I often applied this song to my personal life, specifically one relationship, and this is what I can up with.
"At the center of the world
There is a statue of a girl
She is standing near a well
With a bucket bare and dry"
This is depicting his absolute infatuation with this girl. She is the kind he thinks about daily, before he sleeps, right when he wakes up. She is an unmoving presence in his life, and he just wants to be with her.
"I went and looked her in the eyes
And she turned me into sand
This clumsy form that I despise
Scattered easy in her hand"
She allows him in, they have a relationship. He just melts before her, transforms into sand, because he obsesses over her so much, she means so much to him that he will do anything for her. In hindsight, he hates how helpless he is about her absolute control over him.
"And it came to rest upon a beach
With a million others there
We sat and waited for the sea
To stretch out so that we could disappear"
The relationship is over, and he now sits with ALL the other guys she has been with. He thought he was special, and his love with her was a special thing, but he realizes now he's just with the others he thought he was better than. Now he just wants to disappear, be swallowed by the sea.
"Into the horror of the truth
We are far less than we knew"
He hates that he is not special to her, he is just like everyone else, but he is faced with this truth. He isn't special to her.
"But we knew what we could taste
Girls found honey to drench our hands
Men cut marble to mark our graves
Saying that we will need something to remind us"
He knew what he was getting into, this girl obviously had tempted many men before. The grave being marked is his want for his past love with her to have meant something. He thought it was quite special, and he wants it remembered.
"The priests dressed children for a choir
But found no joy in what was sung
The funeral had begun"
At the "funeral" of his and her love, he listens to the events of their relationship being recited. Instead of feeling good and proud of it, he just felt bad and bitter.
"In the middle of the day
When you drive home to your place
From that job that makes you sleep
Back to the thoughts that keep you awake"
His life has moved on. His exhilarating love with her is over and he has moved on to the mundane of an everyday job, but its her he still thinks about every night.
"Long after night has come to claim
Any light that still remains in the corner of the frame
That you put around her face"
He put a frame around her face, he had completely idealized her and treasured every moment he had with her. He still clings to those memories, but the night is coming. He is realizing that him and her is truly over, and he hates that his perfect woman and love is fading from his life.
"Two pills just weren’t enough
The alarm clock is going off but you are not waking up
This isn’t happening
It is"
All his attempts of coping with this heartbreak have failed. He is in utter denial. I know a lot of people interpret this ending as suicide, but I think of it more as a final death to the relationship. He screams "THIS ISN'T HAPPENING HAPPENING HAPPENING HAPPENING HAPPENING!" as a final protest that the most important relationship to him simply cannot end this way. But the last line provides closure. He realizes that it is over, and he must move on, as tough as that may be.
I often applied this song to my personal life, specifically one relationship, and this is what I can up with.
"At the center of the world There is a statue of a girl She is standing near a well With a bucket bare and dry"
This is depicting his absolute infatuation with this girl. She is the kind he thinks about daily, before he sleeps, right when he wakes up. She is an unmoving presence in his life, and he just wants to be with her.
"I went and looked her in the eyes And she turned me into sand This clumsy form that I despise Scattered easy in her hand"
She allows him in, they have a relationship. He just melts before her, transforms into sand, because he obsesses over her so much, she means so much to him that he will do anything for her. In hindsight, he hates how helpless he is about her absolute control over him.
"And it came to rest upon a beach With a million others there We sat and waited for the sea To stretch out so that we could disappear"
The relationship is over, and he now sits with ALL the other guys she has been with. He thought he was special, and his love with her was a special thing, but he realizes now he's just with the others he thought he was better than. Now he just wants to disappear, be swallowed by the sea.
"Into the horror of the truth We are far less than we knew"
He hates that he is not special to her, he is just like everyone else, but he is faced with this truth. He isn't special to her.
"But we knew what we could taste Girls found honey to drench our hands Men cut marble to mark our graves Saying that we will need something to remind us"
He knew what he was getting into, this girl obviously had tempted many men before. The grave being marked is his want for his past love with her to have meant something. He thought it was quite special, and he wants it remembered.
"The priests dressed children for a choir But found no joy in what was sung The funeral had begun"
At the "funeral" of his and her love, he listens to the events of their relationship being recited. Instead of feeling good and proud of it, he just felt bad and bitter.
"In the middle of the day When you drive home to your place From that job that makes you sleep Back to the thoughts that keep you awake"
His life has moved on. His exhilarating love with her is over and he has moved on to the mundane of an everyday job, but its her he still thinks about every night.
"Long after night has come to claim Any light that still remains in the corner of the frame That you put around her face"
He put a frame around her face, he had completely idealized her and treasured every moment he had with her. He still clings to those memories, but the night is coming. He is realizing that him and her is truly over, and he hates that his perfect woman and love is fading from his life.
"Two pills just weren’t enough The alarm clock is going off but you are not waking up This isn’t happening It is"
All his attempts of coping with this heartbreak have failed. He is in utter denial. I know a lot of people interpret this ending as suicide, but I think of it more as a final death to the relationship. He screams "THIS ISN'T HAPPENING HAPPENING HAPPENING HAPPENING HAPPENING!" as a final protest that the most important relationship to him simply cannot end this way. But the last line provides closure. He realizes that it is over, and he must move on, as tough as that may be.