The Royal We

This is my first post here, and this song inspired me to join up. After poring over the lyrics, I really think this song is about drug addiction and overdose. I will break down my observations.

We are ready for the siege. We are armed up to the teeth. Be careful how you live and breathe. Release what’s brewing underneath.

The subject of the song is addicted to a substance, and the song is sung through the voice in the addict’s head that craves the drugs. The addict must put his/her guard up to hide the addiction in everyday life. The addict sees the drugs as a partner to help him/her get through life. The drugs tell the addict to be careful how he/she carries him/herself in public. Control the urges and don’t let on any clues about the addiction.

How many times do you want to die? How many ways do you want to die? To feel safe again, look over your shoulder. Very carefully, look over your shoulder.

The drugs are tempting. “Die” in the song means to get high. The addict kills a little bit of him/herself every time he/she gets high. How many times? How many ways? The possibilities are endless. However, the subject is growing increasingly more paranoid about getting caught even as he/she mulls the options.

We can laugh about it now. We hope everything works out. Be careful how you lick your wounds. Believe a change is coming soon.

The subject has managed to hide his/her addiction well for a long time but knows that it can’t stay hidden forever, and a change will come when it is finally revealed: either being made to quit or being killed by the drugs.

How many times do you want to die? How many ways do you want to die? To feel safe again, look over your shoulder. Very carefully, look over your shoulder.

The music calms as the addict’s paranoia subsides and he/she prepares to get high.

You used to do a little, but a little won’t fly. And right before you hit your prime That’s when we fell in love, but not the first time.

It’s taking more and more of the drug to get the desired effect. The addict has to keep upping the dosage. He/she has been using for sometime and reminisces to a time when he/she was very young and first started using, before he/she hit his/her prime.

Can it please you still, renaming your father’s will? Or does it make you ill? Let us bruise their knees. We will aim straight for the feed. You will be relieved.

The drug no longer brings feelings of pleasure. It has simply become a necessity for the addict’s survival. The addict may even generally feel guilt and depression as the high subsides. “Renaming your father’s will” could refer to the fact that the addict is a disappointment to his/her family and feels isolated. The feed is the feelings of depression, guilt, and self-loathing the addict is experiencing and the injection of the narcotic will bring relief in the form of numbing those feelings and a temporary escape from reality. The music swells to simulate the awakening of the senses as the drug takes hold.

So relieved, so relieved Turn on full desire Feel the sparks of the friendly fire Misery inspires

The high kicks in, bringing temporary but false relief. The “sparks of friendly fire” is the explosion of the high inside the addict’s body, engulfing the senses, and obviously the need was inspired by the misery of withdrawal and self-loathing.

Your throat has been cut several times before. Never noticed the size of the flow It can't be ignored.

The addict has done this dance with death many times in the past, and is committing slow suicide with every dose, but this time something is different. He/she has overdone it. He/she slowly realizes what they cannot ignore now: that the drug is going to kill them. Now panic sets in.

To feel safe again, look over your shoulder Carefully look over your shoulder You said you believed it but believing won’t fly. And right before you hit your prime That's when we fell in love but not the first time.

This time, the paranoia is justified, and the addict tries to reassure him/herself but the cold realization starts to seep in. The addict said they knew the risks of the drugs but has taken those risks for granted, thinking, “Other people get affected that way. It won’t happen to me.” The drugs reiterate how long they’ve had a hold on the addict in question. The addict’s final thoughts are of regret, remembering those first few times using the drug, how good it felt, how seductive it was, how different from what it became.

And when it's all over and you open your eyes to see the room turned on its side You'll be lying by a note on the floor signed, The Royal We. The Royal We The Royal We The Royal We The Royal We The Royal We The Royal We The Royal We Love, The Royal We

The last thing the addict sees as the high subsides and the overdose takes hold is the room turned on its side as he/she collapses, and the “note” represents the drugs’ final lasting legacy — death — and it is “signed, The Royal We,” which is the collection of narcotics that has teamed up to kill the person who worshipped them. “Love, The Royal We” is sarcastic. The music continues to swell as the high grows fatal and abruptly stops to simulate death.