Earth

I think this song is about a person who lives a life without God.

They spend their time digging in the Earth and becoming filthy through the dirty secrets of mankind. If only they would "brush off the dirt" and let their heart be changed. However, whether they do or not, they will still be appraised and judged before the eyes of God.

The glass house is their whole world, but it's sitting unstably on dangerous fault lines that might collapse the house at any moment. Despite this imminent danger, they continue living life as if it wasn't teetering on the edge of destruction. They deceive themselves in thinking that "live[ing] without a lifeline" is actually a courageous thing to do. In thinking this, they "bend the definition of faith" to convince themselves that ignoring the bad situation is okay because they believe that trust in the situation and their own ability is more important than their faith in God, their only true lifeline. They think "'til the sirens sound, I'm safe," meaning that they believe their treacherous situation is okay because they still have time before the emergency earthquake sirens are sounding telling everyone to evacuate the house. They won't change their ruinous lifestyle until it's too late and everything they know and love collapses all around them.

When the house finally comes crashing down it's a chaotic mess, and everyone near them is affected and swept away in the wreckage of their life. They waited too long for the inevitable disaster from living a foolish life that couldn't sustain itself, and now they're all suffering from its collapse. The countdown to utter destruction has begun and it's "too late too pull itself together." The echo is God, and being "as wide as the equator" shows that He is the one thing big and powerful enough to contend with the Earth. He is the one relief from collapse, travelling "through a world of built up anger" to redeem it.

There was destruction in the collapse, but it was an agent of change. In their fear, they ended up making the situation worse until they were completely helpless to the forces ripping them apart. In their desperation, they realized that there was nothing to do but "fold [their] hands and pray." When they prayed, things changed "like a domino," and the flames rose to engulf them.

The flames weren't there to wipe them out, however. They were there to save them. Think of the parable of the potter. God shaped everyone from a formless lump of clay into a truly beautiful creation, but even a beautiful pot is of no use to anyone until it has been through the fire of the kiln. Thus, it's not until they've surrendered and cried out to God that they're put through the final fire that brings about their change in heart and saves them from destruction. The Earth can be redeemed.

When I listened to this and also read the comments here, I laughed.

Because when I listened to it I heard a song about the flaws of religion misused to ignore science, in this case global warming. Where the sirens would be emergency sirens, and we are safe from the effects of global warming until it affects us personally. All the natural disasters would be caused by our previous ignorance and not doing anything to prepare for or prevent the effects of global warming. And the auction is the auction of the earth and its resources that are overused and abused every day.

Though I laughed because it's true you could listen to it and hear a warning to keep faith in God, and that makes just as much sense. I love this about music and art in general, how everyone who experiences a work of art experiences it a little differently even though it's the exact same piece of art.

Personally, I think it's about the greenhouse effect and the pollution in general.

I dig ’til my shovel tells a secret, Swear to the Earth that I will keep it, Brush off the dirt And let my change of heart occur.

I'm looking for answers until I finally know what is wrong here and I finally get to know the problem and want to change this.

Sold soon after the appraisal, The hammer struck the auction table Louder than anything I’ve ever heard.

But we are doomed, aren't we? Isn't it too late to do something about it?

Fault lines tremble underneath my glass house. But I put it out of my mind Long enough to call it courage To live without a lifeline. I bend the definition Of faith to exonerate my blind eye.

The first signs of earth going down are there, but we act like we don't see it until we really think it isn't there.

"'til the sirens sound, I’m safe."

Until there is a siren that declares our doom, that declares that the greenhouse effect isn't to be stopped I am safe and can do what I want.

Meanwhile, my family’s taking shelter. The sparks send the fire down the wire, A countdown begins, Until the dynamite gives in.

Meanwhile, the earth is REALLY going down and his family has found shelter while the last mines are looted with tons of dynamite, although there is no green left.

The echo, as wide as the equator, Travels through a world of built up anger- Too late to pull itself together now.

It is too late to change something now. And the news about the inevitable are traveling through the world of anger.

There was an earthquake. There was an avalanche of change. We were so afraid, We cried ourselves a hurricane. There were floods, Tidal waves over us, So we folded our hands and prayed. Like a domino, These wildfires grow and grow Until a brand new world takes shape.

So there is it: The apocalypse, the natural catastrophes. And everything has come to an end and a new world without us will shape.."

I think this song is a back-and-forth dialogue between humanity and Earth. It can be read from different POVs, for example, the whole song works as a song from man to earth, but I also feel that I can hear Earth itself speaking.

