If this song is about politics then the vibe I’m getting is that is could be a song written from the viewpoint of a leader who has been voted out or overran by anarchy after making a disastrous decision. The second half of this album is about anarchy/an uprising with City of Delusion as the climax. Hence this song is the post-mortem by the toppled leader. Hypothetically it could be about Bush/Blair refecting on their decisions after a voter backlash.
“Come into my life
Regress into a dream”
i.e. look at things from my point of view for a moment
”We will hide
Build a new reality
Draw another picture
Of the life you could have had”
They were trying to build a new world by introducing democracy into other countries, the theory being that this will make the world a better place. Therefore they were drawing another picture and hiding from reality.
”Follow your instincts
And choose the other path”
But the voter backlash/anarchy arised and nobody wanted to follow them anymore, and they (the people) chose the left path.
”You should never be afraid
You're protected from trouble and pain
Why, why is this a crisis in your eyes again”
The leaders asking the public “well I was trying to keep you safe. Why are you angry with me? It’s not like war broke out in this country, it only happened far away”
”Taught to be
How did it come to be
Tied to a railroad”
Tied to a railroad being a metaphor for a disastrous situation i.e. Iraq showing no signs of stabilising years after the attempt to bring them peace.
”You'll have to set us free
Watch our souls fade away
Let our bodies crumble away
Don't be afraid
I will take the cold for you”
i.e. I will take responsibility for all the s*** that’s gone on because, after all, that’s my job as your leader.
”And i've had recurring nightmares
That I was loved for who I am”
In other words he’s dreaming that the public would lay off him because he thought he was doing the right thing and he was a genuinely good person. After all, if Iraq had have run smoothly with few casualties no-one would be complaining. But there was no way for them to know that things would turn out this bad. Our leaders are human too.
”And missed the opportunity
To be a better man”
Fairly self explanatory, he is wondering what could have been and what he could have done differently, as we all do after we stuff something up.
If this song is about politics then the vibe I’m getting is that is could be a song written from the viewpoint of a leader who has been voted out or overran by anarchy after making a disastrous decision. The second half of this album is about anarchy/an uprising with City of Delusion as the climax. Hence this song is the post-mortem by the toppled leader. Hypothetically it could be about Bush/Blair refecting on their decisions after a voter backlash.
“Come into my life Regress into a dream”
i.e. look at things from my point of view for a moment
”We will hide Build a new reality Draw another picture Of the life you could have had”
They were trying to build a new world by introducing democracy into other countries, the theory being that this will make the world a better place. Therefore they were drawing another picture and hiding from reality.
”Follow your instincts And choose the other path”
But the voter backlash/anarchy arised and nobody wanted to follow them anymore, and they (the people) chose the left path.
”You should never be afraid You're protected from trouble and pain Why, why is this a crisis in your eyes again”
The leaders asking the public “well I was trying to keep you safe. Why are you angry with me? It’s not like war broke out in this country, it only happened far away”
”Taught to be How did it come to be Tied to a railroad”
Tied to a railroad being a metaphor for a disastrous situation i.e. Iraq showing no signs of stabilising years after the attempt to bring them peace.
”You'll have to set us free Watch our souls fade away Let our bodies crumble away Don't be afraid I will take the cold for you”
i.e. I will take responsibility for all the s*** that’s gone on because, after all, that’s my job as your leader.
”And i've had recurring nightmares That I was loved for who I am”
In other words he’s dreaming that the public would lay off him because he thought he was doing the right thing and he was a genuinely good person. After all, if Iraq had have run smoothly with few casualties no-one would be complaining. But there was no way for them to know that things would turn out this bad. Our leaders are human too.
”And missed the opportunity To be a better man”
Fairly self explanatory, he is wondering what could have been and what he could have done differently, as we all do after we stuff something up.