"Deadbolt" as written by Edward Carrington Breckenridge, James Riley Breckenridge, Dustin Michael Kensrue and Teppei Teranishi....
When deadbolts awake you from deja vu dreams,
At four in the morning you know where I'll be.
Out running red lights asleep at the wheel.
The sirens feed my nightmares,
I just close my eyes and I'm already there;
Its already too late.
I know its nothing but lies,
But they sound so sincere;
I find them too hard to hate.
And she calls from the doorway "stolen water is so sweet,
So lets drink in the darkness if you know what I mean"
And she calls from the doorway "stolen water is so sweet,
So lets drink in the darkness if you know what I mean"
And I'm almost sure
That I've been here before,
That this is not the first time I've stood in front of this door,
With an overwhelming feeling that I shouldn't go in,
But it seems this is a battle that I never could win.
And you!
My true love!
You call from the hilltop.
You call through the streets,
"Darling don't you know,
The water is poison."
And I say!
"come on and give me my poison."
What have I done.?
Is it too late to save me from this place?
From the depths of the grave?
We all are those
Who thought we were brave.
What have I done.?
At four in the morning you know where I'll be.
Out running red lights asleep at the wheel.
The sirens feed my nightmares,
I just close my eyes and I'm already there;
Its already too late.
I know its nothing but lies,
But they sound so sincere;
I find them too hard to hate.
And she calls from the doorway "stolen water is so sweet,
So lets drink in the darkness if you know what I mean"
And she calls from the doorway "stolen water is so sweet,
So lets drink in the darkness if you know what I mean"
And I'm almost sure
That I've been here before,
That this is not the first time I've stood in front of this door,
With an overwhelming feeling that I shouldn't go in,
But it seems this is a battle that I never could win.
And you!
My true love!
You call from the hilltop.
You call through the streets,
"Darling don't you know,
The water is poison."
And I say!
"come on and give me my poison."
What have I done.?
Is it too late to save me from this place?
From the depths of the grave?
We all are those
Who thought we were brave.
What have I done.?
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thats my interpretation of the song and i think i hit the nail on the head.
- "When deadbolts awake you from deja vu dreams"
He's done it before and he's doing it again. Late at night he leaves his bedroom, releases the deadbolts of the door (whose sound has a deja vu effect on him), and leaves home
- "At four in the morning you know where I'll be."
He has it planned, 4am is the right hour.
- "Out running red lights asleep at the wheel."
He drives to the red-lights district which is related to prostitutes and sex.
- "The sirens feed my nightmares"
The police sirens in the street remind him he's breaking a sacred law, he feels guilt even in his sleep and on his way.
- "I just close my eyes and I'm already there;
Its already too late."
Without realizing it, he has parked his car, and is already at the doorstep of the sex worker.
- "I know its nothing but lies,
But they sound so sincere;
I find them too hard to hate."
His mind and conscience are telling him this is not right. But his heart is weak and reason can't reach him.
- "And she calls from the doorway 'stolen water is sweet,
So lets drink it in the darkness if you know what I mean' "
The woman seduces him. By saying, "stolen water is sweet" she is implying that he is married or perhaps both of them are married to different people. She seduces him by saying that having sex in secret outside the boundaries of marriage is the sweetest thing.
- "And I'm almost sure
That I've been here before,
That this is not the first time I've stood in front of this door,
With an overwhelming feeling that I shouldn't go in,
But it seems this is a battle that I never could win."
He is struggling, he knows it is not right, he knows it will bring pain to his family. But still he steps inside her room as he feels unable to resist.
- "And you!
My true love!
You call from the hilltop.
You call through the streets,
'Darling don't you know,
The water is poison.' "
This is a clear quote from the Bible, from the Book of Proverbs to be exact.
"Wisdom cries aloud in the street,
in the markets she raises her voice;
at the head of the noisy streets she cries out;
at the entrance of the city gates she speaks:
How long, O simple ones, will you love being simple?
How long will scoffers delight in their scoffing
and fools hate knowledge?" Proverbs 1:20-22
So it is wisdom (God) warning him:
"He who commits adultery lacks sense;
he who does it destroys himself." Proverbs 6:32
- "And I say!
'come on and give me my poison.' "
He disregards the Words of Wisdom, he persists in his sin even though his conscience made a last effort to persuade him back.
- "What have I done?
Is it too late to save me from this place?
From the depths of the grave?
We all are those
Who thought we were brave.
What have I done?"
After the act is done, he immediately feels guilt. The pleasure is temporal and now he is left empty and desperate. Once again he remembers the Scriptures:
"For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey,
and her speech is smoother than oil,
but in the end she is bitter as wormwood,
sharp as a two-edged sword.
Her feet go down to death;
her steps follow the path to Sheol"
The second stanza refers to the thought of sin before the act of sin; "i just close my eyes and i'm already there" he hasn't physically gone out and acted on the temptation, but its in his mind's eye and to him he's already at the point the temptation begins to overtake his willpower.
Near the middle of the song he calls out to his true love, the spirit of his conscience that reminds him what is pleasing to his eye is poison to his soul, and even withstanding, his will isn't strong and he declares then give me my poison.
The end of the song finishes with him lamenting his sin after giving in; the pleasure was temporary but the pain is eternal. He cries out to be saved from this place, from this graveyard (metaphorically and literally). He thought he was strong enough to resist, but he wasn't. What have I done?
A powerful and poetic way of describing the battle going on inside one's self to resist temptation, a battle that almost seems futile as it appears its not a battle he could win at the start. Great lyrical songwriting.