Steambreather

I think this is about how we can try and seek for a meaningful purpose by thinking about it - but this ultimately doesn't work, because it's not actually engaging with life.

This song itself seems to me to be from a single point of view of a spiritual seeker who is not realizing what he needs to do to actually be spiritual and fulfill a real path for himself - and instead is on the sad path of a follower, which is in this case betraying his own spirit and purpose.

So he's speaking to a leader "Outside the Nazca lines" - who seems beyond the mysteries and thus a master of them. The narrator sees him in white (pure) and hopes the master can make everyone fruitaul.

You know I see you all in white Hoping you'll grow the fruitful vines An array to give us life

The goal of being fruitful - doing things that are of value to others with our own lives.

Note here the protagonist is hoping someone else will do this. As it turns out the protagonist in these lyrics is afraid to do this himself.

A problem for the protagonist, and really for all of us, is that no matter our intentions we still will always have violence inside. This is a core part of our natures, and that can't be erased with just reflection.

This chorus seems to support that:

I wonder who I am Reflections offer nothing I wonder where I stand I'm afraid of myself

By staying only in the hypothetical spiritual possibilities and never committing the narrator never really learns about himself, and remains afraid of himself.

So the song's protagonist climbs within the "cosmic eye" - takes refuge in a spiritual higher view that can be either real or fake, but in either case is not engaging with real material life. So here "forgive the enemy" - often a worthy goal - in this case means not engaging with his own self.

For the protagonist, this path ends up being subservient to some spiritual leader. Because watching the leader fall would be too frightening ("made me want to run away", but helping the leader attain power would be soothing and reaffirming ("made me want to stay").

So the protagonist stays at the foot of the mountain - never daring to actually commit to something in the face of uncertainty and actually climb to a higher understanding. Instead he falls there at the base of the plain - separated from his own spirit - like a dead tree that could have been fruitful.

I think this is born out by the video as well, and adds an extra layer of creepiness and insight as well as dark humor to it.

In many ways a very deep and truly spiritual song.