My interpretation is an indictment of a prison system for wrongly imprisoning those who hurt noone in their illegal actions. Significantly, the album name is "Amnesty". A person, I assume a woman, is visiting her wrongly imprisoned love
"Char" - the prisoner is completely different from before imprisonment. Like dead wood instead of a thriving tree.
"I'm afraid they're gonna find you" - she is worried they will catch the prisoner when prisoner tries escape
"And there's nothing that I can do" - she feels powerless
"A century of your priceless time" - prisoner received a life sentence
"To commit a victimless crime" - she thinks the crime should not be illegal as nobody hurt by it
"Vow to caress your rashes" - she will comfort the prisoner's smallest of discomforts
"Vow to punish with lashes" - she will battle the authorities such as to get prisoner released by embarassing them in media statements about how noone hurt for example
"You can hide inside my locket" - she has a photo of the prisoner in jewellery she wears
"Put a leash on when they walk you" - the prison authorities watch or otherwise restrain when prisoner in the exercise yard
"Next year say you didn't want to" - she gives prisoner hope by saying a future option is prisoner to say they didn't want to do the crime except was put under pressure from others for example
"Do they chastise you when you stray" - she asks do the authorities criticize the prisoner when prisoner goes near the exercise yard boundary or might the prison guards be sympathetic to an escape attempt
"Sallow skin and they can't look away" - the prison authorities are fascinated by how sickly in appearance the prisoner has become in prison and is possibly suicidal so under close watch
"Start a collection of brine" - salty water from the depressed prisoner's tears
"Because all you do is cry" - desparately unhappy in prison
"Wood ticks whisper to console you" - the prison conditions are unhealthy. Such as housing with the type of insects that transmit disease though she in unaware the insects make no noise when she says to him to seek sources of comfort, as she is not in prison herself
My interpretation is an indictment of a prison system for wrongly imprisoning those who hurt noone in their illegal actions. Significantly, the album name is "Amnesty". A person, I assume a woman, is visiting her wrongly imprisoned love
"Char" - the prisoner is completely different from before imprisonment. Like dead wood instead of a thriving tree.
"I'm afraid they're gonna find you" - she is worried they will catch the prisoner when prisoner tries escape "And there's nothing that I can do" - she feels powerless "A century of your priceless time" - prisoner received a life sentence "To commit a victimless crime" - she thinks the crime should not be illegal as nobody hurt by it
"Vow to caress your rashes" - she will comfort the prisoner's smallest of discomforts "Vow to punish with lashes" - she will battle the authorities such as to get prisoner released by embarassing them in media statements about how noone hurt for example "You can hide inside my locket" - she has a photo of the prisoner in jewellery she wears
"Put a leash on when they walk you" - the prison authorities watch or otherwise restrain when prisoner in the exercise yard "Next year say you didn't want to" - she gives prisoner hope by saying a future option is prisoner to say they didn't want to do the crime except was put under pressure from others for example "Do they chastise you when you stray" - she asks do the authorities criticize the prisoner when prisoner goes near the exercise yard boundary or might the prison guards be sympathetic to an escape attempt "Sallow skin and they can't look away" - the prison authorities are fascinated by how sickly in appearance the prisoner has become in prison and is possibly suicidal so under close watch
"Start a collection of brine" - salty water from the depressed prisoner's tears "Because all you do is cry" - desparately unhappy in prison "Wood ticks whisper to console you" - the prison conditions are unhealthy. Such as housing with the type of insects that transmit disease though she in unaware the insects make no noise when she says to him to seek sources of comfort, as she is not in prison herself