To me, the song is about death and three different stories linked by the loss of a loved one and the afterlife.
The first is the most disgust, the suicide bomber who uses his child's backpack to put his bomb in. I've always assumed that he lost his child in similar circumstances and this is his revenge, to join his child in the afterlife but the lack of any mention of his fate suggests he will be waiting forever.
The second story's imagery suggests an older person, especially the image of fall/autumn as the leaves turn brown. They've lost a loved one and are simply marking time and not living life, trying to remember the smell and touch of the deceased, before they, themselves, die.
The third story is the loss of a loved one to drowning. The frantic search up and down the river, jumping in to save them only to find they're already dead. The final words suggest that breaking through the waves and feeling the sun on their face, they've actually crossed into paradise themselves and that, through acting selflessly and trying to rescue another, a theme all through the album, that they are the only one that has been reunited with their loved one. The suicide bomber being denied for taking others lives and the older person marking time but failing to live life to the full as a result because they're spending so much time in mourning waiting endlessly for death.
To me, the song is about death and three different stories linked by the loss of a loved one and the afterlife.
The first is the most disgust, the suicide bomber who uses his child's backpack to put his bomb in. I've always assumed that he lost his child in similar circumstances and this is his revenge, to join his child in the afterlife but the lack of any mention of his fate suggests he will be waiting forever.
The second story's imagery suggests an older person, especially the image of fall/autumn as the leaves turn brown. They've lost a loved one and are simply marking time and not living life, trying to remember the smell and touch of the deceased, before they, themselves, die.
The third story is the loss of a loved one to drowning. The frantic search up and down the river, jumping in to save them only to find they're already dead. The final words suggest that breaking through the waves and feeling the sun on their face, they've actually crossed into paradise themselves and that, through acting selflessly and trying to rescue another, a theme all through the album, that they are the only one that has been reunited with their loved one. The suicide bomber being denied for taking others lives and the older person marking time but failing to live life to the full as a result because they're spending so much time in mourning waiting endlessly for death.
A truely brilliant and heartfelt song.