While I see it can be about rejection in a relationship like others have stated, it can be interpreted in a spiritual, metaphorical sense.
"[...] to reach you." may not be about a person but about an inner state of peace and equilibrium which is personified because it (she) is so different from what the narrator is at the present moment:
"i can smell the rotting of my brain and
i'm shaking and i'm stammering
and tasting the stain of my fail...failure.
...
everyday i see rage in the mirror,
it's dripping from me, throbbing through me."
The narrator is in such a state of turmoil that she no longer recognises herself. The past self, her identity from before the problems begun, and/or the potential future self (if this turmoil will be overcome) who is at peace with herself, is addressed as if another person, one who is desperately needed: "i am nothing but a need to reach you."
This line (and thus the person she talks to throughout the whole song) can also be interpreted as addressing God, asking for help when in a state of extreme despair.
In any case, it's an idea the narrator clings to while facing circumstances that are crushing her, filling her with anger and self disgust, to the point where she is contemplating suicide just to get away.("i'm gonna crawl into a hole and fill me in / cause this thing will suffocate me / so, you see, the only difference is when.)
I think it happens to many people when they go through extreme things to keep reaching towards and obsessing desperately about something which becomes a lifeline that keeps them from sinking wholly so that they can keep focused on fighting through, whether it's a memory, the hope for a better future, the affection of a loved one or God. That's what I think this song is about.
While I see it can be about rejection in a relationship like others have stated, it can be interpreted in a spiritual, metaphorical sense.
"[...] to reach you." may not be about a person but about an inner state of peace and equilibrium which is personified because it (she) is so different from what the narrator is at the present moment: "i can smell the rotting of my brain and i'm shaking and i'm stammering and tasting the stain of my fail...failure. ... everyday i see rage in the mirror, it's dripping from me, throbbing through me."
The narrator is in such a state of turmoil that she no longer recognises herself. The past self, her identity from before the problems begun, and/or the potential future self (if this turmoil will be overcome) who is at peace with herself, is addressed as if another person, one who is desperately needed: "i am nothing but a need to reach you."
This line (and thus the person she talks to throughout the whole song) can also be interpreted as addressing God, asking for help when in a state of extreme despair.
In any case, it's an idea the narrator clings to while facing circumstances that are crushing her, filling her with anger and self disgust, to the point where she is contemplating suicide just to get away.("i'm gonna crawl into a hole and fill me in / cause this thing will suffocate me / so, you see, the only difference is when.)
I think it happens to many people when they go through extreme things to keep reaching towards and obsessing desperately about something which becomes a lifeline that keeps them from sinking wholly so that they can keep focused on fighting through, whether it's a memory, the hope for a better future, the affection of a loved one or God. That's what I think this song is about.