"Canary got trapped, the uranium mine.
A stroke of bad luck, now the bird has died.
a marker to mark where my tears run dry.
I cross it, bless it, alkali."
alkali is a kind of salt, tears are also salt. Alkali can also be used to make soap. The suggestion might be: tears are caused by pain, but they may have a cleansing effect. This positive side is stressed by the line "bless it" and by the metaphor of the canary, whose death prevents the death of miners.
The song might be about personal failure and the attempt to carry on, to make the best of it.
This can also be read in the lines: "I point my nose to the northern star,
watch the decline from a hazy distance."
Literally, the singer probably watches the sunset, but on a metaphorical level he might be trying to watch his own decline from a "hazy distance": to not be crushed by his bad luck, but look at it from a distance, to detach himself from it.
Still, the atmosphere is bitter. The singer tries to be brave but his failure seeps through every sentence.
"Canary got trapped, the uranium mine. A stroke of bad luck, now the bird has died. a marker to mark where my tears run dry. I cross it, bless it, alkali."
alkali is a kind of salt, tears are also salt. Alkali can also be used to make soap. The suggestion might be: tears are caused by pain, but they may have a cleansing effect. This positive side is stressed by the line "bless it" and by the metaphor of the canary, whose death prevents the death of miners. The song might be about personal failure and the attempt to carry on, to make the best of it.
This can also be read in the lines: "I point my nose to the northern star, watch the decline from a hazy distance." Literally, the singer probably watches the sunset, but on a metaphorical level he might be trying to watch his own decline from a "hazy distance": to not be crushed by his bad luck, but look at it from a distance, to detach himself from it.
Still, the atmosphere is bitter. The singer tries to be brave but his failure seeps through every sentence.