Char

I think that lazyoli does a pretty good job digging up clues. I wanna say it probably is about being gay.

"I'm afraid that they might find you" could be like hiding in the closet, the secret might get out that he or she is gay.

"Time to punish with lashes" could be referring to the extreme punishment when people see the slight signs or proof that s/he is gay. Could also refer to self harm, as punishment or a coping mechanism from the depression caused by the thought that s/he is commiting a crime when s/he is his/herself.

I will add that the lyric might be "let's just say you didn't want to" instead of "next year say you didn't want to" Or possibly even "next you'll say you didn't want to" I think the first makes more sense though. As in they make him/her go out and act a certain way (possibly his/her parents and /or society) when that's not who s/he is or even wants to be.

Sallow skin bc of death, now they can't choose to brush it under the rug. It was what it was, and now it's lead to suicide. This ties together the "hiding in the locket" as someone who's passed away and their picture is kept in a locket in memory of them...

"Wood ticks whisper to console you" the sound of the pen on paper as s/he writes their suicide note... Or possibly just writing in a diary constantly as a coping mechanism. In which case the death could be of the old version of her/him who let him/herself be someone else in order to please others and fulfill expectations. They could be turning a new leaf and keeping an old picture of themselves tucked away in a locket...

Could also be about being/realizing your transgendered and people finding out..

nothing yet? ok, let me throw some random stuff at you:

Char - heating, burning of wood in a vacuum, without air. what does wood stand for? the guy who is spoken to? leftovers of a burning. what is left after a destructive fire under pressure. nature that is used as an instrument or in an industrial way. chemical process. wood is something alive (tree) or at least used to be. char is the dead, treated rest that is left behind. ash.

I'm afraid they're gonna find you. - who? why afraid? Why are they looking for him? Is he hiding? And there's nothing that I can do A century of your priceless time - why priceless? 100 years?? nobody gets that old! speaker wants a brazen amount of time, more than the span of a usual life time, to do something that breaks the laws of society. To commit a victimless crime - what crime is victimless? e.g. homosexuality (or used to be), drugs. the speaker animates the guy who is spoken to to break societal norms. victims doesn't see himself as a victim but society does through (antiquated) laws. Vow to caress your rashes - comfort for something that itches, that you cannot forget, that is constantly annoying you. disease. Pariah. externally obviously visibly sick. vow = religious conotation. sacred, holy. Vow to punish with lashes - punish with a whip. who? speaker or society? "the others"? sado. You can hide inside my locket - why locket? private. usually photos of loved ones inside a locket. again hiding. hide from society. hide activities, relationships. speaker probably female (singer is anyway). a relationship with no secrets vs. society.

Put a leash on when they walk you - sado. like a dog. who puts on the leash? they. Next year say you didn't want to - why year?? late justification, excuse. after a relatively long time. Do they chastise you when you stray - sado. chastise. religion again. deviating from norms is punished. speaker experiences it from afar. from a watcher perspective. not there. not part of it. Sallow skin and they can't look away - bleak skin? from what? from staying indoors? from being dead? why cant "they" look away? shocking? different? control?

Start a collection of brine - dried saltwater. chemical again. tears. he/she cries so much that he/she can start a collection of dried tears. Because all you do is cry ^ Wood ticks whisper to console you - wood again. living on wood. wood ticks don't whisper. the guy spoken to is looking for comfort, but ticks don't really spent comfort. they suck blood. parasites. humans who take advantage of the weakness of others.

All you do is cry... the one spoken to is very sad.

My interpretation is an indictment of a prison system for wrongly imprisoning those who hurt noone in their illegal actions. Significantly, the album name is "Amnesty". A person, I assume a woman, is visiting her wrongly imprisoned love

"Char" - the prisoner is completely different from before imprisonment. Like dead wood instead of a thriving tree.

"I'm afraid they're gonna find you" - she is worried they will catch the prisoner when prisoner tries escape "And there's nothing that I can do" - she feels powerless "A century of your priceless time" - prisoner received a life sentence "To commit a victimless crime" - she thinks the crime should not be illegal as nobody hurt by it

"Vow to caress your rashes" - she will comfort the prisoner's smallest of discomforts "Vow to punish with lashes" - she will battle the authorities such as to get prisoner released by embarassing them in media statements about how noone hurt for example "You can hide inside my locket" - she has a photo of the prisoner in jewellery she wears

"Put a leash on when they walk you" - the prison authorities watch or otherwise restrain when prisoner in the exercise yard "Next year say you didn't want to" - she gives prisoner hope by saying a future option is prisoner to say they didn't want to do the crime except was put under pressure from others for example "Do they chastise you when you stray" - she asks do the authorities criticize the prisoner when prisoner goes near the exercise yard boundary or might the prison guards be sympathetic to an escape attempt "Sallow skin and they can't look away" - the prison authorities are fascinated by how sickly in appearance the prisoner has become in prison and is possibly suicidal so under close watch

"Start a collection of brine" - salty water from the depressed prisoner's tears "Because all you do is cry" - desparately unhappy in prison "Wood ticks whisper to console you" - the prison conditions are unhealthy. Such as housing with the type of insects that transmit disease though she in unaware the insects make no noise when she says to him to seek sources of comfort, as she is not in prison herself

Ok, personally I feel you all have gotten it wrong. I personally feel this song is about an abuser speaking to his victim, most likely a victim of sexual abuse or assault. In the context of the victim not having come forward yet and the abuser feeling guilt and Mabee fear.

