This is my favorite SDRE song and I would LOVE to share my interpretation. To me, this track is pretty clearly about an abusive relationship and the author's experience with leaving it.
Lines that allude to the abuse endured by the author:
"me and the fool in the photograph
a soul many times revealed
the scars only half concealed..."
This points out that the author has tried (and ultimately failed) to obfuscate the abusive behaviors that the author endured by the subject from other people in their life. The author also goes on to "wonder how many days i'll bleed" which points to a complacent desire they've been feeling about continuing their relationship to this person.
The "fool in the photograph" they refer to is themself; specifically, the version of themself they portray who hides the pain caused by this other person. This becomes clear when they write:
"no more the fool in the photograph
that night chained in your embrace
day dawned and i saw your face"
They're saying they don't want to be the fool in the photograph any longer, smiling while standing next to the subject of the lyrics, knowing that they cannot continue to farcically pretend that they're okay with what they're going through.
The "chained in your embrace" line also hints at this being an intimate relationship, though the exact complexion of this relationship (whether romantic, familial or platonic) is mostly left intentionally unclear.
Finally reaching the chorus, the author states how they plan to overcome this toxic relationship:
"but lately, i refuse you
with these arms i will break through you
wait only to see you far removed"
Not so much that the author plans to be physically violent with the subject; when I imagine the author's arms here, I see a cross-arm guard (like in Boxing) that they are using to 'break through' the subject's abusive words and actions in their mind, knowing that the subject will regardless become 'far removed' (i.e. disregard the author's feelings and detach from their own involvement in the author's declining emotional state).
The subject's apathy towards the author's feelings is further confirmed with these lines:
"wasting time, you tell the story still
made your mind you're chasing the moon..."
The subject "wastes" the author's time (because the author now fully realizes that the subject is misrepresenting the truth of their relationship, telling "stories", i.e. falsehoods about their behavior, the author, etc.). "Chasing the moon" is likely a reference to lunacy / delusion that the subject is exhibiting.
In spite of the author's knowledge that this person is bad for them to continue interacting with:
"... making scars among the glory
still you're pulling down"
.. the subject continues to scar the author and attempt to pull them down into submission.
"wasting time, you tell the story
some kind of magic..."
"Some kind of magic" could be a line to represent the subject's dismissal of valid lines of questioning from the author. Or perhaps even a method that the subject used to gaslight the author into believing there's actually nothing wrong with the subject.
In the final words of the song:
"i've waited here all too long..."
...the author appears to admit that they need to move on from this person and seek more fulfilling relationships and less damaging people to have them with. The abrupt change to a major mode in this final part of the song seems to suggest the author believes this move is a positive change to make in their life.
TL;DR I believe this song is about an abusive relationship and the author's journey to leaving it in the past.
This is my favorite SDRE song and I would LOVE to share my interpretation. To me, this track is pretty clearly about an abusive relationship and the author's experience with leaving it.
Lines that allude to the abuse endured by the author:
"me and the fool in the photograph a soul many times revealed the scars only half concealed..."
This points out that the author has tried (and ultimately failed) to obfuscate the abusive behaviors that the author endured by the subject from other people in their life. The author also goes on to "wonder how many days i'll bleed" which points to a complacent desire they've been feeling about continuing their relationship to this person.
The "fool in the photograph" they refer to is themself; specifically, the version of themself they portray who hides the pain caused by this other person. This becomes clear when they write:
"no more the fool in the photograph that night chained in your embrace day dawned and i saw your face"
They're saying they don't want to be the fool in the photograph any longer, smiling while standing next to the subject of the lyrics, knowing that they cannot continue to farcically pretend that they're okay with what they're going through.
The "chained in your embrace" line also hints at this being an intimate relationship, though the exact complexion of this relationship (whether romantic, familial or platonic) is mostly left intentionally unclear.
Finally reaching the chorus, the author states how they plan to overcome this toxic relationship:
"but lately, i refuse you with these arms i will break through you wait only to see you far removed"
Not so much that the author plans to be physically violent with the subject; when I imagine the author's arms here, I see a cross-arm guard (like in Boxing) that they are using to 'break through' the subject's abusive words and actions in their mind, knowing that the subject will regardless become 'far removed' (i.e. disregard the author's feelings and detach from their own involvement in the author's declining emotional state).
The subject's apathy towards the author's feelings is further confirmed with these lines:
"wasting time, you tell the story still made your mind you're chasing the moon..."
The subject "wastes" the author's time (because the author now fully realizes that the subject is misrepresenting the truth of their relationship, telling "stories", i.e. falsehoods about their behavior, the author, etc.). "Chasing the moon" is likely a reference to lunacy / delusion that the subject is exhibiting.
In spite of the author's knowledge that this person is bad for them to continue interacting with:
"... making scars among the glory still you're pulling down"
.. the subject continues to scar the author and attempt to pull them down into submission.
"wasting time, you tell the story some kind of magic..."
"Some kind of magic" could be a line to represent the subject's dismissal of valid lines of questioning from the author. Or perhaps even a method that the subject used to gaslight the author into believing there's actually nothing wrong with the subject.
In the final words of the song:
"i've waited here all too long..."
...the author appears to admit that they need to move on from this person and seek more fulfilling relationships and less damaging people to have them with. The abrupt change to a major mode in this final part of the song seems to suggest the author believes this move is a positive change to make in their life.
TL;DR I believe this song is about an abusive relationship and the author's journey to leaving it in the past.