Across Five Years

I love boy sets fire! i cant wait to see them in a week! this is a great song, im really bad at interpretations but i think that he was with someone that changed him to someone he wasn't and it obviously fell apart and he didnt recognize himself anymore, but he would still want another time and another chance with this person who changed him...

i think this song is about him finally excepting that he is gay, and about how he has tried to lie to himself about it for the past 5 years.

I actually heard this song is about getting a girl pregnant, but the only place I can see where it would mean that is "walked right past, this life in you". I think the lyrics aren't specific enough to say what changed him, like accepting that he is gay.

There is one part of this song that applies to my life. "This is not me, This is not me, this could never be me. whatever poison you may drink, another list of "no's" persist. antique and out of reach, i lose my life and take it back. crashed this side of happiness,hit the floor or hit and miss, without the strength to follow through. walked right past this life in you" This part hits really close to me because i got in some trouble and basically i couldnt believe all of the consequences i had to bear. the without the strength to follow through part kind of speaks for istelf with what i said.

I agree njbmx. It sounds like he denied his sexuality to himself and others for year. He had "years of hidden dreams" that he "pushed down." When he sings, "denied myself with every joke," it sounds like he tried to fit into an anti-gay stereotype (and made many gay jokes) to further distance and hide his sexuality. "Locked doors and hidden ghosts" sounds like a metaphorical refference to being closetted. He feels that he wasted a part of his life pretending he was someone he is not (someone that "could never be me"): "so much time lost killing five." After that, I'm lost. When he sings "whatever poison you may drink," could he be refering to drugs? Maybe he turned to drugs to distract himself from the lie he was living. I have no idea how the rest of the song fits into my little theory. It seems to be about a relationship he once had, as a few of y'all said already. Was that relationship prior to coming out, after? Indeed, he seems to want a second chance. Did he wish he could rekindle a relationship he had with a gay man before he was ready to face his sexuality? Does he wish that the 'circumstances' during the time they knew each other was different?

"this was not me this could never be me" this could definately link to the gay idea, before my friend came out... i remember him confinding in me and saying "i can't be gay! I've kissed girls!" he wasn't willing to accept it...

Good god, this song has to be one of the best songs live. To me it means he has become more and more like the person he never wanted to be.

This song, ccording to the band, is about a failed relationship of some sort. I don't think Nathan is gay, but I heard Josh was.