i also think this song is about being your true self and to not worry about things too much:
the first verse of the song (i was afraid to be me..) is about what he used to be and how he used to feel before he was comfortable with himself...
"everywhere you are in a maze is a lie"
everytime you're tangled up, you really aren't
"anywhere you are on a page you still go to the right"
you might not know where you are, but in english at least when you're reading a page you read from left to right... so basically even though you feel lost you will end up a step ahead from where you started
"anytime there's no ground below..." and "anytime you're afraid..." are pretty self-explanatory.
"i was a flame in the night, i heard what i wanted to hear"
a flame burns, could kinda be taken as if he was just angry all the time and he'd only listen to things that would please him, not what he NEEDED to hear.
"and the moment i disappeared"
that cost him his life, or something he held close to his heart
"i grew the size of all outside, cuz i became one with the night"
losing whatever it was that he lost made him realize he was lying to himself.. he finally opened his mind and "let the spirits guide him" (sounds kinda like something john would say.. heh)
"and if it's real, it's not all there is. there's a lot in what appears not to be there at all"
there's always something more, even if you're in a bad situation. this theme comes back a lot in the album "shadows collide...." the song "in relief" is a really good example of that, and a lot of the songs from tracks 12 to 18 talk about that too.
"and you can function as someone besides who you are"
to me it seems kind of contradictory that he'd say that, since at the beginning of the song he sings "i was afraid to be me, be anything you want to be", which obviously means have no shame in what you are...
i also think this song is about being your true self and to not worry about things too much: the first verse of the song (i was afraid to be me..) is about what he used to be and how he used to feel before he was comfortable with himself...
"everywhere you are in a maze is a lie" everytime you're tangled up, you really aren't
"anywhere you are on a page you still go to the right" you might not know where you are, but in english at least when you're reading a page you read from left to right... so basically even though you feel lost you will end up a step ahead from where you started
"anytime there's no ground below..." and "anytime you're afraid..." are pretty self-explanatory.
"i was a flame in the night, i heard what i wanted to hear" a flame burns, could kinda be taken as if he was just angry all the time and he'd only listen to things that would please him, not what he NEEDED to hear. "and the moment i disappeared" that cost him his life, or something he held close to his heart "i grew the size of all outside, cuz i became one with the night" losing whatever it was that he lost made him realize he was lying to himself.. he finally opened his mind and "let the spirits guide him" (sounds kinda like something john would say.. heh)
"and if it's real, it's not all there is. there's a lot in what appears not to be there at all" there's always something more, even if you're in a bad situation. this theme comes back a lot in the album "shadows collide...." the song "in relief" is a really good example of that, and a lot of the songs from tracks 12 to 18 talk about that too.
"and you can function as someone besides who you are" to me it seems kind of contradictory that he'd say that, since at the beginning of the song he sings "i was afraid to be me, be anything you want to be", which obviously means have no shame in what you are...
and that's it, i think.