Breathe Underwater

My InterpretationI 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'.

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