Merge, A Vessel, A Harbour

The first song I heard by them, wonderful at that. This song reminds me of a dear friend of mine, He actually sent me the song. though i will leave my personal affairs out of this.

Beautiful song.

"Wearing false armour And useless shields Failed to exist"

its cacophony.

Beautiful song indeed. Don't know what I make of the song as whole, but there seems to be references to both life and death in the lyrics. Especially this part accounts for the death theme:

Gathered and strewn From this altitude To some other moon Wearing false armour And useless shields Failed to exist

It's described as if a body has been cremated and scattered (gathered and strewn) from a great height (from this altitude to some other moon) without any form of protection (wearing false armor and useless shields) to eventually disappear (failed to exist).

This part seems to account for the life part:

Loss and gain Fly into the mouth of the ground Six feet under Thanks to some failure Fly into the mouth of the ground Six feet under

.. describing the dawn of man perhaps. How we started living on the planet out of nothing by coincidence (fly into the mouth of the ground, six feet under, thanks to some failure)

One for the light (not night) One for the dark

Some remarks, because I suspect these lyrics are inaccurate in places.

For a moment, then goodbye (I hear "combine(d)") Hold her eyes (I hear "Polarized") and Crying out loud at the untold (I hear something like "are ... absorbed")

i hear some inaccuracies... just a few suggestions in CAPS:

One for the LIGHT One for the dark Taste each other For a moment, then COMBINE POLARIZED Share the same air Oh lay it down Oh lay it bare

I'm speechless Naked as a fiery sunset You turn BUT fleeting Destroyed BUT complete A perfect cocophony Rising like vapour Solid and liquid Awkward and trapping Stolen but paid for

Legs and knees and ankles and toes WHEN IT BURNS AND OH WHEN IT FLOWS Legs and knees and ankles and toes WHEN IT BURNS AND OH WHEN IT FLOWS

Crying out and into the streets They are always prepared for the (not sure if it's CRIES, or maybe something else, like CRIME right here?) Prepared for the worst Crying out loud, BUT THE NOISE IS ABSORBED They are transfixed but UNTRANSFORMED

and allow me to correct myself:

You turn BUT fleeting = ETERNAL BUT fleeting

First, I fixed the many, many errors that were in the lyrics. I think if someone considers themselves a critical listener they should have an audio system capable of allowing them to hear what they're listening to. The lyrics are very clear and obvious on this song when played through any decent setup. And of course, being able to hear the lyrics correctly goes a long way toward identifying the meaning :)

As to the meaning, let's do a little research first: It turns out that this song was released just after the Columbia Space Shuttle catastrophe and I'm 95% certain that is what this is about. I think it's an absolutely beautiful tribute to those who gave their lives to explore and understand our existence in this universe.