With Any Sort of Certainty

So I think at this point it is pretty clear to any frequent listener of Streetlight or Kalnoky that Thomas has experienced suicide or suicidal behavior in a close relationship be it a friend, family member, or partner. To me this song reminds me a lot of the stuff off of Everything Goes Numb.

Did you ever think that we’d be three steps from the ledge? Contemplating awful things and thinking about the end Nobody mentioned that the pieces wouldn’t fit You could rearrange them all you want but the puzzle it was rigged

This verse is clearly and explicitly describing suicide and the thoughts associated with the contemplation. The diction expresses a sort of hopelessness that is logically associated with the taking of one's life.

No one knows where the soul goes when we die, when we die Some say to nowhere some will say the sky, to the sky It’s all the same, and surely some will find it strange But I prefer the mystery remains, unexplained

This verse describes Thomas's spiritual beliefs. The words are very agnostic in nature. Then the final line of the verse illustrates that he finds comfort in the mystery of not knowing, perhaps because deep down he wants to be united with those who have passed, specifically the potential relation that killed themselves.

Oh my God I will, hold my tongue and I’ll breathe easily If anyone can say with any sort of certainty that there is something to believe

This drives the agnosticism further.

We swore we’d never stray Right before we went our separate ways And now we’re looking back, we’re second guessing all the choices that we made Who would’ve thought, we’d fought so long, we started to see Our enemies turned into friends, our friends to enemies and we sat somewhere in the between But I heard someone say they knew that someday that everything would fall into its place And everything would be fine And I really truly honestly without a doubt want to believe that everything will be alright

These lines seem to narrate struggles in the relationship with the person who the song is addressing. If the subject of the song did in fact commit suicide, this could reflect potential guilt of the slipping relationship.

Although this analysis relies on a few inferences, I strongly believe I have at least pegged a piece of the meaning. Perhaps the subject of this song is the same as in The Saddest Song and A Better Place, A Better Time. Anyways, I hope more people will comment and contribute to the discussion, I would love to see some more points of view.

This song seems to be, judging by the video released with it, touching on the life of a man suffering from some sort of PTSD.

Did you ever think that we’d be three steps from the ledge? Contemplating awful things and thinking about the end

Clearly having thought of suicide at some point or another in his life, the only thing keeping this man living through his life is that his friends are able to tell him "with any sort of certainty that there is something to believe."

"[He] really truly honestly without a doubt wants to believe that everything will be alright," but the cruel realities of the world (war, murder, accidental tragedy) are putting him down as quickly as he can bring himself up. As such, he can rely on his friends to remind him that there is something to believe in.

This song leads me to believe that it is about not knowing and the struggle of coming to terms with potentially never knowing.

"I don’t know where the sun goes every night, every night Or where the moon goes when it’s light, when it’s light"

these lines appear to be talking more about behavior, in my eyes. The sun/moon contrast seems likely to be about how people really are versus how they act under the public's scrutiny. He realizes that there are social constructs of appropriate and inappropriate actions and states that it doesn't seem to bother him. Maybe even implying that knowing would be far worse of a burden than not.

"No one knows where the soul goes when we die, when we die Some say to nowhere some will say the sky, to the sky It’s all the same, and surely some will find it strange But I prefer the mystery remains, unexplained"

The narrator presents another fact of uncertainty. He acknowledges that this is a controversial topic "some will find it strange" regarding how he views it being "all the same". Again, he seems to prefer the element of uncertainty. This time it seems more because it seems to be irrelevant to him here and now "It's all the same".

"Oh my God I will hold my tongue and I’ll breathe, easily If anyone can say with any sort of certainty that there is something to believe"

Here the narrator seems to become frustrated. He has to stop and "breathe easily" after which he asks desperately "if anyone can say with any sort of certainty that there is something to believe" inviting this individual to tell him what there is to believe in.

"Did you ever think that we’d be three steps from the ledge? Contemplating awful things and thinking about the end Nobody mentioned that the pieces wouldn’t fit You could rearrange them all you want but the puzzle it was rigged"

The narrator and someone close seem to have a sort of existential crisis. They are both contemplating suicide "three steps from the ledge" "contemplating awful things". The narrator realizes that there doesn't seem to be sense or reason for our being "Nobody mentioned that the pieces wouldn't fit". And that there is little anyone can do to change anything "You could rearrange them all you want but the puzzle it was rigged"

"We swore we’d never stray Right before we went our separate ways And now we’re looking back, we’re second guessing all the choices that we made"

The narrator continues his monologue with his loved one, mentioning a broken promise of never "straying". He wonders if this had been the right choice and finds himself in a complex web of "what ifs". "And now we’re looking back, we’re second guessing all the choices that we made"

"And I don't care if the ship sinks, and we drown, we can drown Or if the plane crashes straight into the ground, to the ground As long as I Had a chance to close my eyes Had a moment to realize That it was time, it was time, it was time"

In essence, this line expresses the narrator's wish for certainty. He states that before he dies, he wants to have "a moment" to recognize "it was time". It seems to me he feels like he is owed this moment of certainty after living in a life riddled with uncertainty.

"Who would’ve thought, we’d fought so long, we started to see Our enemies turned into friends, our friends to enemies and we sat somewhere in the between"

The narrator once again, is reflecting on the change he has experienced. Noting how his social environment has changed drastically "our enemies turned into friends, our friends to enemies". He almost seems to imply that it happened without any sort of action from himself or his loved one "we sat somewhere in between"

"But I heard someone say they knew that someday that everything would fall into its place And everything would be fine And I really truly honestly without a doubt want to believe that everything will be alright"

Finally, the narrator ties back in the puzzle analogy with a recollection of comforting words say "But I heard someone say they knew that someday that everything would fall into its place" and is comforted by being told "everything would be fine". Through this memory the narrator finally builds up expressing that though it is an uncertainty ("really truly honestly without a doubt WANT to believe...) he chooses to believe that "everything will be alright"