Explains how (he) is the killer (standing straight up) and the body lying on the ground is the man he just killed.

"I hear the din of the screams, sorrow in streams the smell of farewell and gasoline" means he can hear screaming & people crying. The smell of farewell (meaning the "scent of death") and gasoline (from napalm strikes)

"I see a heart set free and my legacy hear a voice from a shadow that is beckoning me" means he thinks he can be a better person than just being a soldier, but can't go because its in his blood and that he has to carry on the legacy of his father also being a soldier.

The rest of the song explains how fighting and the war changed him and "fucked up his head." Lots of soldiers are diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and go crazy from witnessing so much death after a war.

This verse is the father talking to his son: "Listen my son - Firstborn last one The message you sent out to me I can't change what's meant to be The message you sent out to me I can't change what's meant to be" Explaining that he has to fight as he is his only son, and to do the father proud, carry on the legacy, etc.

Well anyway that's my opinion, feel free to correct me if its wrong.

And btw Celldweller is the most talented artist around =)

Nice interpretations guys. However, I must say you have failed to include the IRL Scott Albert factor. You see, there's a little piece of Scott in every single word, which lets me to believe many of you have been mislead. For example, how do these lyrics relate to the title? Which are the story characters and what has history taught us about father-son relations? More than that, why in the world would Scott create yet another fiction story that never happened and never will? ;)

My translation is based on these factors. Here it is: scribd.com/doc/154044943/Last-Firstborn-by-Celldweller-lyrics-interpretation Njoy!

A friend of mine told me a story about another friend of his that committed suicide in college... He drove his car out to woods in the middle of nowhere, poured gasoline on himself, and lit himself on fire.

They found his body apart from his car, leading investigators to believe he regretted his actions and tried to put himself out too late...

"The smell of farewell and the gasoline..."

It's a story of a "friend of a friend" to me, but to my friend, it's how one of his friends killed himself. And it haunts me.

I will map out the song as clearly as I can and hopefully it makes sense. :-)

Interpretation A

The song is sung from the point of view of a man, the Last Firstborn. Why is he called the 'Last Firstborn'? Because his father died fighting in war, and hence only had the one son: him. His father died for his freedom, but his father also committed sin: murder. And there we have the religious theme coming into play, which begs the big question that torments the speaker:

"How can I reconcile the fact that my father -- a good man, my role model, my light -- fought and died for my freedom, for my life, but did so by committing murder?"... "Would he then go to hell?"... "And as I am fighting now, following my father's legacy, murdering other Last Firstborns who are also following their legacies, will I be allowed into heaven? Or will I be left alone?" "Do I commit to my father's cause so that he did not die in vain? I was, after all, his Last Firstborn, his only hope, his only continuation... Or do I leave it all behind? But if I do that, then why did my father die?!?! For what??"

OR

Interpretation B

It could be that his dad is actually a criminal who committed murder and is being taken away to jail for a life sentence, and the son struggles -- he cannot fathom the image of his father committing such a crime -- but he does sort of imagine it, and also think of himself in that position because he is his dad's legacy, his Last Firstborn, and he is now emotionally and psychologically scarred. And this state is threatening his morality and is potentially dooming him to mimic his father's actions.

I mean, keeping both possibilities in mind... Comments are after each line in (****)

Beginning

(1) Oh man, I can't believe that you did what they said you did (I can't believe you killed people in a war, dad) And to this day I've still gotta say that in my mind I question it I wish I knew what you had meant before you went and left me wondering to just an echo of your voice 'Listen...' ( before his dad left to go to war, he kneeled down and said: "Listen...)

(2) Oh man, I can't believe that you did what they said you did (I can't believe you committed murdered, dad) And to this day I've still gotta say that in my mind I question it I wish I knew what you had meant before you went and left me wondering to just an echo of your voice 'Listen...' ( before his dad left to go to jail, he kneeled down and said: "Listen...)

Now read through all of the lyrics two times, first keeping Interpretation A in mind, and then Interpretation B. :o)

Not about war, not suicide specifically either. Klayton said it was a point of coming to terms with his leaving the Christian religion. Something he still struggles with and reflects it in his music. Listen for it. Listen my son =P

HOWEVER I never heard him say the meaning to the title so that is why I am here. I suspect the first born is one of the titles that is in reference to Jesus, but not sure what "last one" means. It could be his thoughts on the end of religions entirely.

