Shadows

The singer is thinking about a toy he had as a child. In particular a little warrior, crusader-type figure in a drab grey uniform. This resonates with him. He's one of them somehow.

Their names don't matter. They're respected by their parents and family. They are proud. They don't look down. They memorize words to give them hope.

Dark times arrive to "count these numbers down". He thinks "no one can take away" his soul, his beliefs, his dogma.

But the "dream's over" too quick. All of a sudden terrible things are obvious. What have I done?

The process starts over at a new level. This entire thing repeats as we learn from our experiences and adopt new "words to memorize".

In my opinion, this song is about people that have low-self esteem and used to be confident but became forgotten and ignored e.g. the idea of a child's toy that is forgotten once the child's grown up. But the song has a positive note to it as towards the end Jeremy is saying that hope is still there for the forgotten people to live out their dreams and come out of the shadows.

woW no comments for such an amazing song??? great song.

kid spirit has not died inside jeremy he's trying to tell about his longings of another times that are still alive

this is talking about how Jeremy feels he's not grown up inside.

I wanna mention @y6b7m27xdkde great comment. Though something is kinda missing here. I think the grey crusader tails are refering to Vought F-8 Crusader Aircraft, which has a grey tail. From what I gather it was used in Vietnam war. This perhaps hints on a loss of a loved one.