The Finish Line

Great ending to a great album: the epilogue to Open Your Eyes.

I must correct myself on a previous post, saying that "warm ground" was in the song Warmer Climate, when it's actually in this song.

But I still think the "warmth" means the same thing in both songs, a warm reality that can only exist after a catharsis has taken place. Think of Set the Fire to the Third Bar, the ground is cold, harsh. Think of the deep water that surrounds his helpless ship in Make This Go On Forever. These are the trials he must go through to reach a higher level of being, understanding. The cold water in this song is thus an end to those trials, symbolic of baptism (death and rebirth).

The finish line is indeed a good place to start, now that the journey has made him a stronger person.

This is a really nice song - lyrics describe really sort of pure things like being aware of everything in a way that you wouldnt usually be, perhaps this is about seeing things for what they really are and the bit at the end about starting at the finish, is like starting over again? Just a guess!

I actually take this song in a way that is much different from anyone else.. I actually take this as a song from the view point of someone who has died, and their soul (or whatever you want to call it) is still there, but the body isn't.. idk

The earth is warm next to my ear, insect noise is all that I hear.. the body is being buried under the ground

The finish line represents death, but it's a good place to start the life that starts after death

The final verse is like the soul has left earth and has gone to space, and hearing the name is when he is going through the final judgement at the gates of heaven

Yea, this sounds really wierd, but that's what I get out of the song when I listen

the first time i heard it, a funeral came to mind... along the same lines as what shelmerdinefan72 says.

yeah i totally agree with shelmerdinefan72, it's a really nice way of looking at it

yall i love this song! the new album is my favorite. :)

i'm not eactly too sure what this song is about...just like a feeling of extasy i guess that or finally seeing positivity in someone or something. Being done with ngativity and finally seeing positivity? but i love the lyrics

this may seem a little out there, but i think this is a song about a guy who kills himself. picture this... a guy whos friend/girlfriend/relative dies. hes a mess so he jumps off a bridge. its winter and their is a motorcade going past. someone sees him floating there and tells the police.

''The earth is warm next to my ear Insects noise is all that I hear A magic trick makes the world disappear The skies are dark, they're dark but they're clear'' this bit is like saying that (hes been pulled out of the water) and after freezing in the water the ground is warm, the insects noise is people talking because their words are so small and pointless. a magic trick being the jump, and the skies refers to even tho everything was so so so hard for him(dark) its now over and he can see through it to everything else(clear).

''A distant motorcade and suddenly there's joy The snow and tickertape blurs all my senses numb It's like the finish line where everything just ends The crack of radios seems close enough to touch '' everyone is happy around him(motorcade) its winter(snow) the finish line is death and the crack of the radios is the police radio things.

''Cold water, cleaning my wounds A side parade, with a single balloon I'm done with this, I'm counting to ten Blue as seas, running to them'' cold water is the river cleaning away all his pain and stress, its over now and all his problems are running into the sea.

''I feel like I am watching everything from space And in a minute I hear my name and I wake I think the finish line's a good place we could start Take a deep breath, take in all that you could want'' space could mean heaven hearing his name could be at his funeral? the finish line (death) is where he can find his friend/girlfriend/relative and they get another chance at whatever they had before. take a deep breath could be about getting ready to start like calming yourself before making a speech or something. taking in all you want could be him not knowing if his friend/girlfriend/relative will want to see him or anything.

just a (really really detailed) idea which could be totally wrong but thats how i see it. :) good song

I totally agree with you. This song is so powerful, I specialle love the line 'the skies are dark, they're dark but they're clear', for some reason that line gives me a very deep peace of mind.

It's a great finish for this album. I think it's definately about death. I was going to say that, but I Thought it was stupid until I saw that someone else had the same idea. At first I thought it was about wanting death, but I'm not so sure. I think it's maybe about accepting death. Letting the warmth and the last lights of the earth engulf you. About seeing the ones you love and leaving something very precious to you; your home. I know it's probably not, but I get the sense of someone lying on their back in a river, staring up, feeling everything before they let go and go to heaven. Silly, I know, but this is just the image this beautiful song puts in my head.

Love love love it.