I'm afraid they're gonna find you (obvious, abuser afraid police will find victim or victim will come forward allowing the public to "find them") And there's nothing that I can do (again, obvious it's out of the abusers control as to whether the victim ever chooses to come forward)

A century of your priceless time (the time the victim was being abused, alluded to with sarcasm and a degrading additude toward the victim) To commit a victimless crime (the abuser obviously don't view it as a crime or as hurting anyone, the old line they wanted for it, she was asking for it, they never said no) Vow to caress your rashes (abusers often follow abuse with kindness whether it be real, manipulative, or just remorse, such as bandaging injuries or gifts) Vow to punish with lashes (talking about the abuse, but in my mind this also brings in a possible s&m metaphor) You can hide inside my locket (not actually to sure what this means, Mabee the abuser keeping their relationship a secret but that's totally just a gues) Put a leash on when they walk you (ok I'm sorry this screams s&m to me I would dispute that this could have any other possible meaning. and again alluding to a sexual nature of the relationship) Next year say you didn't want to (when victims come forward about the abuse, saying they didn't consent) Do they chastise you when you stay (people, the public saying why didn't you just leave, how could you countinue to work, live, stay with that person for days, months, years) Sallow skin and they can't look away (the unhealthy nature of the relationship/abuse? , they can't look away, the public s fascination with celebrities and true crime, including domestic violence, sexual abuse etc. this is also a gues again not sure on this one) Start a collection of brine (again a metaphor to the next line all you do is cry, brine has to do with and forms from the sea and saltwater so could be a sarcastic degrading coment toward the victims "tears" or aligations of abuse.) Because all you do is cry (delegitimizing the aligations to just complaints or dememation) Wood ticks whisper to console you (again Mabee deligitimizing the supporters of the victim or those who believe them? again another gues) Rly feel like I'm right in the vast majority of this though

Definitely about drugs / addiction...heroin me thinks

I thought I knew what this sing was about, but after reading others interpretations I am not sure.

I was always under the impression the song, and album had to do with cults. I pictured one of the girls from the album cover trying to be free of the ranch and the terrible affect on her sisters.

Anyone?

To me it sounds like addiction.

It promises to ease the pain of your "rashes" - make the pain of living easier at the time of consuming.

Punish with lashes - pronises to bring you more pain later on down the line.

Locket - keep the substance hidden in your locket, it is a bringer of shame.

The substance of their addiction puts them on a leash, it makes them its bitch, compliant to what it asks. The addict is not 100% at fault but also definitely not a pure victim. They had at least a part in leading there so they "strayed" off the accepted path.

The signs of abusing the body show through the sallow skin. It is noticed and observed but can't be proved simply by this. They file away in their memory of the subject possibly being an addict to a harmful substance. Nothing is done without proof of course but the attention is unwanted and brings the author shame.

The shame causes them to deny whatever role they played in paving the path to their own destruction.

The question on being chastized is asked - no reason to why but i think they feel those who dont understand their position are judging them lacking and chastizing them, whether it is said aloud or not imo they feel looked down on, like others judge them as failures or trash. Unworthy. I know im reaching.

Their choice of using has led them to isolation and anxiety of being found out or locked up or just being thought of as shit. This person doesnt find the solitude peaceful leading to low emotion, like crying. They miss when they could truly trust someone, beforw they had dependancy on something they must keepbsecret due to rhw fear of judgement, from the law or people you once thought cared about you.

The factors of physical harm and severing of real relationships are both caused by this thing that is walking em through life on its leash. If they were healthy they might have got 100 years. They are both the victim and abuser, they cant get help because they will be punished for their actions, cry. Abused and abuser.

Just an idea.

I think it's about the damages of overprotection.

"I'm afraid they're gonna find you" "to commit a victimless crime" the person is doing something forbidden, who's afraid is someone that cares about him (or her). Maybe, the same person in "you can hide inside my locket", but considering that a locket carry a memory of a beloved one, it can be interpreted in many different ways. "And there's nothing that I can do".

"sallow skin and they can't look away" here the person is clearly depressed, but the overprotection stills the same

"put a leash on when they walk you" people overprotected use to be traumatized and act different when they're being watched

"next year say you didn't want to" he is waiting for things to get better as he grows old, or for get courage to react

"do they chastise when you stray" "vow to caress your rashes" "vow to punish with lashes", there's violence and it's hidden behind affection

I'm brazilian, I'm sorry if I wrote something wrong

To me, this song is a direct reflection of how it feels to lose someone close (and young) to suicide. The most obvious evidence of this is the phrase "A century of your priceless time, to commit a victimless crime" - trading the priceless potential of a human life for a crime directed at no one else.

"They" can refer to both the thoughts and individuals who pushed the person to suicide. The first lines reflect the powerlessness of viewing your loved one from an outside perspective, hoping they can somehow manage to avoid "them" before maturing enough to resist.

"Vow to caress your rashes, vow to punish with lashes, you can hide inside my locket" perfectly summarizes the panicked and helpless transition between fear for the person's life and anger towards those responsible. The final line feels like a plea before the person begins their eternal rest in closely held memory.

The next paragraph is the instructions that never made it to the person - go along with the pain until you grow enough to move on. Do "they" chastise you for trying to save yourself? "They" cannot resign from their actions in the end - forced to look upon the sallow skin of the dead.

The following paragraph is more abstract, but resonates with me. Crying alone for an extremely long time in a forest, no other humans to be found. The voice of the song keeps repeating "and there's nothing that I can do", reinforcing this loneliness.

The ending of each paragraph is what actually happened, with the lines before showing the thoughts of the voice behind the song.

--

Having seen both sides of this, and death around me, this song has always stuck with me. Those who take their own lives view themselves to be entirely alone the entire time, and those who lose somebody in the end believe there was nothing they can do.

Both of these views were wrong in the end, and both people knew deep down they were wrong the entire time. Nothing can change now. I believe this song reflects this in a sad and beautiful way.