I always interpreted this song as the internal dialog of someone who suffers from a depressive disorder and as a result has a difficult time maintaining social relationships.
//walked away,
//heard them say,
//poison hearts will never change
Because he suffers from depression, he sees the world in a very cynical light, which leads those around him to accuse him of having a "poisoned heart".
//walk away again
The "again" implies that this is not an uncommon occurrence, and the rejection just creates a negative feedback loop where every time he is socially rejected he becomes more depressed, which in turns makes it harder to not be cynical.
//turned away in disgrace
//felt the chill upon my face
//cooling from within
Following each rejection he not only cries alone in private ("felt the chill upon my face") but also becomes more detached, unsociable, and cold as an ego defense mechanism ("cooling from within").
//hard to notice
//gleaming from the sky
//when your staring at the cracks
//hard to notice
//what is passing by
//with eyes low, Oh
He thinks that it is difficult to appreciate the good things in life when all he can focus on are the depressing ones. This sounds like a response to the encouragement that people with clinical depression usually face; they are told to "snap out of it!", "smile!', or "cheer up!". On a side note, for anyone reading this, that is actually one of the worst things that you can do to a person suffering from a depressive disorder. Such people have a legitimate mental illness, and may physiologically be incapable of "just cheering up" due to chemical imbalances or other very real medical reasons. By insisting that they just stop being depressed, you are feeding into their disorder by making them feel abnormal and worthless; a depressed person can no more just create more serotonin than a diabetic person can create more insulin.
//all the cracks they lead right to me
//and all the cracks will crawl right through me
//all the cracks they lead right to me
//and all the cracks will crawl right through me
//and they'll part
This expresses a sense of vulnerability but also dissociation. He at once both feels like he is brittle and also unworthy of having friends or people who care about him, because he is such a downer, and also (illogically), that he's a source of misery for other people ("all the cracks they lead right to me").
The last line, "and I fell apart", shows that he has mentally and emotionally crumpled and disassociated from the stress of his depression and social rejection.
I always interpreted this song as the internal dialog of someone who suffers from a depressive disorder and as a result has a difficult time maintaining social relationships.
//walked away, //heard them say, //poison hearts will never change
Because he suffers from depression, he sees the world in a very cynical light, which leads those around him to accuse him of having a "poisoned heart".
//walk away again The "again" implies that this is not an uncommon occurrence, and the rejection just creates a negative feedback loop where every time he is socially rejected he becomes more depressed, which in turns makes it harder to not be cynical.
//turned away in disgrace //felt the chill upon my face //cooling from within
Following each rejection he not only cries alone in private ("felt the chill upon my face") but also becomes more detached, unsociable, and cold as an ego defense mechanism ("cooling from within").
//hard to notice //gleaming from the sky //when your staring at the cracks //hard to notice //what is passing by //with eyes low, Oh
He thinks that it is difficult to appreciate the good things in life when all he can focus on are the depressing ones. This sounds like a response to the encouragement that people with clinical depression usually face; they are told to "snap out of it!", "smile!', or "cheer up!". On a side note, for anyone reading this, that is actually one of the worst things that you can do to a person suffering from a depressive disorder. Such people have a legitimate mental illness, and may physiologically be incapable of "just cheering up" due to chemical imbalances or other very real medical reasons. By insisting that they just stop being depressed, you are feeding into their disorder by making them feel abnormal and worthless; a depressed person can no more just create more serotonin than a diabetic person can create more insulin.
//all the cracks they lead right to me //and all the cracks will crawl right through me //all the cracks they lead right to me //and all the cracks will crawl right through me //and they'll part
This expresses a sense of vulnerability but also dissociation. He at once both feels like he is brittle and also unworthy of having friends or people who care about him, because he is such a downer, and also (illogically), that he's a source of misery for other people ("all the cracks they lead right to me").
The last line, "and I fell apart", shows that he has mentally and emotionally crumpled and disassociated from the stress of his depression and social rejection.
What a freakin' depressing song, AFI. :-(