Having read the artists description I am at odds with what I thought having read the lyrics.
To me it is a perspective of a soldier in the midst of a bloody battle.
"You're so cold, keep your hand in mine" The speaker is holding the cold hand of someone who is dying from blood loss. The body extremities become cold as the body goes into shock.
" crowded streets all cleared away one by one" a common tactic of urban warfare is to clear sectors and streets of important strategic importance.
"Hollow heroes separate as they run" cowards flee from the chaos of battle.
"Wise men wonder as strong men die" Absent battle coordinators make decisions for the troops as the soldiers themselves lose their lives in combat.
"Show me how it ends, it's alright
Show me how defenseless you really are
Satisfied and empty inside
That's alright, let's give this another try" The solider holding the cold hand of their dying friend is internally telling their brother to just let go. Let me see what it means to die; to let go. Let yourself slip away, show me how fragile and defenseless you are. Someone I've looked up to through all these trials we've passed together. Your will to live is gone and you are slipping into death. You have given up on fighting for life and have found peace in laying down to die. But the soldier must keep their eye on the horizon for they still live and must fight still.
"If you find your family
Don't you cry
In this land of make believe
Dead and dry" The soldier realizes that as they come across their dead bretheren who have become their family in this dry dead land, that they must maintain their composure and keep fighting on.
"It's alright" the soldier repeats this to give them the strength to keep fighting and moving on in life even after the battle is done and their fellow dead soldiers are long gone.
Having read the artists description I am at odds with what I thought having read the lyrics.
To me it is a perspective of a soldier in the midst of a bloody battle.
"You're so cold, keep your hand in mine" The speaker is holding the cold hand of someone who is dying from blood loss. The body extremities become cold as the body goes into shock.
" crowded streets all cleared away one by one" a common tactic of urban warfare is to clear sectors and streets of important strategic importance.
"Hollow heroes separate as they run" cowards flee from the chaos of battle.
"Wise men wonder as strong men die" Absent battle coordinators make decisions for the troops as the soldiers themselves lose their lives in combat.
"Show me how it ends, it's alright Show me how defenseless you really are Satisfied and empty inside That's alright, let's give this another try" The solider holding the cold hand of their dying friend is internally telling their brother to just let go. Let me see what it means to die; to let go. Let yourself slip away, show me how fragile and defenseless you are. Someone I've looked up to through all these trials we've passed together. Your will to live is gone and you are slipping into death. You have given up on fighting for life and have found peace in laying down to die. But the soldier must keep their eye on the horizon for they still live and must fight still.
"If you find your family Don't you cry In this land of make believe Dead and dry" The soldier realizes that as they come across their dead bretheren who have become their family in this dry dead land, that they must maintain their composure and keep fighting on.
"It's alright" the soldier repeats this to give them the strength to keep fighting and moving on in life even after the battle is done and their fellow dead soldiers are long gone.