Tears Into Wine

The song is generally focused on how alcohol has become a solution to the sorrows of the song's protagonist. The face that the 'gun is (only) loaded when the glass is full' acts as a metaphor to describe that suicide is in the drink. The alcohol stands as a symbol of gun ammunition that is fired at the man when drunk and poured 'down the hatch'. This means that the drink is effectively a weapon.

The man has of course fallen 'off the wagon' and this suggests the man is no longer moving forward but has reached an abrupt stop leading him 'back to the (bar) stool'. This is the first indication of how the drink acts as a solution.

It is then revealed that upon 'star(ing)' into this man's eyes, one can see the 'years of lies'. This gives us an insight into the man's denial that he is an alcoholic that has clearly gone on for a considerable number of 'years', for the man hs suffered with the 'demons' of alcohol and its effects.

The man's only 'friends' are the 'streetlights' on his way home, arguably from the bar. This acts as a reminder of the isolation that alcoholism can inflict on people. The fact he can be in a 'crowd' of these friends yet be the only conscious being reinforces this concept.

The chorus is key and shows how this man has turned to his 'Lord', showing that his basic abilities to distinguish the 'moon' and 'stars' is faulty. His twisting arm is then compared to the movement of a 'knife', i.e the twisting of an arm to pour more drink, likening the act to suicide and death, similar to the first verse. This is then made more hard-hitting in the man's acceptance in his friends 'leaving' him, as he'll turn his 'tears into wine', i.e drown his sorrows in the drink.

With a 'fate written on a neon sign', like the beer signs above a cheap bar, the man is doomed to the drink. He ignores warning like the 'DUI' in favour of alcohol. This is also an implication of how the alcohol in this song acts as an enigma as the man's actions become more drastic to enable himself to drink.

Billy Talent's likening of the man's addiction to a mere 'hooked....fish', suggests him to be one in a whole ocean of addicts, which is arguably why the victim to this addiction in this song is left nameless, as it's not an individual case but a symbol of a societal issue.

The drink prevented this man's 'chance to shine' and ultimately made the addict's final 'destination a chalk line', which has connotations to dead bodies in murder cases, once again implying the drink will murder him. Finally, the last blow that this addiction deals his by 'den(ying)' the victim entrance to heaven's 'gates', for the Bible suggests that drinking is a sin and it prevents this man's eternal freedom.

The song then repeats these words to emphasise their importance until towards the end. The 'tide' of alcohol 'pull(s)' him down in his life and society as he claws to reaching this 'higher ground' that the drink has robbed him of. However, Billy Talent cleverly suggest that each addict has that hope to never 'give up and drown'.

Sorry about the length but there's so much! This is just my opinion so please tell me if I've got something gravely wrong. It's a fantastically genius song!