The Last Lost Continent

This has got to be my absolute favourite song on the album, it is an epic. Completely consuming and extremely powerful, the composition of the music alone takes you on a journey, and when accompanied with the lyrics, the whole story just falls into place.

I personally believe that this entire song is about fighting your monsters, and sickness.

"I felt your sickness brush against my arm as I walked by you Heard your voice but couldn't tell that it was you And slowly watched your sickness slip away Into a place that I'd once feared But I was not afraid this time"

The sickness referred to in the first stanza could be a few things, but when taken into account of the entire song, I believe that the narrator is referring to a mental illness, perhaps depression. This 'sickness' that is referred to changes the person it is affecting, and that's why he doesn't recognise the person voice. As it continues, he sees the person's sickness change, get worse maybe, and although he would have run before, he is ready to face it.

"So I gave chase and found it finally Slowly feeding from your head And from my friends and from my family So I grabbed it by the neck For every lover you have ruined I dug my nails into its flesh And every life that you have taken Slammed it's head against the brick"

He is ready to face the 'sickness' and so he chases it, and finds it ultimately killing the people he loves, it is ‘feeding’ on their brain, their life force and by extension their sanity, so he proceeds to kill it, in the name of everyone it has consumed and destroyed.

"It's blood poured out onto the pavement I stirred it in with dirt and spit I will take a part of you I made mortar from the mix Tore every organ from its body Broke it's bone and fashioned bricks I laid the mortar in between I made a throne for hope to sit Too long you've torn us into pieces Firmly held onto our wrists Today I buried you in me I swallowed every inch of it"

The imagery in this is quite violent, possibly reflecting the nature of the sickness. He kills it, and out of its death, he makes 'a throne for hope to sit' he masters the sickness, taking it and making it something of a power figure. He changes the nature of the sickness so that he, and everyone else, are the masters of the sickness, rather than it dominating them. He beat it, and they are free. 'Today I bury you in me' this is quite beautiful. He is saying that he is going to take the sickness into himself, removing it from everyone around him, and taking the poison for them. He is ultimately sacrificing himself for the people he loves.

"I'll hold you as you have held me You've held me in your heart We'll be, we'll be set free from We'll be set free from fear We'll be set free We've felt our failures We've watched our passions leave But we're still breathing on We're still breathing on I'll hold you as you have held me You've held me in your heart And I will hold you in my heart"

It's here that the tempo of the song changes. I believe he is still talking about the sickness, and to the person who was 'sick'. But now he's moved his attention. He is comforting the person, making sure that they know everything is going to be okay. He will hold this person, and keep them in his heart, even though their passions (hobbies, loves, lust for life) are gone, they will be strong, they are still alive.

"But I still see him dead in the parking lot At the gas station just down the street"

This is where it could get confusing. You don't really know who the 'him' is. I believe that he is still talking about the sickness here. The parking lot fits with the imagery in the stanzas before.

"And I still hear my friend say You know, you wouldn't believe the things I saw when I was stationed overseas But he somehow keeps smiling in spite of all of that While I keep finding ways to push the good out for the bad"

Here the narrator is comparing his struggle with other people's. He is devaluing his pain and suffering, showing that others are able to be optimistic after they have suffered more than he has.

"Oh, how selfish of myself To always say that it was more than I could take Like it was pain I couldn't shake Like it could break me with its fingers Throw my body in the lake and I would slowly sink away"

Again, he is devaluing his own pain. This time calling himself selfish. He is claiming that the pain he felt was crippling, when it shouldn't have been. It also shows the strength of the pain and his weakness to it — it could break him its fingers, which is quite a feat. The imagery of the lake and sinking is quite common when people talk about depression, if you take these other metaphors and link them with this, it strengthens the notion that the 'sickness' is more of a mental thing than anything else.

"But the truth is it was sorrow that I made and wouldn't face See, I keep falling for the future after tripping on the past And I am always tearing sutures out to make the anguish last Like it defines me or reminds me I've found comfort in my suffering And uncertainty in happiness and death Because what's next is such a mystery to me And I am terrified of all the things I feel but cannot see"

In this, he is ultimately saying that he constructed his own pain and sorrow — created his own hell so to speak. The themes here are quite universal — fear of death, the unknown, finding comfort in what you know, and yet the narrator continues to beat himself up about this. The idea of depression is carried on here, through 'uncertainty in happiness'.

"Friends and family Put your hand into my hand and lay your head into my chest You are all that I have left here We are all that we have left"

This stanza seems that he is again comforting people, but it also has the undertone of something more devastating. Perhaps they are being confronted by a great struggle and they are standing together to beat it, they are they have left.

"We are the lovers We are the last of our kind So link your arms and keep your chin up And I swear that we'll be fine We are the lovers We are the last of our kind"

This seems to support the notion of a confrontation, they need to fight, and are 'the last of their kind' — increasing the burden they have to carry. There is a deep romanticism in this — "we are the lovers / we are the last of our kind" they are lovers in a world void of love.

"Though we are not sure who we are We keep our heads up Though we are not sure where we're from We keep our hearts up Though we are not sure when we'll leave We keep our heads up Though we are not sure where we'll go We keep our hopes up Though we're not sure who we are We keep our heads up Though we're not sure where we're from We keep our hearts up Though we're not sure when we'll leave We keep our heads up Though we're not sure where we'll go We keep our hopes up"

Here the narrator is voicing doubt. There is a doubt in the identity of the group, but although there is great doubt, there seems to be a strong will here — they are willing to fight, and keep strong despite not knowing. The repetition and the addition of other voices shows both unity and determination — it becomes a war cry.

