Lyric discussion by SammiLovesMusic 

Cover art for Nightmare lyrics by Avenged Sevenfold

I think it's about drug addiction... I'll elaborate:

"Dragged ya down below, Down to the Devils show To be his guest forever (Peace of mind is less than never) Hate to twist your mind But god ain't on your side An old aquaintance and severed (Burn the world your last endeavour)"

He started doing little drugs but then went to the hardcore drugs and got caught up in addiction, and the "Devil" or the drugs will hold onto him forever, and nothing can save him now.

"Flesh is burning you can smell it in the air Cause men like you have such an easy soul to steal (Steal) So stand in line while they ink numbers in you head Your now a slave untill the end of time here Nothing stops the madness turning haunting yearning pull the trigger"

He's slowly dying from the drugs, and it was so easy to get him started on them. So, just go ahead and give into them, or shoot yourself now, either way you're going to die soon.

"You should have known, the price of evil and it hurts to know that you belong here, yeah ooohhhh its your fucking nightmare"

He knew what drugs would do to him, but he started anyways. And even though it hurts his friends to let go, they have to and they don't feel bad because he did it to himself.

"While your nightmare comes to life"

He's dying, and it's his own fault.

"Can't wake up in sweat cause it ain't over yet Still dancing with your deamons (Victim of your own creation) Beyond the will to fight where all that's wrong is right Where hate don't need a reason (loathing self-assassination)"

He's not going to be able to wake up from this nightmare cause it's real life this time. And even though he wants to stop he can't, he just goes on "dancing with his demons." And he don't have the strength to fight the addiction anymore.

"You have been lied to just to rape you of your site And now they have the nerve to tell you how you feel (feel) So sedated as they medicate your brain as you slowly go insane they tell you Give in with best intentions help you with your complications"

The "demons" in his head are telling him that the drugs are okay and that they'll make him happy again. And when he does drugs they numb him and make him think that everything is okay.

"You should have known, the price of evil and it hurts to know that you belong here, yeah No one to call Everybody to fear Your tragic fate is looking so clear, yeah ooohhhh its your fucking nightmare"

He knew what drugs would do to him, but he started anyways. And even though it hurts his friends to let go, they have to and they don't feel bad because he did it to himself. And he ended up pushing all his friends away and had no one to call out to to help him. And his death was getting closer and closer.

hahaha

hahahahaha "Fight (Fight) Not to fail (Fail) Not to fall (Fall) Or you'll end up like all the others Die (Die) Die again (Die) Drenched in sin (Sin) With no respect for another"

His friends were telling him to try and fight the addiction so he didn't end up dead like all the others, dead. And if he don't he'll die, and since he lived in sin he wouldn't go to Heaven.

OH

"Down (Down) Feel the fire (Fire) Feel the hate (Hate) Your pain is what we desire Lost (Lost) Hit the wall (Wall) Watch ya crawl (Crawl) Such a replaceable liar"

When he dies he'll go to hell and feel the hate and fire. And all the devil wants is his pain. His friends could have a bunch of people just like him, he's a liar, and a drug addict. There's plenty of those.

"I know you hear their voices (Coming in from above) And I know they may seem real (These signals of love) But our lifes made up of choices (Some made out of apeal) They took for granted your soul And it's ours now to steal"

The voices are the things in his head telling him to continue doing drugs, and even though they seem to tell the truth and not be harmful they are. And if he wants out of this hellhole all he has to do is stop, because life is made of choices. And he can choose his fate.

... That's just what I got from the song. ANd my meaning is quite personal because I lost my aunt to a drug overdose a couple years back and it's still hard to deal. And now I'm finding out my father has been doing drugs. My life is kind of a mess and I could really relate to this song.

Song Meaning

As someone that's been in the same position, my first impression of the song was that it was about the Rev's death; but when I learned that it was written by him I knew what Sammi posted was exactly what the song was about. It sucks that what he wrote about ended up happening, but as said in the song everyone saw it coming, especially him.

Agreed, it seems as a warning to others also...

guys, i know this seems rudiculous. but i think what 'we' and 'ours' as in

"Your pain is what we desire" and "And it's ours now to steal"

refer to the members of the band and/or the people around him. i'm not saying that the rest of the band is a bastard who secretly hate their really own friend. the reason why i think like this is because drug or devil are replaced by they or them in this song. so we and ours must someone or something different