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Beautiful Gas Mask Lyrics
Come hard through the fog
Blindfolded and bound
Til we stand at the edge
Of a hole in the ground
We hold hands and we jump
And as we fall we sing
Paupers hammering the walls of the castle
Going to meet the king
Never sleep, remember to breathe deep
Never sleep, remember to breathe
Breathe deep
Crash in from deep space
Shot birds falling fast
Who will be there to catch us in his jaws
When we arrive alive at last?
I can't hear you in the dark
Wish I knew where you'd gone
Know you're there off in the shadow somewhere
Try to soldier on
Never sleep, remember to breathe deep
Never sleep, remember to breathe
Breathe deep
And breathe humbly
Secure your mouthpiece when you can
Toxic shapes adorn the walls
As we rise from our knees
Someone's coming to reward us, you wait and see
Or crush us both like fleas
Never sleep, remember to breathe deep
Never sleep, remember to breathe
Breathe deep
Blindfolded and bound
Til we stand at the edge
Of a hole in the ground
And as we fall we sing
Paupers hammering the walls of the castle
Going to meet the king
Never sleep, remember to breathe
Breathe deep
Shot birds falling fast
Who will be there to catch us in his jaws
When we arrive alive at last?
Wish I knew where you'd gone
Know you're there off in the shadow somewhere
Try to soldier on
Never sleep, remember to breathe
Breathe deep
And breathe humbly
Toxic shapes adorn the walls
As we rise from our knees
Someone's coming to reward us, you wait and see
Or crush us both like fleas
Never sleep, remember to breathe
Breathe deep
Song Info
Submitted by
mossushi On Mar 01, 2011
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I think this song is about how if there is a God, when he comes there will be no time to save yourself from what he has in store for his people. Might be good, might be bad, might be life, might be death...! And we'll all lose one another in the process, even though we're all in the same boat right now ..
This reminds me of Wilfred Owen's "Dulce et Decorum Est" about gas attacks in WWI. Besides the title, there are several images of gas, masks, and death.
I think burningwaffles has a really good point though. The song definitely has themese of uncertainty ("Who will be there to catch us in his jaws"). Surviving something like war can be seen as nothing but a random event. Why would you survive, but the guy next to you dies? Of course, the same principle applies outside of war. We're all "blinfolded and bound" in life, not knowing what happens after death.
"Never sleep, remember to breathe deep" is the key, I think:
"Once addicts have that first revelatory glimpse of their true self hiding beneath all of the layers of drama and trauma, it's as if they are coming out of a sleepwalking trance. Consequently, they should keep repeating this mantra: 'Don't go back to sleep! Never go back to sleep!' Without vigilance it's easy to slip back into an unconscious state." -- Christopher Lawford, What Addicts Know
(the next song on the album, "High Hawk Season", echoes that: "Rise if you're sleeping, stay awake.")