In my opinion, this song is a companion song to "After The Storm" from the previous album. There are multiple similarities in the lyrics, and both songs come at the end of their respective albums (excluding the deluxe edition, of course).
In "After The Storm," the writer has come to the end of himself. Whatever you interpret "the storm" as, the point is that he's at the end of his rope. He's on his knees, broken. But he has determined not to abandon hope for himself, as we see in this line:
"But I won't rot; not this mind and not this heart, I won't rot."
Next, he looks out at all he's held dear, all he's stood for, and takes comfort in his hope.
"And I took you by the hand, and we stood tall.
And remembered our own land; what we lived for.
But there will come a time, you'll see, with no more tears
And love will not break your heart,
Dismiss your fears."
In "Not With Haste," we have a similar scene, but one that is at the same time entirely different. Walking through the fields under a fair sun that he just can't bring himself to notice, the writer is on his knees again, but this time, instead of having lost hope, he's merely "broke." In "After the Storm," we have the encouragement that "love will not break your heart," and now, at long last, the writer is taking the plunge into a life-long love. He's proposing marriage.
"And I was broke,
I was on my knees.
But you said 'yes' as I said 'please.'"
"After the Storm" is the desperate, lonely cry of a man who has come to the end of his rope, but is not willing to give up hope. "And I won't die alone, and be left there." But in "Not With Haste," we see the conclusion of his story. He had held onto the hope that love would not break his heart, and now he's found that to be true. He's found freedom.
"So we will run and scream,
You will dance with me
Fulfill our dreams, and we'll be free.
We will be who we are,
And they'll heal our scars.
Sadness will be far away."
These are such unashamedly hopeful words. It's not a reckless, foolish hope, but a hope that's grounded in what he's learned in the past. He's not throwing caution to the wind, he's believing with faith that the hopes that he's clung to so tightly, even through the through the storms, will now come to pass.
Echoing the cry from the previous song, "I won't rot," he ends this song with the admonishment to himself not to let his flesh go to waste. Whereas before he perhaps loved with haste, which left him broken, desperate, and alone, now he will love not hastily and foolishly, but fervently.
In my opinion, this song is a companion song to "After The Storm" from the previous album. There are multiple similarities in the lyrics, and both songs come at the end of their respective albums (excluding the deluxe edition, of course).
In "After The Storm," the writer has come to the end of himself. Whatever you interpret "the storm" as, the point is that he's at the end of his rope. He's on his knees, broken. But he has determined not to abandon hope for himself, as we see in this line:
"But I won't rot; not this mind and not this heart, I won't rot."
Next, he looks out at all he's held dear, all he's stood for, and takes comfort in his hope.
"And I took you by the hand, and we stood tall. And remembered our own land; what we lived for. But there will come a time, you'll see, with no more tears And love will not break your heart, Dismiss your fears."
In "Not With Haste," we have a similar scene, but one that is at the same time entirely different. Walking through the fields under a fair sun that he just can't bring himself to notice, the writer is on his knees again, but this time, instead of having lost hope, he's merely "broke." In "After the Storm," we have the encouragement that "love will not break your heart," and now, at long last, the writer is taking the plunge into a life-long love. He's proposing marriage.
"And I was broke, I was on my knees. But you said 'yes' as I said 'please.'"
"After the Storm" is the desperate, lonely cry of a man who has come to the end of his rope, but is not willing to give up hope. "And I won't die alone, and be left there." But in "Not With Haste," we see the conclusion of his story. He had held onto the hope that love would not break his heart, and now he's found that to be true. He's found freedom.
"So we will run and scream, You will dance with me Fulfill our dreams, and we'll be free.
We will be who we are, And they'll heal our scars. Sadness will be far away."
These are such unashamedly hopeful words. It's not a reckless, foolish hope, but a hope that's grounded in what he's learned in the past. He's not throwing caution to the wind, he's believing with faith that the hopes that he's clung to so tightly, even through the through the storms, will now come to pass.
Echoing the cry from the previous song, "I won't rot," he ends this song with the admonishment to himself not to let his flesh go to waste. Whereas before he perhaps loved with haste, which left him broken, desperate, and alone, now he will love not hastily and foolishly, but fervently.
I certainly hear the same chords in this song. In fact it seems many of them are along this "kind" of story line ~ my perspective at least.
I certainly hear the same chords in this song. In fact it seems many of them are along this "kind" of story line ~ my perspective at least.
Definitely. The more I've listened to it, the more I believe "Ghosts That We Knew" also follows a similar vein, perhaps even more strongly.
Definitely. The more I've listened to it, the more I believe "Ghosts That We Knew" also follows a similar vein, perhaps even more strongly.