I think chalking this down to war is missing a lot. There's a lot of that, to be sure, but it's also about our culture and how insensitive WE are to violence and the cost of our entertainment and lifestyle choices.
"the air is thick / the air is wasted" sets the table suggesting that the atmosphere we're living in is harsh and oppressive. the lamb speaks to US and OUR COLLECTIVE NEED for entertainment, perhaps even leading to some perverse enjoyment or at least fascination with suicide (i take the son/pavement/eyes to describe the leap from a building - i guess you could even draw out 9/11 if you try hard enough to interpret WAR), and finally the warning that it could just as easily be us on the pavement.
and that's life. and you know you shouldn't waste it, but lets face it... you're probably wasted.
i think the second verse is about the personal cost of serving in war. the first half might be about us again, and how we can send our soldiers to fight without even considering them or the so-called enemy. the last half is pretty clearly suggesting we kill for resources. or in other words, that we spill blood for luxury.
the third section is back to the atmosphere: your dreams are garbage, whenever you were born there was probably some kind of war, you're not allowed to question it and it might be useless anyway because the darkest things you can imagine are already in motion, having been decided by people hopelessly more powerful while they were distracted by a tipsy meal.
finally the last two lines have almost convinced me the entire song is meant to be about shell shock. i still think there's a lot more to it than simply war.
I think chalking this down to war is missing a lot. There's a lot of that, to be sure, but it's also about our culture and how insensitive WE are to violence and the cost of our entertainment and lifestyle choices.
"the air is thick / the air is wasted" sets the table suggesting that the atmosphere we're living in is harsh and oppressive. the lamb speaks to US and OUR COLLECTIVE NEED for entertainment, perhaps even leading to some perverse enjoyment or at least fascination with suicide (i take the son/pavement/eyes to describe the leap from a building - i guess you could even draw out 9/11 if you try hard enough to interpret WAR), and finally the warning that it could just as easily be us on the pavement.
and that's life. and you know you shouldn't waste it, but lets face it... you're probably wasted.
i think the second verse is about the personal cost of serving in war. the first half might be about us again, and how we can send our soldiers to fight without even considering them or the so-called enemy. the last half is pretty clearly suggesting we kill for resources. or in other words, that we spill blood for luxury.
the third section is back to the atmosphere: your dreams are garbage, whenever you were born there was probably some kind of war, you're not allowed to question it and it might be useless anyway because the darkest things you can imagine are already in motion, having been decided by people hopelessly more powerful while they were distracted by a tipsy meal.
finally the last two lines have almost convinced me the entire song is meant to be about shell shock. i still think there's a lot more to it than simply war.