Staircase Lyrics

Lyric discussion by Ha1cy0n 

Cover art for Staircase lyrics by Steven Wilson

Not gonna do a breakdown since I feel that the lyrics are meant to be smaller parts of a whole rather than have individual meaning.

Anyway, the only interpretation I can find in this is that it's the constant struggle of keeping up with society and eventual wearing down of the individual. If we don't conform and keep up, we feel lost and ostracized on top of the stress of just maintaining a lifestyle.

Lastly, seeing as how SW had explained in a video that each block on the cover of the album was a building block in a staircase, and this being the last song on the album (final step of the staircase) with the last lyric being "you'll never win this game", I can only guess that it's meant to imply that there is no "landing" at the top of the staircase, only staying stuck on the "last step".

My Interpretation
Negative
Subjective
Fear
Sadness
Societal Pressure
Conformity
Struggle