The song happens within a larger context that is never named, but we hear about the result: things now vary from vast emptiness to uncontrolled turmoil. There's no mid-range feeling, so something pretty serious happened earlier to damage his emotive responses.
"Tie yourself to the mast my friend" says he's lost proactive control of himself. When things go bad he just tries to get through the best way he knows how. It's a purposeful resolve, but in a totally passive way. He basically shuts down, stops noticing what his emotions feel like to him as they happen - like a dissociation type thing.
The song happens within a larger context that is never named, but we hear about the result: things now vary from vast emptiness to uncontrolled turmoil. There's no mid-range feeling, so something pretty serious happened earlier to damage his emotive responses. "Tie yourself to the mast my friend" says he's lost proactive control of himself. When things go bad he just tries to get through the best way he knows how. It's a purposeful resolve, but in a totally passive way. He basically shuts down, stops noticing what his emotions feel like to him as they happen - like a dissociation type thing.