Fault lines tremble underneath my glass house. But I put it out of my mind Long enough to call it courage To live without a lifeline.

The "Fault lines" can be seen as the tectonic plates and shifts happening under the Earth's crust, or "glass house." But the Earth has been around for crazy long, it has seen so many eras and epochs. It watched the dinosaurs live and die, both out of its own soil and because of the destruction that happens inside it. That's why it decides to "put it out of my mind, long enough to call it courage"

What I find beautiful here is that the Earth isn't reduced to one emotion or expression, it's being personified into a very complex character. Although it has been living "without a lifeline" because the Earth itself offers life to everything on it yet, when drastic disasters happen, like the extinction of entire species (maybe even the extinction of humanity one day if we don't get it together), the Earth stays alive, she doesn't die. She continues on, with a "blind eye" that does not know when it all ends.

Yet, the Earth feels the pain of disasters along with its inhabitants.

We were so afraid, We cried ourselves a hurricane. There were floods, Tidal waves over us, So we folded our hands and prayed. Like a domino, These wildfires grow and grow Until a brand new world takes shape.

Personally? I like to think its the Earth taking some kind of revenge. It collapses down on top of everything it's created, and rebuilds itself. To me, it sounds like the speaker knows, and doesn't want to continue on- hence, "until the sirens sound, I'm safe."

You people that think it is about the environment crack me up. Emily is the only one with a clue, and I applaud her for her interpretation. It is a metaphor, using natural disasters and aspects of Earth, but he is talking about faith. Not a guess.

I think the song could be written to show modern day society and it’s flaws.

Starting with the first line, “I dig ’til my shovel tells a secret, Swear to the Earth that I will keep it, Brush off the dirt And let my change of heart occur.” Assuming this secret is more literal, this person is told a secret, but they try to brush it off in attempt to change their way of heart, much like many people in society need.

Then moving on to the chorus, “Fault lines tremble underneath my glass house. But I put it out of my mind Long enough to call it courage To live without a lifeline. I bend the definition Of faith to exonerate my blind eye. "'til the sirens sound, I’m safe."” Maybe instead of fault lines being the actual lines of fault below the earth’s surface, it’s more figurative for people’s faults in life and how they could cause society (the glass house) to collapse, but this person chooses to move past it. Then moving to the part about faith, maybe it’s not necessarily lacking religious beliefs, but other sort of beliefs and they stop believing to give rest to not only their eyes, but their mind, too.

Then moving on to the second verse, “Meanwhile, my family’s taking shelter. The sparks send the fire down the wire, A countdown begins, Until the dynamite gives in.

The echo, as wide as the equator, Travels through a world of built up anger- Too late to pull itself together now.” The dynamite could be figuratively used as society’s anger and distress and how it will eventually turn into chaos. The world is so full of anger and sadness and it’s gotten to the point of no return to when it was all still held together.

Then the bridge, “There was an earthquake. There was an avalanche of change. We were so afraid, We cried ourselves a hurricane. There were floods, Tidal waves over us, So we folded our hands and prayed. Like a domino, These wildfires grow and grow Until a brand new world takes shape.” In this part of the song, Ryan describes this list of natural disasters surrounding this person. I like to believe it’s all a metaphor for how eventually (if not already) society will fall apart unless we do something about it. That’s when this person decides to pray or place their belief somewhere and everything starts to resolve. Society is burnt down and starts to regrow into something better than it was before.

I know people are commenting that this about faith or environmentalism but each time I listen to this, I hear a tragic heartbreak spoken in beautiful metaphor.

“Fault lines tremble underneath my glass house.” This sounds like the instability of depression always there rumbling away. The glass house being our body, heart, or mind.

“But I put it out of my mind, Long enough to call it courage, To live without a lifeline.” The author is ignoring the warning signs, and isn’t seeking help.

“I bend the definition of faith to exonerate my blind eye. "'til the sirens sound, I’m safe." “ This is blind faith, even when they shouldn’t have faith that things are okay. The last part is feels like a declaration which put another way is “until the sirens sound off, I’ll be alright”

“There was an earthquake” This is where our depressive episode begins. The contrast here from water (tears, crying) to fires (the pain itself) where the author is begging for something to save him “we folded our hands and prayed” “Until a new world takes shape” past the episode.

This is a beautiful song and each time, I hear the struggles of someone in immense pain, whether it’s triggered from a unfaithful breakup or someone who is suffering from mental illness, the poetry in these lyrics always brings a tear to my eye.