For What Reason

I'm going to tackle this line by line with my interpretation. This is going based off of personal experience, and it seems to me that everything about this song fit with what happened, so that is the reason that I believe this.

"This won't be the last you'll hear from me; it's just the start"

Ben is obviously enraged, and firmly declares that he isn't through destroying her. He doesn't necessarily wish her any physical harm, but he is set on destroying the idea he had of her perfection.

"I hope that he keeps you up for weeks like you did to me"

This where he reveals the most frustrating part of his dilemma. He spent a lot of time thinking about her. What she might be doing. Where she might be. Not answering phone calls. Unexplained absences.

"I will hold a candle up to you to singe your skin"

He is ridding her life of her. Destroying everything he had that reminded him of her, because it hurt too much to see it. I'm particular to the Burning the Pictures theory.

"Brace yourself; I'm bent with bitterness we can't foresee"

This is where I am convinced that he is not speaking to her literally, but only to the Idea he has of her. He viewed her as perfect, and this image is what he is telling to brace itself. He will destroy it because he now understands that this image never truly existed (See "Only" by Nine Inch Nails)

"When your apologies fail to ring true"

Pretty self explanatory. She is saying 'sorry' for the transgressions she was committing (probably the lack of interest in the relationship), but it's similar to how a person says 'I'm sorry this happened to you' when someone has a bad day. They don't truly feel it is their fault, but they do feel a form of guilt for it happening.

"So slick with that sarcastic slew Of phrases like 'I thought you knew'"

This is quite possibly the most revealing part of the song. This girl was distant. She was distant on purpose so she didn't have to feel guilty IF (very important key word: IF) she had to eventually let him down.

"While keeping me in hot pursuit"

She obviously wanted and told him to keep trying. She probably said something along the lines of 'Don't let me push you away', and encouraged him to stick to that. He kept trying to get her to Truly be in the Relationship. He continued to say endearing things and loving compliments, and she accepted, despite her hidden agenda.

"Tracing the plot finds Skin touching skin"

This is also a key part in the song. He is looking back during this time in which she kept him in pursuit, and realizes that these unexplained absences, this Disdain that she spoke with...she wanted to/was fucking someone else the entire time. She didn't necessarily cheat on him. They may not (and probably weren't) Officially Together, but she was definitely stringing him along while she was fucking this other guy. That bitch.

"Absence follows."

This is probably a reference to the Disdain that the distant one speaks with towards a person that they are not truly in love with. She never respond to his calls or anything because she was either she was in the vicinity of the guy she was fucking, or she continued to lose interest in Ben, and therefore, continued to lose interest in answering his calls.

"In the end I win every time This ink remains"

He feels he is on the higher ground in this situation because he knows he is the mature one. While a simple "Ben, I don't love you anymore." would have sufficed, she decided to use him as a backup plan, and therefore hurt him in many ways. This line is his way of declaring that he is able to get past her because he can express this situation through written word ("The best way to get over a woman is to turn her into literature" -Henry Miller) She, on the other hand, can't mature through this, because of the vile way in which she treated this situation.

"Sour tastes prevail as you play back the tape machine"

This may be a reference to the message he left when he finally tells her that he knows she has been with someone else. There is that sense of dread when you have been found out. Or it may be a reference to the messages he left afterward, trying to get answers, and how frustrated she was with Ben or herself for not actually having any.

"When your apologies fail to ring true So slick with that sarcastic slew Of phrases like "I thought you knew" While keeping me in such hot pursuit

Tracing the plot finds Skin touching skin Absence follows "

My final prospectus:

He dedicated himself to her. She didn't necessarily cheat, but she was unable to return the same courtesy. She was disdainful in the end (or maybe even throughout the relationship), and it ripped him to shreds. Despite his passive nature, he was so distraught by this that he is finally letting it be known how insanely fucking petty he is towards her at the time that this song was written. She promised she had no feelings for this guy, but eventually made it too obvious through her absence in the relationship.

crap. i meant to post that thing on the "lack of color" page. craaaaaap.

so now, about this song. haha. "brace yourself: i'm bent with bitterness" is an amazing line, and i think it needs no explanation.

this song is vicious. i love it.

"When your apologies fail to ring true, (you're) so slick with that sarcastic slew of phrases like "i thought you knew" while keeping me in such hot pursuit"

can somebody tell me in great detail what that means, im so slow when it comes to this stuff.

"I will hold a candle up to you to singe your skin" He's playing on the phrase about holding a candle up to someone which means something like having a great admiration for someone. But instead of this, he carries on with 'to singe your skin' so he's not complimenting her like you might first think, as he actually wants to hurt her. I relate to this song so much right now! grrr. stupid boys.

I agree with most of what has been said here. The "ink remains" lyric seems like it's referring to his ability to write a song about her and/or what happened between them.

My take on "I will hold a candle up to you to singe your skin" is that he is going to illuminate her (her personality, her transgressions) and use the truth about her to burn her (something like a scathing rebuke of her personality). I think this would also fit in with his ability to write a song about her/what she did and the idea that that constitutes a kind of victory.

And I am quite possibly wrong about this, but I had always thought that the like was " brace yourself; I'm bent with bitterness AND can't forsee. This meant to me that he was so angry that he was going to lay into her without regard to the possible negative consequence of being so brutal to her.

and, austinagg, I think that yours is a pretty good interpretation of the chorus - I always had trouble making sense of it. Although, in that line of thought, I think that "absence follows" is referring to her and (perhaps) her distant behavior... and actual physical absence a lot of the time - thus it would be another clue that he should have picked up on

I always took this as - after the events in the "title track" the male protagonist has become emotionally invested in the object of his affections. She on the other hands treated it as a casual fling; and is involved with someone else "I thought you knew".

Interesting reversal on the "guys are the ones that have meaningless flings and women don't".

Lots of drama between the two parties subsequent to their involvement.

great song great band

great song great band...such catchy lyrics. best indie band i've listened to

Everytime I hear this song I cant help but crack a smile and think of my ex-girlfriend. Great lyrics, great song, great band.