Burden of Tomorrow

Personally I feel this song is about Mother Earth.

"Oh I was sent to find the lonesome place" is our galaxy and in terms of life the only one with any for billions of miles away (or even at all).

"Oh but rumor has it that I wasn't born I just walked in one frosty morn" Specifically Christians believe that God created the earth and all life that resides on it.

"But I will fight this stranger that you should fear So I won't be a burden of tomorrow dear" For me, this is my favorite part of the entire song. I'm not entirely sure who/what will fight the stranger but I feel the stranger is us and we are the burden of tomorrow. We have literally changed the face of the earth. Some of this to me even is a stretch, but for me this is what this song has come to mean for me.

i think it's

oh once i held a pony by its flagging mane

I feel like this song is just a really awesome riddle. I've been trying to figure it out for a while. I'm not completely sure of the answer, but I can definitely make a guess... Light... or Life?. idk maybe my ideas will help someone figure this out though.

"Oh I was sent to find the lonesome place" Light was sent by... [God? the Sun? Stars? take your pick] to find the lonesome place (Earth). Earth is lonesome because before there was light... there was no life. "Where I was lost but left to trace" This line is kind of... vague. I feel like it doesn't really deserve much looking into because it could be interpreted in many ways. I just want to point out that tracing is visual. "By carving riddles on the lonesome vine" This line makes me think photosynthesis. The vine obviously uses light in the process of photosynthesis, and he's lonely because logically flora came before fauna (though I have to say that plants certainly weren't the first organisms around... possibly the first things on land?). Carving riddles reminds me of the green color of plants. I mean... why do they not use the green light rays in energy production?

"Oh but rumor has it that I wasn't born/ I just walked in one frosty morn/ Into the vision of some vacant mind" I feel that if you were to figure out what exactly "he" is, this is one of the biggest and easiest clues to figure out. So from what I can tell mdm9260 was onto something. This most likely has something to do with differing origin stories, e.g., Creationism and The Big Bang Theory. Now I have no idea which one he might even be referring to... it could go either way depending on his reasoning.

"Oh once I held a pony by its flagging mane/ And once I called the shadow in the turning game/ But I will fight this stranger that you should fear/ So I won't be a burden of tomorrow dear" This verse reminds me of Earth's daily rotation. The first line confused me at first, but then after I tried thinking out of the box a bit(... and really stretched), the pony's flagging mane could be referring to the Greek god Helios who rode a chariot of fire through the sky to bring about the dawn. The second line was much easier to decipher. Light creates the shadow that signifies night in Earth's daily rotation. So... by this logic, light is protecting you from the dark. The last line, I feel, supports this logic as well, but I feel like it's kind of self-explanatory.

"Aww Xavier's on the border of the sun/ Swings on the chambers of her guns/And tries to shoot the chord and light the path" I don't know who Xavier is... but this verse just seems to support my theory.

"Aww but hell I'm just a blind man on the plains/ I drink my water when it rains/ And live by chance among the lightning strikes" This verse definitely points to the narrator being light. He's a blind man because it's dark when the storm comes, but when the lightning flashes he lives because with the flashes comes light.

"Oh once I held a glacier to an open flame/ And once I felt like wildcat in the fallen game/ But I will fight this stranger that you should fear/ So I won't be a burden of tomorrow dear" This verse just doesn't make sense to me. Maybe it's just five in the morning, and I can't think of it at the moment though. My only weak attempt at the first line is that the heat from the light of the sun melts glaciers.

"Oh the singer's on the edge to feed the canyon's mouth They will go on forever til they sing you out of time But I will fight this stranger that you should fear So I won't be a burden of tomorrow dear" I actually can't find anything in this verse to support myself... The singer's voice is echoing forever in the canyon... until time stops... sooooo actually this verse makes me think that this song is about Life. and the stranger is death.

'A savior' would make more sense than 'Xavier'.

First of all, this song is awesome.

Second, and this is about to sound really dumb, but it reminds me of Dr. Manhattan from the Watchmen.

"Oh but rumor has it that I wasn't born I just walked in one frosty morn"

some of my favorite lines

My favorite lines are "Aww but hell I'm just a blind man on the plains I drink my water when it rains And live by chance among the lightning strikes"

For me this is like the singer reconciles himself with the fact he isn't in control in this life. Or maybe he even knew this fact from the start. Anyhow, he seizes the day when he can, he gets by, knows luck as well disaster can strike any moment. I even think by using 'the plains' he is referring to a 'simple life'.

The whole song for me feels like it's about a wanderer, a misfit even, but one that is in touch with reality, society and isn't necessarily unhappy.

After loving this song for years, a very fitting meaning came to me based on my current situation.

To me it's about two people falling in love with each other while mending broken pieces of their hearts.

I will interpret it as if I am the one telling this story, singing this song.

Oh I was sent to find the lonesome place Where I was lost but left to trace By carving riddles on the lonesome vine.

After going through a bad breakup of 3 years, I was in a state for months where I was telling myself I can make it alone, I don't need anyone else to be happy. Which is true, but what if someone else is there waiting for you?

Hence "walking into the vision of some vacant mind". Someone else is there also looking for love, and by just being me, I walked into their life.

Oh once I held a pony by its flying mane, And once I called the shadow in the turning game

These two lines aren't 100% clear to me, but bring about a feeling of caring for the person I love.

To me the "stranger that you should fear" isn't a literal person, it's a version of myself that is guarding my heart. That is afraid to be completely honest and genuine. So I won't be your burden of tomorrow dear. I won't confuse you, I won't make you wonder.

A Savior's on the border of the sun Swings on the chambers of your guns. And tries to shoot the chord and light the path.

To me these are my friends and her friends who can see we have feelings for each other, and try to encourage us to go for it. To me the sun is an apt metaphor for a person I love: like the sun is overwhelming to look at directly, it takes an overwhelming amount of honesty to face the person you are falling for and look them directly in the eyes.

Aw but hell I'm just a blind man on the plains, I drink my water when it rains, And live by chance among the lightning strikes.

I wasn't aware that she might feel the same way I do and was just living my life. To me the lighting strikes are moments when I thought, "wait a minute, are there some mutual feelings here?!"

Oh once I held a glacier to an open flame And once I felt like wildcat in the fallen game.

I dethawed my icy, guarded heart. Feeling like a wildcat eating its prey; opening your heart is messy and brings out a lot of pain, not just for you but for the person you bear it to.

Oh the singers on the edge to feed the canyons mouth They will go on forever til they sing you out of time.

Our friends and people close to us that contribute to our doubts that we will make this work bring us farther apart, and that will always be the case. We have to trust ourselves and what we feel in our hearts.

Beautiful song. Even if that isn't the intended meaning, it means so much to me. Thank you Kristian.

Amazing song. I doubt it's about Dr. Manhattan but I see where you're coming from.

first of it's "where i was lost but left a trace" second it's 'flagging mane' not 'flying mane' and it's "swings on the chambers of her guns" it's like when people refer to a ship in the feminine sense. other than that all the lyrics are correct i think. whether or not you agree with me on that stuff, this is just a great song.