I understand why many people connect this track to death, or even suicide (the bridge imagery doesn't help I guess), but in my interpretation it's much simpler than that.
As at least one person has suggested, for me, the song sums up and expresses the pain of knowing when you must move on from a failed relationship, for your own good, or even your own survival.
"The bridge" isn't a literal bridge in my take, it's the connection between the life you must leave behind (and all the possibility and hope contained in that), and the choice you know you have to take for your own sanity, safety and survival.
The fountains still down there? Those are the fantasies where the relationship could actually work out, the heady dreams you know you must abandon.
The rain up here? That's the impending reality that you have to face, because you know it's the truth, you know it can't be saved, you know it will consume you and drag you down if you keep trying. It's time.
Everybody seems so far away from me because in these circumstances you're cut off from everything. The old life you now know was a dream isn't real anymore, but you're still on the bridge that separates that from a future life you're moving towards.
Everybody just wants to be free. Free from lies, free from constraints, free from things that harm us and hold us back. Free from this relationship that has become an unhealthy bond and a source of pain.
Maybe I just place my hands over you? Close my eyes real tight? And hope. And wish. And try to return to the dream, but even the other person knows by now. It can't happen. There's a light in your eyes. And you know. Yeah you know.
Look on down from the bridge. I'm still waiting. For you. Forever. For the dream that died. For the love you know now can never work. The part of you that you leave behind forever when you know you must.
It's sad alright, I'm literally crying my eyes out writing this, but it's also hope. The knowledge that it's hopeless enables growth and a move forward, across the bridge, to something new. Something better. Look on down from the bridge, but don't get stuck there. Keep on moving. Cross the bridge.
I understand why many people connect this track to death, or even suicide (the bridge imagery doesn't help I guess), but in my interpretation it's much simpler than that.
As at least one person has suggested, for me, the song sums up and expresses the pain of knowing when you must move on from a failed relationship, for your own good, or even your own survival.
"The bridge" isn't a literal bridge in my take, it's the connection between the life you must leave behind (and all the possibility and hope contained in that), and the choice you know you have to take for your own sanity, safety and survival.
The fountains still down there? Those are the fantasies where the relationship could actually work out, the heady dreams you know you must abandon.
The rain up here? That's the impending reality that you have to face, because you know it's the truth, you know it can't be saved, you know it will consume you and drag you down if you keep trying. It's time.
Everybody seems so far away from me because in these circumstances you're cut off from everything. The old life you now know was a dream isn't real anymore, but you're still on the bridge that separates that from a future life you're moving towards.
Everybody just wants to be free. Free from lies, free from constraints, free from things that harm us and hold us back. Free from this relationship that has become an unhealthy bond and a source of pain.
Maybe I just place my hands over you? Close my eyes real tight? And hope. And wish. And try to return to the dream, but even the other person knows by now. It can't happen. There's a light in your eyes. And you know. Yeah you know.
Look on down from the bridge. I'm still waiting. For you. Forever. For the dream that died. For the love you know now can never work. The part of you that you leave behind forever when you know you must.
It's sad alright, I'm literally crying my eyes out writing this, but it's also hope. The knowledge that it's hopeless enables growth and a move forward, across the bridge, to something new. Something better. Look on down from the bridge, but don't get stuck there. Keep on moving. Cross the bridge.
@discordian314 this interpretation resonates with me the most. Thank you for sharing
@discordian314 this interpretation resonates with me the most. Thank you for sharing