This song is absolutely beautiful. I love how calm it is in comparison to some of Bret's angrier songs, as well as how powerful it manages to be despite that. Now for my analysis! c:
"We are thrown away,
In the house you made of every stolen moment."
So this song is about someone who is depressed. To me, this stanza seems to be sung from the perspective of a friend/family member who found out about the depressed person, and they are shocked. Thrown away is similar to blown away. Also, people who are depressed isolate themselves instead of going for help; it's a symptom of the disorder. So this family member/friend feels like they were discarded/thrown away as a source of help.
"Don't pretend,
I know how this ends, and who you are in secret."
Depressed people are always pretending. Withdrawing and hiding your true feelings are a symptom of the disorder. Someone is confronting the depressed person out of concern. "How this ends" would be a reference to suicide. The concerned person doesn't want that to happen.
"All our hopes are fast asleep,
Spill the wrist of what you'll never be."
In a depressive state, hope dies. One feels nothing but the persistent negativity. And the "spilling the wrist" is of course referring to cutting. I also feel like it is describing what one is trying to do when they cut. The physical pain is a distraction, yes, but it's also a release. A release of the inner pain. This person feels like they will never be happy, popular, loved, all that, and they are releasing "what they will never be" along with the blood when they cut.
"And I'll never say that everything's alright,
That when we're gone we'll sleep with satellites,
We're killing more than the loneliness behind the eyes,
Sometimes the best you can do is just survive."
Someone is depressed will never, ever, admit that everything will be alright. Because they can't believe it. The second line refers to the freedom that comes with death. Being gone = dead, and sleeping with satellites suggests floating freely in space.
The third line took me a while. But it seems to me that someone who is depressed is trying to kill "the loneliness behind the eyes" AKA the pain or the depression by cutting. But, in the process, they are self-destructing and causing themselves more pain. It's like...well. Popping a zit, I suppose. You feel some pain but it dissipates quicker since all the disgustingness is outta there. Howevs, this also spreads bacteria so more form. You're super welcome for that tasty analogy.
And now for my favourite line. The fourth line refers to the idea that someone who is depressed is just barely surviving. They're not living, not enjoying. Just scraping by, taking it day by day.
"Something's wrong inside,
We are feeding flies with pieces of ambition."
Wrong inside; mental disorder that is killing you without any obvious symptoms. Pieces of ambition; hope and ambition both die when people are depressed. All that exists is the pain, and the feeling that the pain will just continue forever. Thus, you can't hope the future will improve, and you can't be ambitious and make the future better.
"Prison skin,
Keeps us safety pinned
...I'll whisper your incision."
Suggests suicide and cutting. Prison skin; skin, the body, is a prison. And this person wants to be free of it. Thus, they "whisper an incision" or cut themselves. However, this is just a temporary release from the "prison skin"; cuts always heal. Thus it foreshadows suicide.
"Hostile strum and icepick tongue,
Shelter here from everyone."
"Hostile strum" and "icepick tongue" refer to an angry voice and cold, sharp words. The depressed person is pushing everyone away by being angry and aggressive and leaving themselves isolated. They consider this "sheltering". This is a common problem with depression; they push everyone who can possibly help away, and thus the depression worsens.
Tbh, I rly feel like I'm missing something with my analysis of this song. There's more to it, I know. But for now, this is my simple analysis I suppose. c:
This song is absolutely beautiful. I love how calm it is in comparison to some of Bret's angrier songs, as well as how powerful it manages to be despite that. Now for my analysis! c:
"We are thrown away, In the house you made of every stolen moment."
So this song is about someone who is depressed. To me, this stanza seems to be sung from the perspective of a friend/family member who found out about the depressed person, and they are shocked. Thrown away is similar to blown away. Also, people who are depressed isolate themselves instead of going for help; it's a symptom of the disorder. So this family member/friend feels like they were discarded/thrown away as a source of help.
"Don't pretend, I know how this ends, and who you are in secret."
Depressed people are always pretending. Withdrawing and hiding your true feelings are a symptom of the disorder. Someone is confronting the depressed person out of concern. "How this ends" would be a reference to suicide. The concerned person doesn't want that to happen.
"All our hopes are fast asleep, Spill the wrist of what you'll never be."
In a depressive state, hope dies. One feels nothing but the persistent negativity. And the "spilling the wrist" is of course referring to cutting. I also feel like it is describing what one is trying to do when they cut. The physical pain is a distraction, yes, but it's also a release. A release of the inner pain. This person feels like they will never be happy, popular, loved, all that, and they are releasing "what they will never be" along with the blood when they cut.
"And I'll never say that everything's alright, That when we're gone we'll sleep with satellites, We're killing more than the loneliness behind the eyes, Sometimes the best you can do is just survive."
Someone is depressed will never, ever, admit that everything will be alright. Because they can't believe it. The second line refers to the freedom that comes with death. Being gone = dead, and sleeping with satellites suggests floating freely in space. The third line took me a while. But it seems to me that someone who is depressed is trying to kill "the loneliness behind the eyes" AKA the pain or the depression by cutting. But, in the process, they are self-destructing and causing themselves more pain. It's like...well. Popping a zit, I suppose. You feel some pain but it dissipates quicker since all the disgustingness is outta there. Howevs, this also spreads bacteria so more form. You're super welcome for that tasty analogy. And now for my favourite line. The fourth line refers to the idea that someone who is depressed is just barely surviving. They're not living, not enjoying. Just scraping by, taking it day by day.
"Something's wrong inside, We are feeding flies with pieces of ambition."
Wrong inside; mental disorder that is killing you without any obvious symptoms. Pieces of ambition; hope and ambition both die when people are depressed. All that exists is the pain, and the feeling that the pain will just continue forever. Thus, you can't hope the future will improve, and you can't be ambitious and make the future better.
"Prison skin, Keeps us safety pinned ...I'll whisper your incision."
Suggests suicide and cutting. Prison skin; skin, the body, is a prison. And this person wants to be free of it. Thus, they "whisper an incision" or cut themselves. However, this is just a temporary release from the "prison skin"; cuts always heal. Thus it foreshadows suicide.
"Hostile strum and icepick tongue, Shelter here from everyone."
"Hostile strum" and "icepick tongue" refer to an angry voice and cold, sharp words. The depressed person is pushing everyone away by being angry and aggressive and leaving themselves isolated. They consider this "sheltering". This is a common problem with depression; they push everyone who can possibly help away, and thus the depression worsens.
Tbh, I rly feel like I'm missing something with my analysis of this song. There's more to it, I know. But for now, this is my simple analysis I suppose. c: