This is kind of wierd and doesn't make nearly as much sense as all yours, but its what worked for me for ages. I think it's like a sketch of life. I don't think the peace beneath the city is death necessarily. I think this song is meant to explore how incomprehensible every human is, and that everything is layered with humanity. Nothing is what you expect: you would thik the solider would die, not the mother; the policeman shoots but he is shot. No matter how black the valley is, how chaotic everything seems, and how disgusting life is on the surface, underneath it all there is peace. Underneath all the materialism and crap which we leave with, their are shreds of benevolence. Like every person has some positive characteristic, no matter how far gone they seem to be. I think it's just saying that we're all so lost but we have to, i don't know.. seek out the peace that is hidden. Then again maybe I'm too life affirming and it's just existential. This is whats so great about Sam Beam's work, I get hope for humanity from this, that we can get back to the times of peace and love, but someone else could see it as a reflection of an entirely ruined and crumbling world.
This is kind of wierd and doesn't make nearly as much sense as all yours, but its what worked for me for ages. I think it's like a sketch of life. I don't think the peace beneath the city is death necessarily. I think this song is meant to explore how incomprehensible every human is, and that everything is layered with humanity. Nothing is what you expect: you would thik the solider would die, not the mother; the policeman shoots but he is shot. No matter how black the valley is, how chaotic everything seems, and how disgusting life is on the surface, underneath it all there is peace. Underneath all the materialism and crap which we leave with, their are shreds of benevolence. Like every person has some positive characteristic, no matter how far gone they seem to be. I think it's just saying that we're all so lost but we have to, i don't know.. seek out the peace that is hidden. Then again maybe I'm too life affirming and it's just existential. This is whats so great about Sam Beam's work, I get hope for humanity from this, that we can get back to the times of peace and love, but someone else could see it as a reflection of an entirely ruined and crumbling world.