Echolocation

the imagery in this is very abstract, which lends to the abstract meaning. but there are some similar veins throughout the song -- the speaker talks about phantoms, or this person who doesn't exist in "the tangible world" (in dreams, i suppose; "i have dreamed of your image"). there is a disconnect in this description, because the person he is speaking to is never fully embodied; they float about in the song. he seems to be remembering someone from the past, but at the same time they are still there ("if i floated away, would you still recognize me?"). so maybe this is a song about someone who has changed beyond recognition, and while the speaker still knows them, he is only able to see a ghost of who they were in what they now are.

there is also the signature wintersleep violence in this song, what with the feral and flesh-hungry bats, incising infections, the blistering humming. he seeks protection from this violence ("invite their protection"), so perhaps he is trying to save this phantom person from whatever is destroying them, eating them alive. he is trying to decide whether it is worth his time to try and save this person, or just let them go to their own self-destructive waste ("should i let them in? or sell off the property?"). ultimately he is trying -- "incise the infection / invite their protection".