The Pit

There's an interview in which Brian talks about a comic book called 'Black Hole', by Charles Burns. There's a place called The Pit, in the book, where these mutated teens hang out. Brian talks about how this book meant a lot to what this song is about. interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sf46t6hZjw0

I think "The Pit" is a place filled with people who are bad or have done bad things, because it says "did you realize we were all once like you?" in the song once they supposevly entered the pit. and she heard of it, and she was being dragged to the dark side, filled with hate and evil. the people in the pit that were "dragged in" are trying to clean out their wounds (from evil) with dirty fingers, (evil fingers) "to be afraid of evryhing that comes from within" means that they are evil "in" the pit, and many fear it. though, i may be wrong.

This song sounded kind of Coldplayish.

Definitely not a bad thing.

This song is obviously about drugs and the ruined lives of several teenagers who were stupid enough to submit to whatever it was that gave them an addiction and took over their lives. As @nomadakza said, there is an interview about how an old book about a twisted teenage hangout of some sort influenced the song. This gives a lot of evidence of what it is about.

"I’m marching through the branches in a fit of wanderlust To see you in a black hole reaching out for something just Silhouettes of neighbors dancing in disgust"

This omnipresent singer sees this young person reaching for drugs to take his mind off of pain they feel (hence it's something "just"). He is telling this person about how disgusted his neighbors would be to hear of his position in involvement with drugs, and yet he is aware this person will continue.

"I’m sure you recognize my noise and you heard about the Pit Been told to be afraid of everything that lives within But it’s much worse where you are So will you go for it?"

Pretty much everyone teen has heard about drugs and the bad things associated with it, and how you should fear them, etc. But now that this teen is taking drugs, they're living the fears they've been told about, and the singer is asking if they'll keep going deeper into this addiction with the information they already knew.

"Somebody somewhere Will clean out your wounds With dirty fingers We’ll bury the lie"

If anyone finds out this person is taking drugs, they would be in serious trouble. Anyone trying to help would be cleaning out the wounds "with dirty fingers," meaning they're involvement would increase the deep depression or problem the teen is feeling, and putting them deeper into the pit; in more trouble, and maybe in a place to do even more drugs, as the addiction has picked up pace. So he must bury the lie.

"Now we tumble down a hill to a fire with a crowd The flicker becomes thicker as we bottom out The residents don’t even notice the sudden shouts"

This shows the realization that the society of others around the same age as this victim are almost all in as much trouble with mental disorders, bad influences, drugs, etc. and they don't even realize this young man's trouble, as they have their own issues to solve.

"When your eyes can adjust and you see what’s in view Discolored and distempered smiles that seen you Do you realize we were all once like you?"

I think this is very interesting. It is kind of a side note, showing that everyone starts innocent, and in denial that they could possibly end up in such a bad place in the future; but it happens, and as it continues a realization comes that life is very dark, and the situation is inescapable. They're in a heavily populated pit of teenagers who have ruined their own lives.

"We can talk about it later But I think you’ve given in We can talk about it later But I think you’ve given in"

The negative truth: Most people with drug addictions don't end up so well in the end, and so the singer eerily presents this fact, and shows how big of a trouble the teenager is in (as well as his peers), ad they ares stuck in the pit they never thought they would end up in, and probably won't escape.

I think Brian is singing about religion, or lack thereof. He's talking to someone who is maybe thinking about abandoning his/her belief system, and he's saying "Hey, we've all been in this situation. Come join us, and make some noise, even though you've been told not to."

This is someone struggling in there life and The Pit is reference to Hell. and is being tempted and is failing if you follow the song the lose there battle and join the dark side.

The cool thing about songs, poems, etc. is that a person's interpretation for the most part depends on that person's personal feelings and life experiences. All of the comments I've read so far made sense after I read the explanation, but to me it has a more personal connection. I struggled with addiction for a long time and ended up on methadone. To me the pit symbolizes methadone - something everyone (even methadone patients) say is much harder to get off of than opiates. I've heard that methadone is never the way to go - by current and former methadone users, but in my opinion, it's much worse where I was (the toll it was taking on me physically, mentally, emotionally, etc. when I was using .You guys might totally disagree with me, but this is always been how I related to the song. I'm not going to explain how every line relates to this theory for me, but I did just want to add my opinion.

Also, I like the church analysis. Since religion has never been a big part of my life, that connection never crossed my mind. Again, you may totally disagree with me, but we all the right to analyze songs, poems, art, etc. based on our personal experiences, knowledge, and worldview.

My opinion, yi, the pit is death, being human is the beginning maybe idk but we all turn to dirt yaddidi?

to add... I have done meth to the point where I didn't eat, sleep, or drink really for about a week or more maybe a bit but for real couldn't eat, made me puke(thought all food was alive in a weird way and I lived by destroying it) but couldn't puke cause no water no food but I finally walked to the river and was by the water and I think I heard the shouts and the noise is the quiet things about life that I never noticed before, until I lost my mind... anyway I went to my mom the only person who I knew would help me she took me to Kaiser I was 5150 for 3 days went to a psych ward in Oakland saw some real crazy people and they let me go after a little while obviously I didn't share my experience because I wanted out but it sticks with me... I've buried the lie if you know what I mean and also when we bury people it's burying the lie...

the people I came in contact with after cleaned my wounds I had a heightened sense of awareness for awhile but eventually lost it