By and Down the River

I think this is about the metaphorical death of a childhood hero.

(Moving in and out of the shadow It's no easy mission, holding on to how I picture you) He's trying to remember the good times, but he feels betrayed so these memories have been soured by what this person has done.

(Showing only bits and pieces) Showing only the parts that make this person seem positive

('Til the tide betrays you and your empty allocution) then the person is unmasked (betrayed by the tide) and all he has left is his confession of guilt. (allocution is a formal statement of guilt before a trial)

(Searching your eyes for a hint or a trace of humility Searching your eyes for the saint is an act of futility) He desperately wants to believe that this person is truly remorseful for what he has done but it feels false to him.

(Float the Piper by and down the river) This is the part that makes me think it is a childhood hero because the Pied piper led the children from the village in the fairytale.

(Caught his crippled alchemy from pounding waves of adoration) Alchemy is the study of turning base metals into gold amongst other things. This person seemed almost magical but now the magical qualities he adored seem tarnished and in his anger he dismisses these qualities as lies too (crippled alchemy).

(Pied Piper, float on down the river Bloated carcass crippled me, the weight of adoration Moving in and out of the shadows It's no easy mission, holding on to how I picture you) He finishes the song knowing that he has to leave this person in the past (float on down the river) but his betrayal feels so personal and he longs for how he used to remember him before he did what he did.

This one’s a little harder for me to read. It kind of looks like it’s about the people in higher places or rich and famous avoiding consequences of their doings. As if he knows that somebody - who is adored - did something bad, but he shows no signs of humility or regret and is still pictured as crystal clear. Instead of paying the Piper, he kills the Piper and floats him down the river to keep his position.

This is a song about a pop-culture hero - predator. Someone who was worshipped for their beauty / art, but in secret preyed on children. The Pied Piper took the town of Hamlin's youth. "Carcass crippled underneath the pounding waves of adoration". This entire album is about how broken society is, and references so many aspects of this. This song is no different, and personally hits extremely fucking close to home for me.

Well like a lot of perfect circles songs seem to be about addiction. I'm not holding this one to be far from the same topic although it could be about pretty much anything you want it to be about. All I know is APC play some of the single most beautiful music on the face of planet earth!!!

Conflict between self and ego.

its almost about someone looking back into someone and seeing nothing but an uncaring self absorbed individual staring back at them. Someone possibly very manipulative.

The riff and guitar echo is very The Cure. Love it.

This song has a huge Tool feel to it and I love it.

I think it has to do with narcissism in some way. I think its more of someone trying to search for empathy in someone else (possibly politicians). But it just seems that someone looking at someone else and wanting them to be one way, and turning out to be selfish and uncaring.

@Androgyne for some reason before I ever have the lyrics much thought the song took hold of me like no other song I've ever heard and almost everyone makes me year up and when I learned how to sing it I often get choked up and can't finish the sentence I didn't know why it resonated with me so deeply It makes sense now , although I'm not famous I do share that feeling big time in that the person I am and the person the world sees and knows aren't the same and it's so hard for me too show who I am so to my problems with anxiety and depression So thanks for bringing some clarity as to why this song his me like a ton of bricks Here's mine and my other guitar players channel for our original songs we write , were called Life of the FUNeral. it's acoustic rock Similar to Alice in chains and Nirvana unplugged https://m.youtube.com/channel/UC32KJNes5rjtwwPvupghjmQ And here's our Facebook https://m.facebook.com/LifeoftheFUNeral2017/