There's No Sympathy for the Dead

The sounds of a third carried out is almost certainly a reference to the third note in a chord. I think the song "My Apocalypse" was written to basically give insight into what this song is ultimately about. In order to understand My Apocalypse, you have to understand "The Guillotine" because My Apocalypse is about destroying the Guillotine. I know they say it is about Halo but that is only the shallow aspect of the song. Ronnie imbues meaning in this song though.

The sounds of a third carried out is almost certainly a reference to the third note in a chord. I think the song "My Apocalypse" was written to basically give insight into what this song is ultimately about. In order to understand My Apocalypse, you have to understand "The Guillotine" because My Apocalypse is about destroying the Guillotine. I know they say it is about Halo but that is only the shallow aspect of the song. Ronnie imbues meaning in this song though.

Ronnie's shadow is his identity. It's his self-image. He constructs the...

Ronnie's shadow is his identity. It's his self-image. He constructs the self for security. When he reflects, he sees his self-image in the same way he sees his shadow, never being able to know exactly what the nature of it is, just like one can never know their appears from solely looking at one's shadow.

The Guillotine = the need for security My Apocalypse = the construct of self-image

So now what does this have to do with "There's No Sympathy For The Dead"?

First Verse

Ronnie's lack of ability to fully comprehend himself leads to skepticism on whether one can change one's self at all? This goes right in hand with Ronnie's problems with addiction. He wants to do one thing, but finds these strong urges/desires to do what he doesn't want to do. His actions are motivated by desires that he does not want to have. Ronnie wants has disavowed his own unwilled desires and despairs that he cannot be separate from them.

Second Verse

He imagines his confinement to addiction, other lusts, and passions as being a nightmare that he can wake-up from, but even this nightmare would be corrupting. He would still maintain thoughts and memories of unwilled desire which drags him back into despair. Ronnie imagines jumping into a river that will wash him of these desires and memories he calls "sin" itself - and then would burn out any sense that could invite these desires back, specifically his eyes.

But he imagines wings that will carry him away from material thoughts and desires but, and most tragically of all, he hesitates to grab hold of them and flee those desires because he ultimately is in love with them. This hesitation draws him back into his despair for which there is no sympathy.

Ronnie comes to the terrifying conclusion that he belongs with the sea of damned souls - for which there is no sympathy, because the choice was always present. It was not a one-off choice, but a continued choice made each and every day.