Telescope

Personally I think it's about Matt believing in the multi-verse theory and in this particular universe he's not the lead singer of Cage the elephant.

And he is basically becomes really introverted(he probably is in real life), I think if he had never found CTE his life would be different and he has no idea what he could have done.

It's super relatable to me since I can be such an anti-social sometimes, and I blame others for not being there. Perfect song for loners out there(me included).

I think the telescope is a mirror. I think he is actually talking about his life: "Inside my telescope I see A PAIR OF EYES LOOK BACK AT ME He walks and talks and looks like me..." I read in an interview he said he really struggled to pull this song out. Maybe that's why.

And then, the chorus: "I don't think you understand! There's nowhere left to turn Walls keep breaking" I think this is trying to say you can do whatever you want with your life really, but everyone just says there are "walls" which keep us from living a different life. Normally people turn when they see there are no walls, but this song is saying there are no walls at all, we are free, and there is some anxiety and fear about this too as I see it. Sorry for my English ;)

The song makes me think of the self reflection that is life, how our eyes are telescopes, looking out from the windows of our soul and that we find self-judgment on our selves. We tell other people how we think of our selves It's always "you're not like that don't say that" but you know what they won't understand they never will understand it's the indifference in all of us we can never fully understand each other. In all of our judgement we feel lonely, and we pass on time feeling lonely doing whatever, forever is not so long and time is either spent right or wasted on the things and decisions we could of, should of, and would of done. You feel boxed in and eventually when you've gotten used to the judgement that is the foundation of your box, your imprisonment within judgement, the walls you've been familiar with seem to fade slowly. things begin to change, and your judgement along the lines does so as well staying on the end of a double edge where you either go along with the time that is passing by, where the destruction of your box is the creation withing your own new judgement on your self, or you choose to be the same with your self and confirm to time you've wasted and you keep on with the same hoping you won't waste it again. This was like my first comment I hope I did well

I think the song is about complete depression as the lead singer speaks as if he's looking at his life from the outside and isn't able to do anything about what's happening.

I also get this idea from the chorus: "I don't think you understand! There's nowhere left to turn Walls keep breaking"

This means that people don't get what depressed people are like and think it can be cured. The song is saying then that no matter what he tries, his life just keeps on falling around him.

"Telescope is also a song that happened relatively quickly. Again, I was sitting in my living room. A lot of times, I find myself sitting in my living room staring at a blank TV screen for hours on end—especially this winter. It's not so much like that anymore. You ask yourself, "What am I doing? What the heck?" I wanted to write about my situation, but I didn't want to write about it by saying, "Here, this is my story!" If we could watch ourselves in our houses and our behaviors, that's what I was thinking. It was the first time I'd ever been home in an extended period of time. We'd been on the road for five years. There were so many times where I was like, "Okay, I'm standing in the living room. Now, I'm going to stand in the kitchen!" I'd obsess over dusting the countertops or making sure everything is in its right place. For what reason when there's a world of people out there to be conversed with? "Telescope" is a great reflection on this winter and a portrait into it coming from my standpoint. It has strong roots in that feeling of imminent doom. You think, "My tooth hurts. Do I have a cavity that's impacted? Is it going to cause an infection in my jaw and go to my brain and kill me?" [Laughs] That was very detailed so you know I'm being honest!" Read more at http://www.artistdirect.com/entertainment-news/article/matt-shultz-of-cage-the-elephant-talks-melophobia/10744471#rLltcG8oRlPQpTez.99

I love this song about the paralysis of being human and feeling alone. I liked the other comments I read here, but I have one question. Something about the second verse where the lines go "Desperately searching for signs to terrify, to find a thing" doesn't make sense to me. Are we sure these are the actual words and not "Desperately searching for signs, too terrified to find a thing."? Doesn't that second version make a lot more sense, as well as sound more true to what the song is saying? I wonder if this is actually what the band is singing. Anyway if anyone has a comment I'd love to hear. Thx.

Simply, it's a song a self-reflection, what he discovered about himself & situation, and the losses he's sustain, wasted time (pointless pursuits) and the connection with others. We build protective walls around ourselves, for various reasons, though those walls are not really solid (pointless pursuit) and don't offer any real long-lasting permanent protection. In living within those walls, we lose real connections with others whom can make us feel less alone and can possibly make life more enjoyable and worth living.

GUYS it's not "trying to be scared" it's "trying to escape!" I thought they said "scared" at first, but in this video, they are clearly saying "escape." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6GcWz4y3kU&index=46&list=PLJZXjcIjebAdxkmgCMCEtOOkko0U3m4Tt

This song is about a man who is a recluse and tends to avoid the rest of society. When it says "in a far and distant galaxy" it is meant that the man is looking from his own standpoint of society through a "telescope," which actually serves as a mirror in which he is looking at his own reflection..."he walks and talks and looks like me." I can relate to this song being that I'm in high school and there have been times where I have felt nobody wants to be my friend or I would question myself as to why I'm not popular and would resolve this by confirming that I am unsocial and would begin to feel depressed. It got to a point where I wanted to switch to a new school to be with some closer friends of mine to feel comfortable and people would question why I wanted to leave, thus the quote "I don't think you understand, there's nowhere left to turn," tied into what my answer would have been. "Walls keep breaking" is an example of the falling apart of everything going for the man. I also think that this song may be about the the singer of CTE Matt, because he's encouraging people that since "time is like a leaf in the wind, either it's time well spent or time I've wasted. Don't waste it."

When I first heard this song, I thought about teenage angst. The lines: "Just like you, I've been tryin'/To be scared" reminds me of how desperate teenagers are to feel pain as though they can get it out of the way and move on with their life. There's this idea that we're taught from an early age that growing old means becoming miserable. A lot of kids try to escape that by finding a passion. I hear this as the narrator trying to determine how he can escape the misery but getting depressed by the entire concept of age and the wasting of youth.