8 Meanings
Add Yours
Follow
Share
Q&A

Breathe Underwater Lyrics

Here comes another fall from grace
I'm always falling on my face
This attitude that I embrace
For the love I'm trying to replace

I try to kill the song
'Cause the melody's all wrong
And there's a fever coming on

It's hard to reconcile
What I've become
With the wounded child
Hiding deep inside

Breathe underwater
I'm coming up for air
I wanna see another dawn
I'm coming up for air
Sick of this slaughter
I'm coming up for air
'Cause I've been floating here too long

Take my ego for a ride
'Cause there's nobody by my side
It's getting hard to justify
And it won't be long 'til I collide

My weaknesses laid bare
As people stop and stare
But it's the last time I swear

It's hard to reconcile
What I've become
With the wounded child
Hiding deep inside

Breathe underwater
I'm coming up for air
I wanna see another dawn
I'm coming up for air
Sick of this slaughter
I'm coming up for air
'Cause I've been floating here too long

Start breathing
Start breathing
Start breathing
Start breathing

Breathe underwater
I'm coming up for air
I wanna see another dawn
I'm coming up for air
Sick of this slaughter
I'm coming up for air
'Cause I've been floating here too long

I'm coming
I'm coming, I'm coming, coming up for air
Coming up for air
Coming up for air
8 Meanings

Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.

Add your thoughts...
Cover art for Breathe Underwater lyrics by Placebo

I really only understand that there is like a struggle within himself and he's evoking his will to live and make it from one day to the other.

My Interpretation
Cover art for Breathe Underwater lyrics by Placebo

I feel as though this song is about the how the realization that one is in too deep in alcohol abuse.

Possibly drinking to forget someone and how badly they were hurt by the relationship.

("Here comes another fall from grace I'm always falling on my face This attitude that I embrace For the love I'm trying to replace

I try to kill the song 'Cause the melody's all wrong And there's a fever coming on")

Then noticing that their life has passed them by, they don't really know who they are anymore, all of their friends have given up, and that the reasons for drinking do not retain.

("Take my ego for a ride 'Cause there's nobody by my side It's getting hard to justify And it won't be long 'til I collide

My weaknesses laid bare As people stop and stare But it's the last time I swear

It's hard to reconcile What I've become With the wounded child Hiding deep inside")

Breathe underwater- reference to being drunk Coming up for air- sobriety

Cover art for Breathe Underwater lyrics by Placebo

I think this song is about a man who has lost the love of his life. In the first verse he's saying: 'This attitude that I embrace For the love I'm trying to replace.' He's trying to find someone new, but since his attitude is in the way he's simply not ready for another relationship. Maybe he thinks it will fail, either because the new partner is not like his lost love or maybe because he's scared he'll lose her too.

So every relationship he had since, had failed: 'Here comes another fall from grace I'm always falling on my face'. And added to that he's saying: 'I try to kill the song 'cause the melody's all wrong' which refers to once again feeling this cognitive dissonance that something's not quite right.

He's killing the song because his new relationships aren't the same as the one he was used to. So instead of trying to work with the melody, he's just breaking up with his new partners. But he's finally hit a turning point in his life. He's fallen on his face one too many times, and he understands now that he can't stay underwater any longer. He needs to get out of that place that numbs every feeling. 'It's getting hard to justify And it won't be long 'til I collide' - he even sees where his behavior will lead to. His friends have already abandoned him because he just got drunk in self-pity or even in alcohol, and it won't be long until he collapses.

Having come to that revelation, he's ready to start living again 'Breathe!'. It's a great song that shows how someone who's truly at the bottom finds his way back to life again. He recovers from a Worldview-Disillusionment incident and wants to find meaning again.

I also love how the song begins with the image of 'falling' and ends with him 'rising'.

My Interpretation
Cover art for Breathe Underwater lyrics by Placebo

I LOVE THISSSS!!!! especially the "coming up for air" part.

same!

Anyway, I'd certainly pay to hear Brian screaming "I'm coming, I'm coming" at me... Even if he's just coming up for air. sigh

ahah i hope i'm not the onyl one that thinks something naughty when he says "i'm coming" then "up for air"

quite steamy if you're as dirty minded as i'm OBVIOUSLY not ;D

Cover art for Breathe Underwater lyrics by Placebo

sounds more like "my weaknesses laid bare" but you never know lol

Cover art for Breathe Underwater lyrics by Placebo

btw the lyrics are "my weaknesses laid bare" as stated above and it's "I wanna see another dawn" not "I wanna see you knock the door"

Cover art for Breathe Underwater lyrics by Placebo

I AM IN LOVE WITH THIS SONG. My favorite on the new album. Can't believe it hasn't gotten more comments. It's amazing.

Cover art for Breathe Underwater lyrics by Placebo

I feel like this song represents the end of a brutal relationship, and he's trying to make sense of things without her, and he feels as though he is no longer being held back by her, and freeing himself form her influence "coming up for air"

My Interpretation
 
Questions and Answers

Ask specific questions and get answers to unlock more indepth meanings & facts.

Ask a question...