"Keep your head up We're fine Just keep your head up I swear we'll be alright Keep your head up My friends, my friends Keep your head up, I swear I swear we'll never die I swear we'll get home safe and sound I swear I swear we'll never die I swear we'll live on underground I swear"

As a continuation of the previous stanza, this acts as a promise — the narrator is trying to keep these people going, encouraging them to continue. The way this is structured forms the image of a long journey — a struggle that needs to be overcome, but is still draining.

"I will give your heart a place to rest When everything you had has turned and left"

This is pretty self explanatory — he will be there for whoever, when they are alone. The narrator will be the constant, the nurse to a broken person.

"I'll weave your names into my ribcage Lock your hearts inside my chest"

To me the narrator is saying that he will never forget these people, never allow them to truly die. He will be with them no matter what, and they will be in him, protected (ribcage) and comforted (heart).

"Regain the passion I once carried Do away with all the rest"

Here he is saying that he knows what his priorities are now. Passion. Passion for life, or a hobby, or a lover. Everything else is unimportant.

"I tore the sickness from your bodies Smashed its head against the bricks I made a castle from its bones That you may always dwell in it"

Here he is reminding them of what he has done. Created a shelter out of the pain, out of sickness — something that will not break.

"So sing for every buried moment That you thought would never end And sing your fears about the future And a dirge for faded friends For all the love that you had held to Why it somehow failed to keep And sing for each minute you've been frightened Every hour you've lost sleep And sing for all your friends and family Sing for those who didn't survive But sing not for their final outcome Sing a song of how they tried"

Singing is something that can hold many meanings. People sing in remembrance, in pain, in joy, in longing, this stanza sums all of that up. Ultimately this is the narrator telling his friends or family or lover to sing it all away, close the door on the bad things that happened in the past, but in that, he is encouraging them to remember the good along with the bad. Essentially preserving some memories in a positive light, immortalising certain struggles that brought about this bittersweet outcome. The last three lines are the most powerful to me — they essentially sum up the song. Look at the good, turn the bad into good, and make sure that you remember how you got here and how hard it was.

"We live amidst a silent storm Leaves us unsatisfied at best"

This is a return to the idea of the sickness — depression or some other mental illness. Something stealthy that is still lethal.

"So fill your heart with what's important And be done with all the rest"

This echoes the lines: "Regain the passion I once carried Do away with all the rest" Enforcing the notion that it is better to focus on the good, the important and your passions, everything else is secondary.

"We are what's left of what we once were We are falling far behind There's so much stacking up against us And we're running out of time"

This is displaying many things: we are the memories we keep, the only remaining reminder of what once was in us; how hard it can be — an uphill struggle; how there is no reprieve when you are fighting; and as stated, how time is running out. This is really desperate, the pain in this stanza is obvious and consuming — it's a fear of not being good enough.

"We are but hopeful children And we're the last of our kind But if we let our hearts move outward I know we will never"

This is a redemption. Although things are bad, they are hopeful, and again, the last of their kind. Lovers and the hopeful — a dying breed. He continues to say, that if you retain what you love, send it outward, and keep it going you will never fade, die, be forgotten. There is so much you could fill in.

"We are but friends and family We are the last of our kind So hold my hand, I'll lift your head up And I promise we'll be fine"

This is memetic of the whole song. The solider on attitude is reflected here, he is still optimistic in spite of all everything.

"We are but hopeful lovers And we are running out of time There's so much stacking up against us And we're falling far behind"

Here is the reality. Everything is looking down. Everything is not as good as it could be.

"But if we let our hearts move outward I know we will never We are but lovers We are the last of our kind And if we let our hearts move outward I know we will never We are but lovers We are the last of our kind And if we let our hearts move outward We will never die"

The repetition here shows how determined the narrator is, shows how desperate this situation is, but also how much hope there can be. This last stanza is really a call to arms, a battle cry, it is a motivation to survive it all, the sickness, the death of romance and hope, the death of family and friends. This is what it all comes down to.

The title is something of a mystery. 'The Last Lost Continent' could be many things, but in the end, no matter the possible readings, it is ultimately something untouched by man, this continent is something representative of something greater than what it is. Throughout the song, we are reminded that the narrator is among the last of the lovers and the hopefuls, these 'lasts' need to reside somewhere — the last lost continent. If the narrator created a throne, and a castle out of the sickness, then why not a whole continent? Somewhere for his family and friends to reside, where they will be safe, where they can continue to fight forevermore, and never die. The last safe place, lost to all the pain that is humanity.

To be honest, this song is just so diverse, and the imagery is so haunting that I don't feel this analysis has done it any justice. The ideas brought forth by this song are just so powerful and universal — even if you don't connect to the meaning, the voice is raw and powerful, perfect for the song. It is truly a masterpiece that is underrated.

TL;DR:

To me, this song is ultimately a dirge, an ode to the last lovers and the last hopefuls. It is bittersweet. The narrator confronts and destroys a sickness (something of the mind, probably) that has plagued his family, friends and lover, he then builds a safe haven from this destruction — a beacon of hope. There is also the deepest sense of a struggle, a war, almost, that the narrator and his companions need to fight to stay alive, yet everything seems hopeless. Despite this, there is a sense of hope, screamed into your ear, the narrator tells you to keep strong. There are so many elements in this song, winding and twisting, making this 12 minute epic so haunting. The narrator gives a wide range of emotion — hatred, fear, sadness, devastation, hope, strength, through all this, fragility is the undertone. The narrator is worn out, he has fought and run, and confronted, and built castles, and he's been the driving force of a dying breed. He is the one that has kept everyone going, and although he is tired, he manages to make it to the end. The beauty of this song is mixed with pain and fear, and a ling struggle that consumes the listen, with the progression of the music and the heightening desperation that is held in the narrator's voice.

Sorry for the length, I just really like this song.