A Rumor of Skin

The album which this song comes from is in and of itself one half of the double concept album House of Gold and Bones, based on the graphic novel of the same name. The setup is this: A character called the Human wakes up in a surreal landscape with no idea how he got there. He is led to a building, whereupon he is greeted by a smoky mess, which eventually coalesces into Allen. Allen tells the Human that he has to find the House of Gold and Bones before an event called The Conflagration happens, and all the while, he's being pursued by Black John and his gang of Numbers. That first meeting is what this song is about. More specifically, this song is a dialogue between the Human and Allen.

First, you have to understand that there is some context to this song that really isn't apparent until you've read the entire story. In this case, that context is (SPOILERS) the world that the Human has awoken to is a manifestation of his consciousness and life experiences. Allen, who eventually becomes the antagonist, is the manifestation of the dark side of The Human, heavily influenced by memories of The Human's abusive father of the same name in the real world. This ties into the line in the song that says, "with all my coldest memories of you." But that's just scratching the surface.

During this meeting in the graphic novel, Allen gives us a two quotes in particular that can help us analyze this further:

"I hate you more than you hate yourself." "There's nothing wrong with what I am, and I'll defy anyone who tells me otherwise."

Given that Allen is a part of the Human, these quotes into the chorus line, "I don't mind my own self-loathing, and I don't need help from you." We can safely assume that this line is The Human referring to himself whilst rebuking Allen. By that token, we can also assume that the lines, "No one hates me quite like you/What makes someone hate like you?" is likewise The Human referring to Allen.

It's revealed throughout the story (though the answer as to how the Human ended up where he is remains ambiguous) that this journey is meant to be a sort of self-discovery for the Human; his chance to accept his mistakes and vanquish his inner demons. So at this point in the story, where the Human is still searching for answers, it makes sense that Allen would taunt him by saying "You believe that you're innocent, you're relieving your guilt". Again, this ties into a quote from Allen during this first meeting: "You are feeling vibrations of what you are, but not what happened, and that puts you at a disadvantage, because I. Remember. Everything."

Now it's also worth noting that there is a third voice in this song, singing the melody line from Gone Sovereign during the last chorus. I'm not so sure what that means.