Forgotten

Here is my interpretation:

First it is important that the duality of the vocalists plays an important role in my interpretation of the song. I believe that the two voices are written as from two aspects of the same person. I choose to name them the Consciousness (C) and his/her Subconscious (S).

C: From the top to the bottom  S: Bottom to top I stop 

These two phrases to me are an easily dismissed clue. From the top to the bottom could refer to a person's states of consciousness, going from the top to the bottom (fully conscious to subconscious) as in going to sleep. The inverse is the process of rising from subconsciousness to consciousness, as in waking up. But note that on their way up from subconsciousness they stop. It is commonly known that the dreams we remember tend to be the last few moments before we awaken...

C: At the core I've forgotten S: In the middle of my thoughts

The writer's assertion comes in two parts; at the core, which could be quickly construed as the brain (core processor), but I believe is an allusion to the writer's conscious thought. The remainder is “I've forgotten”, therefore the subject of the sentence is a memory. Taking this and adding the remainder points that they have lost a memory but that it still exists elsewhere (just not at “the core”). Though the writer forgot the memory, it still exists in the center of the subconscious.

C: Taken far from my safety S: The picture is there

These two lines to me reflect that the writer believes the memory is gone outside their grasp. Their subconscious uses a metaphor of a picture (pictures are primarily stored to bring back memories) to assert that the memory persists, perhaps against conscious desire. This is further asserted in the following line:

C: The memory won't escape me S: But why should I care (x2)

In the first line I believe that the writer may be using a double meaning. Most commonly, the use of the word escape would indicate the writer doesn't want the memory to leave his mind. Escape could also be used in the less common “so and so's (boss, artist, friend's significant other's) name escapes me.” When used in this way escape means that we are trying to hunt for it but we can't find it. This indicates that the writer may WISH the memory will stay away from his conscious mind.

The response form their conscience is interesting. Since the two lines are tied together this line is a response to the previous one. It seems the conscience is saying it shouldn't care because the conscience “feels” differently and the memory is causing a battle between them. The conscience may want the writer to experience the memory against their will.

The following two stanzas used such clever metaphor and imagery that I was outright impressed. Notice that prior to this stanza the song was very clearly being sung by two different people which are easily distinguishable from one another. This is done not just by their tonality, but also by the fact that one line responds to the other. In the following stanzas the two artists still continue to take turns, but they start to sound similar and their parts build the imagery together until at the end they are in a chorus.

Where does the conscious self and subconscious self meet on an even plane? In dreams.

C: There's a place so dark you can't see the end

It is my belief that the writer has fallen asleep, and begun to dream. This dark place is the emptiness before we dream, the void of conscious thought right before our recollection of dreams.

S: Skies cock back and shock that which can't defend 

In dreams we don't have the control. While conscious our writer can dismiss the subconscious, but not in dreams. The common term to “cock back” is to a wind up for a strike, and “that which can't defend” indicates something other than the subconscious (the conscious self) is vulnerable. I believe “shock” surrounded by the words in the line it indicates to “scare”, as any of us who have ever had a nightmare can attest. From the next line I believe it means the subconscious has scared the writer by placing them in a bad dream (not the memory) in preparation for what's next:

C/S: The rain then sends dripping acidic questions S: Forcefully, the power of suggestion

Rain is out of the writer's control, and the reference to acid rain could indicate a polluted dream, a polluted mind. I believe the reference to “acidic questions” also implies that the questions are both negative (causing pain) and penetrating (as acid does). The conscience's proceeding statement is clarifying that everything up to this point has just been a means to force the writer's consciousness to do what it wants. “The power of suggestion” is an allusion to the methodology used by hypnotherapists to uncover memories that have been repressed. Therefore the writer is having to suffer through the fear and self doubt brought about by the subconscious in order to uncover something.

C: Then with the eyes shut looking through the rust and rot and dust  S: A spot of light floods the floor 

The first line is simply asserting that the writer is asleep, which is the only time they can look “through the rust and rot and dust”, all allusions to a place that is neglected, old, and untouched. Once they starts looking in that “place” which is a metaphor for the writer's banished memory, light comes to that place. Light is a metaphor for remembering.

C: And pours over the rusted world of pretend 

This line is probably the single most important clue to what is happening. The light pours over, so the writer is remembering “the rusted world of pretend”. Again rusted is an allusion to lack of use. The “world of pretend” to me is a strong allusion tied to childhood. In no other venue is “pretend” used so widely. Adults imagine, brainstorm, act, role-play, day-dream, but they don't escape to the “world of pretend”. The fact that the “world of pretend” is rusted also indicates it has been abandoned for a long time. I must surmise that the memory that the writer experienced has something to do with his childhood. This is further supported further on.

C/S: The eyes ease open and its dark again 

The writer wakes up, so the memory of his childhood is hidden again.

[Chorus]

C/S: In the memory you'll find me  C/S: Eyes burning up  C/S: The darkness holding me tightly  C/S: Until the sun rises up 

With all the foundational information already established it is easy to understand that the writer is reliving the memory in his sleep and it is causing them to cry, until they awaken. This would indicate the memory itself is the bad thing, but this conclusion is contrary to the rest of the song lyrics.

C: Moving all around S: Screaming of the ups and downs C: Pollution manifested in perpetual sound C/S: The wheels go round and the sunset creeps behind the C/S: Street lamps, chain-link, and concrete

The preceeding stanza seems to be the writer experiencing the real world in a busy and hectic life until the sunset comes again, alluding that we may soon enter the dreamworld once again. Based on the descriptions it appears to be written from the perspective of an adult, supporting my conclusion that the memory is of a childhood long ago.

C: A little piece of paper with a picture drawn C: Floats on down the street till the wind is gone C/S: The memory now is like the picture was then C/S: When the paper's crumpled up it can't be perfect again

The writer here continues to experience the real world, but takes note of the paper. Using the visual imagery of a discarded “piece of paper with a picture drawn” seems to me an allusion, again, to childhood since it isn't a “painting”, a “sketch”, or some other “adult” sort of drawing. The wind is a metaphor for time, and perhaps the events which have occurred in between that childhood and the present which won't allow them to coexist in the writer's conscious mind. More to follow on that:

The last two lines clears up the metaphor used in the chorus, and builds on it. Unfortunately they are confusing because they're in a difficult order. “The memory [NOW] is like the picture was [THEN]” emphasis is added to focus on the time of each. What is the difference in the memory/picture between NOW and THEN? Perhaps that is answered in the final line. The paper was crumpled up. The memory was damaged and cannot be repaired. Since “the memory now is like the picture was then” the childhood that is hidden in the writer's subconscious must then be perceived as having been perfect in the past. Whatever occurred probably occurred during childhood. The crumpling of the paper is alluding to some negative act but is unspecific and doesn't (at least in my mind) point to a particular trauma.

[Chorus]

C/S: Now you got me caught in the act C/S: You bring the thought back  C/S: I'm telling you that  C/S: I see it right through you

The last stanza may give us a final clue as to the source of this conflict. The writer has apparently recollected “the thought” because of seeing someone. This someone must have had an impact on their life between the writer's perfect childhood and the current time.

It is my opinion that the event(s) which blocks the perfect childhood from the present consciousness is never truly uncovered. It could be surmised that it occurred close to childhood, since that is the time which is both “perfect” and repressed. Perhaps that was the intent of the writer(s), to acknowledge people who have had a traumatic event in their life and have a longing for a “perfect” time in their childhood.