And With Her Came the Birds

What amazing lyrics. Let me take a crack at it. "Night falls, silence takes a grip." "night" and "silence" represent death. "Guilt I retrieved, a burning will to die." He is remorseful and depressed over something that he has done to the point of suicide. For example, "before I am bleeding dry" and "leave me here for the crows." Crows, of course are the symbol of death. "Somewhere along the highway these tracks must end." There has to be an end to a seemingly infinite existence. "...on my way to the house on the hill" could mean heading towards heaven, and the "crowd" -- the millions of lives that we pass by everyday, or the souls we ascend with on our way to the afterlife. "Dead man with pitchfork arms tells me all that he knows". A scarecrow (a guardian against death perhaps) could tell him how to escape the pain. OR, since scarecrows do not talk, telling him all that he knows could represent the irrelevance in people's words. "In the Fall she came back, and with her the birds." Now, here is where the lyrics alter. This has nothing to do with the previous lines, but it is the most important line (hence the title). The Fall season represents pre-death, old age, basically the decline of life; therefore, "she" could have arrived just before he killed himself. "She" is probably and ex-girlfriend or something to that effect. As for "the birds", I'm not sure. It is definitely the most mysterious line. The crows, possibly. If so, then she brings death (after Fall), meaning their relationship will bring grief.

I agree with all your analysis, the last line; with her the birds, I interpreted as you did with 'her' coming with 'the birds' representing life instead of death, as sailors saw birds as a sign of land and where there is land, there is life.. 'She' comes with life in a sense as she is saving him from death.