Sleeper

Well, I like your interpretations very much. I'm sure it's about a guy who is sitting with a sick person, who is probably dying. When I read this, I remembered when my mother was very ill and I looked after her.

"Now I'm breathing I could not breath until you did I'm one second after you Just a second after you"

That's what it's like when you hear that the sick person you care about stopped breathing for a moment. You hold your breath... wait one second... and then another... And when she breaths again, so do you. You are always a second after her.

"Someone inside your room Who is it there behind you? What does he want from you?"

I think he sees a dark figure of some sort, standing by the bed - it's Death, of course, but he doesn't know it, or doesn't want to realize it. That's why he asks "who is it? what does he want from you?" He knows damn well "who" and "what", but can't accept it. If you're still not sure about it, here is another line: "The bird is here, I can see the edge of his wing". So maybe it's not Death, but Angel Of Death? And he sees him as a bird.

"Paren't died and left their child Unattented for a while"

"If you die now how can I then live on"

That's what I was affraid of, when I was much younger and my mother was sick. What will happen to me, if she dies? It's quite egoistic, actually...

"Sleeper what did you see?"

"Sleeper's song will you listen to me sing?"

I think that the sick person is in the coma, and he is wondering if she can hear him, and what did she see in her "dream" (if I can describe coma this way). That's what I think. Could be wrong, but... I'm pretty sure I'm right. Anyways, great song.

I personally think the song is about a person suffering from mental illness, maybe delusional disorder....

I guess in the song the disease or rather the Voice(-s) in his head is speaking to him:

"O my your fever's high I lay my hands upon you

maybe shows, that the person is captured by the mental disease he has and suffers from it, which would explain the high fever but at the same time the disease seems to be the cure for it because of the "hands" which are sanatively laid upon him.

"O my haven't you heard the truth is untrue"

not really sure about this, but when you're struggling with psychosis as a sample you may lose touch with reality or seek refuge in your own.... so "the truth" can be replaced by "reality" and the voice is telling the man or wants to make him believe that reality like it is considered as true, is untrue.
to not disregard that the voice is created by the man himself , so he is creating his own reality and is escaping to it.

"Now I'm breathing I could not breath until you did I'm one second after you Just a second after you"

..shows that the disease the person has developed "is breathing" and cannot exist or survive without the person , its just shown the interaction or relation between person and his affliction- more exact that the disease only occurs because of the man is alive, but im wondering why it is read "one second after you", perhaps could be an allusive hint for paranoia because "to be after sb." also means "to haunt/chase sb."

"someone inside your room Who is it there behind you What does he want from you"

ehm..it does make sense, a symptom for psychosis, delusions of persecution...

"Sleeper what did you see I close the window to the street Paren't died and left their child Unattented for a while"

...im really not sure about the meaning of this verse, but i think in the person's state of mind you perceive things as threat or danger and i feel the question "sleeper, what did you see" to be meant as intimidating, threatening as it is sung in the song. Also "i close the window to the street" could mean that the man is secluding himself from the world/ withdrawing in his room. the disease is causing (or even forcing?) that. but what's the matter with the parents? parents actually care for their children but when they die they cannot anymore, so message could be that the man doesnt have anyone who cares for him....

in my opinion, generally the song deals with fears and anxiety, solitude, lonileness, helplessness, threat and death, aspects of a mental disease... for me, the chosen title "Sleeper" makes sense in this context, because a sleeping person is dreaming, breathing but not realizing, seems to be in another world and also has fears when he has got nightmares, so there is a connection to mental disorder also.

It sounds like it's about a girl who is his life, and he does everything as she does. The sleeper probably signifies death, as she is going to die soon, and he doesn't know how he can live on.

I personally find it seems to connect to "Criminals" the next piece on the album. Just how he says : "Someone inside your room Who is it there behind you What does he want from you"

and "If you die now how can I then live on"

If you see criminals, when he says "He came back to your house I didn't take it as a promise Always thought it was a lie He went too far the fucker It's not like I owe him money This is different

So gather your strength and break free Or you will surely die Gather your strength don't follow me 'Cause I will surely die"

It's almost as if the stories complement themselves...

i think that patrixxx is absolutely right... but about the bird i think that it's not an angel of death but it's a crow....cause it is believed that a crow caries souls to the otherworld...