Anodyne Sea

I don't really think the song needs to be broken down verse by verse. As a whole it is describing the trials and tribulations of being Christian. Expecially among the metal community these guys get a lot of grief for not being ashamed of their faith. I think this song is them letting the persecutors know that they are not afraid to "walk alone".

The one thing i like about this band's lyrics is that like any good book (such as the Bible) the same words can be interpreted by everybody in a diferent way, nd yet noobody will be worng.

Just throwing in my interpretation here,

None of this matters, none of these words. Common and silent we will die in this world.

Common means the majority of people, but not everyone. The majority of people are not famous, and when we die, apart from a select few, nobody will remember us, heck they didnt even know us. Just like almost everyone else, we will die silently, and commonly. What we say will not make a difference on the world, since the world does not know who we are

Weve only spoken to those who agree, and without them weve fallen on deaf ears.

This reminds me of somebody who has spent his life trying to obey Jesus' command and tell everyone about the Gospel, Jesus, etc. He taught Christians about Jesus, and they agreed, however when this preaching man tried to talk to a non-Christian the non-Christians refused to listen, making the same words fall onto death ears

Stand on conviction and you will walk alone.

Being convicted of something means to be found guilty of something and receive full punishment for it. To stand on conviction means to try to live your life in sin and receiving the full punishment of it, instead of letting Jesus take the punishment for you. To stand on your sins means your rejecting Christ and you literally are pushing Jesus away from you and walking alone.

For once I have stood (I have stood), no one will know, but alone I was born and alone we must go.

This is once again saying I was alive once (I have stood) but no one knew that I was alive. I was born alone and alone we must go I think refers to when God created Adam, and when Adam sinned. Adam was made alone (he was the first human) and alone he will go. Jesus made Adam from dust, and then when Adam died he returned to dust. Alone he came, and alone he went; just like us. We were born alone, and nobody is going to die with us in the sense of being right next to someone.

In my convictions I’ve found my own grave, but amongst the dead we all fade away.

The chorus to AILD songs I find doesn’t fit into the song in chronological order like a story, but rather it repeats the theme of the song. As I said before if you stay in your convictions (sin) you will only find your ruin (grave). But amongst the dead we all fade away refers to when a Christian dies he will go to heaven by himself. Likewise a non-Christian will go to hell by himself. Once dead we will all fade away.

Yeah...Yet solitude is better than a life not worthy of reaction.

A life of reaction would be a life where people receive a reaction from the world, such as going against conformity and what the world wants. To live a life not worthy of reaction would mean that we conform and follow the world. Living in solitude (lonely) is often seen as being undesirable and unwanted. It is saying it’s better to live a life of being by yourself, than to live with the world and do what the world wants you to do.

There is nothing to lose (nothing). So we stand alone or join those who follow in misery.

Well it’s quite simple; you have nothing to lose as a Christian. You can’t lose your salvation, you can’t lose God’s love, so make your choice. Stand alone in an undesired life but not fall into what the world wants, or go with the world and end up in a life of Jesus. Jesus will be with you in both lives, but which one would he rather you be in?

Stand on conviction and you’ll walk alone. A voice is only a noise without someone to hear, and without a crowd to feed that noise grows silent.

Once again stand on your sins and you will be all alone. You may say the most amazing thing in the world, but if nobody hears it, what use is it. It is only an unimportant noise. Without a crowd, that once amazing piece of wisdom will grow silent, never to be heard from again. Without following God’s advice, your voice will become pointless, like a noise. Without a crowd to feed, your voice will grow silent.

For once I have stood, no one will know, but alone I was born and alone we must go.

See above identical verse

Fading back into an anodyne sea, to drown with all who’ve gone before me.

Now the author reveals that the song has been a reflection of his life so far. This verse I think is a reference to the end of Second Timothy when Paul says that he has fought the good fight, and now is ready to die peacefully. While the author is not suggesting that he is ready to die, he is saying that if he was to die he would drown (death reference) into an anodyne sea (anodyne means peaceful) and would have a peaceful end, just like all the other Christians before him (ex. Paul) who died peacefully. This is an amazing reminder, since before this verse the song seems to be a reflection on his past life, and that it reminds us no matter what we do, as long as we’ve accepted Christ into our hearts we will be able to look back on our own lives and say that we have fought the good fight, and that we will die peacefully, just like Paul did.

Yeah... We must go

At some point we will all go, will you go peacefully and happily, or will your end be a sadder story?

Fading back... fading. Fading back into an anodyne sea. Fading back... fading. Fading back... fading away.

The author is now at rest, not dead, but he is at peace with God right now. Right now he is not drowning into the anodyne sea, but he is fading away into it. Fading away...

Simply put...this song is talking about standing by your beliefs and not worrying about what other people think. They even stated this in their "making of" for the video of this song. AILD rocks.

"None of this matters, none of these words. Common and silent we will die in this world. We�ve only spoken to those who agree, and without them we�ve fallen on deaf ears."

k i think this is saying how even though while it is still important to talk about God to believers we really need to focus on witnessing to nonbelievers.....

"stand on conviction and youll walk alone"

whats popular is not always right, whats right is not always popular....

"Yet solitude is better than a life not worthy of reaction. There is nothing to lose. So we stand alone or join those who follow misery."

as another saying goes... i would rather be alone with Jesus than in a crowd without Him.... and also this reminds me of The Sound Of Truth when tim says "if we have chosen to live against the grain, then why are we all facing the same way?" and basically to stand up for your faith!!

"for once i have stood, no one will know but alone i was born and alone we must go. fading back into an anodyne seato drown with all who've gone before me"

basically tim's borrowing from 2nd Timothy saying "I have fought the good fight, i have finished the race, i have kept the faith." and now he can rest knowing he did not neglect his duty

This song is really great. Mezmerizing riffs and good emocore lyrcis. Love it