Lyric discussion by justjava2 

Cover art for Sleepwalking lyrics by Bring Me the Horizon

Could be very wrong about this, but music is different to everyone. I believe this song is to be about derealization/schizophrenia. Lyrics: My secrets are burning a hole through my heart And my bones catch a fever When it cuts you up this deep It's hard to find a way to breathe

(This part to me means that the person is having an extremely hard time with life, whether it be regarding depression or something else. They're having to hide this hardship and it's destroying their entire being, so they're self medicating in a way- hence 'when it cuts you up this deep, its hard to find a way to breathe')

Your eyes are swallowing me Mirrors start to whisper Shadows start to see My skin's smothering me Help me find a way to breathe

(They do drugs or whatever else it is to numb their pain, which makes them go crazy. 'Your eyes are swallowing me'- people with derealization cannot look at people in the face or eyes too long before their faces become morphed. 'Mirrors start to whisper, shadows start to sing'- they're going crazy, hearing and seeing things. 'My skins smothering me'- They feel they cannot escape from themselves.)

Time stood still The way it did before It's like I'm sleepwalking Fell into another hole again It's like I'm sleepwalking (The first two lines are saying that when you have a bad trip on drugs, time can seem like it is not moving or going any faster, your time and space perception is completely off. When you have derealization this continues to happen- hence- 'the way it did before'. 'It's like I'm sleepwalking'- they don't feel real. They feel they are living in a dream. 'Fell into another hole again, it's like I'm sleepwalking'- Kind of an Alice In Wonderland-ish reference here to me. You fall down the rabbit hole and your whole world is confusing and new and unfamiliar- and frightening. Just like derealization.)

I'm at the edge of the world Where do I go from here? Do I disappear? Edge of the world Should I sink or swim? Or simply disappear? (The person's disorder has left them stuck. They don't know what to do from here. The continuous references to disappearing means that they do not feel real anyway, so should they continue on, or simply disappear?)

Skipping the parts I already interpreted

Wake up! Take my hand and Give me a reason to start again Wake up! Pull me out and Give me a reason to start again (I feel like this is a battle between the person and their mind. Half of their mind is telling them to wake up from this shit hole they're in, but the other half is asking them to give them a reason to even try, and begging for help to pull themselves out of this situation they're in.)

So yeah, this is just my interpretation of it, being a person who has dealt with these things. There are a wide variety of things this song could be about- just thought my answer was kind of interesting.

My Interpretation

It's funny that you said this. I know a girl who I suspect has BPD. She has a personal playlist of songs she calls soundtrack to life. This is on there, along with other ones like Four Walled World, Man in the box, Sweating Bullets etc. All songs which identify well with mental illness.

I think this is the most accurate interpretation. The only part that I interpreted differently than you described was the "Fell into another hole again, it's like I'm sleepwalking" lyric because of how it may relate with the follow up lyrics "wake up... (and so forth). I felt it was more of a take on how you know its wrong when you relapse. But, you either can't fight the craving or act on habit. I think it could be relating to how you're physically acting. While mentally its like you're watching it happen from outside yourself, as if you were...

@justjava2 I'm going through this now...it's my third time having to deal with my anxiety forming in episodes of derealization and this song explains it really well. It's like a feeling you can't shake, you're just in a trance, feeling like you're on the edge of reality.