Well, this song (much more of a play or an opera) is certainly one of the more powerful, emotional pieces by Wintersleep (saw them in Dallas with Wolf Parade, never had heard of them before but am obviously a fan now). The singer has met an innocent, promising and lively 16-year old girl that has "donated her eyes to feel her actual senses/to feel what life was like". In other words, she is beginning to see the world as it really is via maturity. However the narrator, drawing from personal experience, has a pessimistic view of life and is not happy to reveal the corruptive, "miasmal", and otherwise gilded truth that the adult life offers. He advises the girl and all other "yellow bellied freaks" to "go back to sleep", because he feels that once they obtain the knowledge he possesses, they will not be able to rest so easily. The finite limitations given by "God and modern science" certainly are depressing, and haunt the narrator ("if I could stop imagining if my dreams weren't after me"). Before giving way to a badass instrumental outro, the singer describes his outlook in an equally melancholic manner.
Concentric, sure, but IMO more of a story than just a bunch of symbolism.
Well, this song (much more of a play or an opera) is certainly one of the more powerful, emotional pieces by Wintersleep (saw them in Dallas with Wolf Parade, never had heard of them before but am obviously a fan now). The singer has met an innocent, promising and lively 16-year old girl that has "donated her eyes to feel her actual senses/to feel what life was like". In other words, she is beginning to see the world as it really is via maturity. However the narrator, drawing from personal experience, has a pessimistic view of life and is not happy to reveal the corruptive, "miasmal", and otherwise gilded truth that the adult life offers. He advises the girl and all other "yellow bellied freaks" to "go back to sleep", because he feels that once they obtain the knowledge he possesses, they will not be able to rest so easily. The finite limitations given by "God and modern science" certainly are depressing, and haunt the narrator ("if I could stop imagining if my dreams weren't after me"). Before giving way to a badass instrumental outro, the singer describes his outlook in an equally melancholic manner.
Concentric, sure, but IMO more of a story than just a bunch of symbolism.