This song, to me, is about someone struggling to change into a better person. This person has been drawn to something that he is not proud of and wants to stop. He wants to embark on a journey but he wants to take his friend along that is struggling with the same thing. The thing is his friend doesn’t want to fix this problem so the speaker doesn’t have the support that he craves. His friend agrees to go on this journey with him to get back to their old selves, but only halfheartedly. So they're searching within themselves to find the old ones again. It's like inside our hearts and minds where we don't dare venture is a cave of our deepest secrets...
And when it gets to the end, it sounds like the speaker has fallen again, so I'm going to say it's the journey to self-discovery, recovery, and then falling again. And the cycle starts over.
[from] "Roll away your stone, I’ll roll away mine..." [to] "For I'm afraid of what I will discover inside"
At the beginning of the journey they're uncovering the cave to their hearts, but the speaker is telling his friend to stay close by because he afraid of what he'll find deep inside himself.
[from] "Cause you told me that I would find a hole..." [to] "And all the while my character it steals"
He's scared because his friend told him that he'd find hole deep inside. His friend has been there so he knows. Maybe the speaker doesn't want to fall in, i.e. fall into a deeper mess than he is already in. But he's been filling that hole with unrealistic worldly things that has been robbing him of his character. He doesn't even know who he is anymore.
"Darkness is a harsh term don’t you think?
And yet it dominates the things I see"
They're in a cave so all he sees is darkness.
[from] "It seems that all my bridges have been burned..." [to] "But the welcome I receive with the restart”
He is now realizing just how far down he's fallen, and his friend is telling him that it’s a long way back, probably giving up himself. The speaker knows he has a long way to go to get back to where he was. He doesn't mind though, he's willing because he made the mistakes in the first place. But he is excited to get back to his old life and start over.
"Darkness is a harsh term don’t you think?
And yet it dominates the things I see
Darkness is a harsh term don’t you think?
And yet it dominates the things I've seen"
He has finally emerged from the cave...notice how he goes from "darkness dominates the things I see" to "things I've seen". He is no longer in the darkness. He has resurfaced.
"Stars hide your fires,
These here are my desires
And I won't give them up to you this time around
And so, I’ll be found with my stake stuck in this ground
Marking the territory of this newly impassioned soul"
This is my favorite part of the song because it sounds so victorious, like something someone would truly chant after getting over a trial and gaining a new love for life. Since he can see the stars again because he has emerged from the cave, he's singing to the skies. He's found what he wanted in life and he won't let anyone take that from him, not again.
"But you, you’ve gone too far this time
You have neither reason nor rhyme
With which to take this soul that is so rightfully mine"
And this is where he has fallen back down. Without the support of his friend, he has fallen back into that hole in his soul.
...And that is why it is important to help your friend roll away their stones, because if they are left alone, they'll just end up dragging you down with them or being that person that needs help but doesn't know how to get it. Anyone can go from being the speaker to the friend back to the speaker in this song, I think...
This song, to me, is about someone struggling to change into a better person. This person has been drawn to something that he is not proud of and wants to stop. He wants to embark on a journey but he wants to take his friend along that is struggling with the same thing. The thing is his friend doesn’t want to fix this problem so the speaker doesn’t have the support that he craves. His friend agrees to go on this journey with him to get back to their old selves, but only halfheartedly. So they're searching within themselves to find the old ones again. It's like inside our hearts and minds where we don't dare venture is a cave of our deepest secrets... And when it gets to the end, it sounds like the speaker has fallen again, so I'm going to say it's the journey to self-discovery, recovery, and then falling again. And the cycle starts over.
[from] "Roll away your stone, I’ll roll away mine..." [to] "For I'm afraid of what I will discover inside"
At the beginning of the journey they're uncovering the cave to their hearts, but the speaker is telling his friend to stay close by because he afraid of what he'll find deep inside himself.
[from] "Cause you told me that I would find a hole..." [to] "And all the while my character it steals"
He's scared because his friend told him that he'd find hole deep inside. His friend has been there so he knows. Maybe the speaker doesn't want to fall in, i.e. fall into a deeper mess than he is already in. But he's been filling that hole with unrealistic worldly things that has been robbing him of his character. He doesn't even know who he is anymore.
"Darkness is a harsh term don’t you think? And yet it dominates the things I see"
They're in a cave so all he sees is darkness.
[from] "It seems that all my bridges have been burned..." [to] "But the welcome I receive with the restart”
He is now realizing just how far down he's fallen, and his friend is telling him that it’s a long way back, probably giving up himself. The speaker knows he has a long way to go to get back to where he was. He doesn't mind though, he's willing because he made the mistakes in the first place. But he is excited to get back to his old life and start over.
"Darkness is a harsh term don’t you think? And yet it dominates the things I see Darkness is a harsh term don’t you think? And yet it dominates the things I've seen"
He has finally emerged from the cave...notice how he goes from "darkness dominates the things I see" to "things I've seen". He is no longer in the darkness. He has resurfaced.
"Stars hide your fires, These here are my desires And I won't give them up to you this time around And so, I’ll be found with my stake stuck in this ground Marking the territory of this newly impassioned soul"
This is my favorite part of the song because it sounds so victorious, like something someone would truly chant after getting over a trial and gaining a new love for life. Since he can see the stars again because he has emerged from the cave, he's singing to the skies. He's found what he wanted in life and he won't let anyone take that from him, not again.
"But you, you’ve gone too far this time You have neither reason nor rhyme With which to take this soul that is so rightfully mine"
And this is where he has fallen back down. Without the support of his friend, he has fallen back into that hole in his soul.
...And that is why it is important to help your friend roll away their stones, because if they are left alone, they'll just end up dragging you down with them or being that person that needs help but doesn't know how to get it. Anyone can go from being the speaker to the friend back to the speaker in this song, I think...