As for pretty much every other word in the song it is not hard to see he is simply trying to plea with church and god to be more forthcoming. They tell him to listen, he does. The juggling of trying to believe and those that try to help actually further give credit to doing otherwise ( which may be what having the face down in the dirt and pushing forward means)

Wait a minute..... I have ONE MORE INTERPRETATION!!

And this one is kind of playing at what someone else said and I think it might be the right one. I can't believe I missed this, and it would be great if someone could confirm this. How did Klayton's father die? And is he dead?

The reason I ask is because I think this song IS about suicide. The suicide of his father. I will show this.

(1) Oh man, I can't believe that you did what they said you did And to this day I've still gotta say that in my mind I question it I wish I knew what you had meant before you went and left me wondering to just an echo of your voice 'Listen...'

(Self explanatory: "I can't believe you really killed yourself.. And to this day I've still gotta say that in my mind I question it I wish I knew what your last words to me were before you killed yourself..)

(2) Now I wait to take my turn to bleed Like a kid playing with a razorblade And wonder if I have the balls at all or am I gonna be afraid. Where are you? What do you think? cause I'm not sure when knocking at death's door if I will be welcome in or be left alone outside

(**Now I'm contemplating suicide or the prospect of it Like a kid playing with a razorblade And wonder if I have the balls at all or am I gonna be afraid. Where are you? What do you think? I'm not sure... if I kill myself what will await on the other side for me? [[REFERENCE TO HAMLET'S "TO BE OR NOT TO BE" SPEECH. READ THE INTERPRETATION.]]")

(3) I guess there comes a point when you think to yourself This isn't worth it, it isn't worth it. And now I feel what you felt And now I feel what you felt inside brother And now I feel what you felt This isn't worth it, It isn't worth it

(Not sure who the brother is. Might be his brother. Might be the other firstborn.)

(4) I hear the sound of a heart from the shadow in the dark waiting for the poison to hit its mark (Listen - My son) I see the darkness surround the shape on the ground the killer straight up and a body face down (Firstborn - Last one) I hear the din of the screams, sorrow in streams the smell of farewell and gasoline (Listen - My son) I see a heart set free and my legacy hear a voice from a shadow that is beckoning me (Firstborn - Last one)

(**The speaker hears the sound of a heartbeat that's coming from a shadow in the dark, waiting for a poison to take over. Then the speaker hears the noise of screams, tears, and the smell of gasoline, Then he sees a heart set free and his legacy and a voice that beckons him.

Here is what it means: The shadow is his dad. The heartbeat is his dad's increasingly fast heartbeat as he sits in the car. The poison is carbon monoxide (smells like gasoline)-- his dad committed suicide by locking himself in his car, in his garage, and turning on the engine, and waiting for the poison to get to his heart. The screams and tears are either from those of the witnesses or from his dad or even from himself. His dad's heart is "set free" (it stops) and his legacy (his dad) is also set free (he dies), and the voice thereafter is the trauma itself. This image repeats in his mind just like it repeats in the song, and he can picture it again and again: the sights, the sounds, the smells))

(5) Live a life in hell through a mortal shell asphyxiating smell For a crime lifetime Imagination locked in a cell And to the other firstborn, I see the same scene that must play over in your mind and now how much more I'm sure it's fucked with your head just like it's fucked up mine.

(asphyxiating smell refers to the carbon monoxide, which asphyxiated his father to death. And this whole image that has been burned into his memory is like a life sentence. He is locked with his imagination in this cell, and he cannot imagine anything else but the suicide. And, the other firstborn, this is one I can't quite put a finger on.)

And the rest is self-explanatory.

Hope you like this interpretation. Sorry for the spam. :o)

TheTPMovement. Find me on YT.

Definitely my favorite Celldweller song, the genres of different music that klayton mixes into this one song is simply amazing. The lyrics really hit the spot too. :)

I agree. I love this song, although I felt affronted by the techno elements at first... but the way the musical styles blend is just... amazing. Brilliant work.

Right after "Listen my son - Firstborn last one The message you sent out to me I can't change what's meant to be The message you sent out to me I can't change what's meant to be" he whispers "What am I supposed to do now?". Thought that should be added.