This Photograph Is Proof (I Know You Know)

The song is about being a victim reflecting on his domestic violence situation. The song title, 'This Photograph is Proof' is a picture of the victim's bruises, a silent reminder that there is an ugly side to their relationship.

The first stanza describes how he faced the physical abusive situation several times before with his abuser. He has learned that if he follows through with his natural tendency to fight back, it only escalates the situation. So he holds his tongue and waits for the abuser to calm down to a rational level where he/she would actually listen instead of react. He's keeping his thoughts to himself and just saying anything to stop the fight (Yeah, I'm playing that card again).

The third stanza is a personal memory of the victim's. He remembers laying down on their table, contemplating their relationship. He's making sure to remember how it felt to be blamed for the abuse, i.e. "You made me do this" (Keeping in mind the way that it felt when the most I could do was to just blame myself) The second stanza is familiar to anyone who has been in an abuse situation. This is when the abuser starts to apologize for his/her actions, preceding the honey moon stage. The abuser is apologizing and rationalizing the abuse, making him/herself feel better - the victim points out it doesn't excuse the violence. The victim says the abuse has never reached the point where he's determined to just leave, but the fact it happened hurts him and leaves him feeling hurt (it's never good enough to feel right).

In the forth and fifth stanza, the victim flashes back to the day he laid on the table and thought. He tells us how eventually all of the abuse became too much to ignore and he decided enough was enough. His decision to leave was his alone - the other person may try and believe they had power over him in that matter, but he realizes the abuser doesn't really have say in his decisions (they were never yours).

The chorus is pretty spot on as well. 'Well I know you know everything' (the abuser thinks he or she is always right about everything and knows it all, another note of how he/she doesn't listen in anger) 'I know you didn't mean it' (Here the victim is trying to pacify the abuser by saying he knows the abuser didn't mean those nasty words, even though is one he lets us know he's lying to just stop the fight) . 'Drop everything/start it all over/remember more than you'd like to forget' (The victim's internal dialogue. To go back to the way things used to be, he has to forgive and pretend the abuse never occurred. Unfortunately for the victim, he can't block out everything and remembers the painful attacks).

That's my two cents.