Weird how a lot of the songs on these albums remind me about the conditions of living life with autism, especially Breakdown. Then again, some people might comment on autistic people as behaving like sci-fi robots. But that's just a personal connection, a likely murder of the artist, so to paint it more broad, it's how we all have to hide something. The speaker could be a personification of grief, trauma, even something as common as anger. Anything someone would feel compelled to hide.
"if it's getting harder to face every day, don't let it show" This introduces that this is a man vs self problem, something is eating the person the speaker is singing to. "if it's getting harder to take what they say, just let it go" it's also a man vs man problem. Other people set off the alarms in the suffering person's brain, they make the suffering person feel worse, probably judging them for what's making them suffer. "And if it hurts when they mention my name, say you don't know me" The sufferer is compelled to wear a disguise around others, as not to expose the barely hidden plague. "And if it helps when they say I'm to blame, say you don't own me." When the ailment is hated, but not the sufferer, it helps, but they choose to deny they have the ailment because the help they need is out of reach because half the crowd blames the sufferer. "Even if it's taking the easy way out, keep it inside of you, don't give in, don't tell them anything." we're afraid of getting help, we would rather take the easy way out (die, implied by our own hands) than to take the easy way out (have other people help us out of the hole we're in) We won't let our guards down because we've been wrong about allies before, and shame is a weight hardly lifted. We let what's killing us kill us, keeping it inside of us.
"Even though you know it's the wrong thing to say, say you don't care. Even if you want to believe there's a way, I won't be there." The ailment begs the sufferer not to get better, not to trust their better judgement, and trying to convince them that the way without them isn't worth it. Our problems try to make us think we're better for having them, but it isn't true, we can be good people without being hurt. "But if you smile when they mention my name, they'll never know you. And if you laugh when they say I'm to blame, they'll never own you" Here, it seems like the ailment is giving them advice that doesn't reach them as well. The sufferer doesn't want to be alone, they want people to know them, they belong with people who call them one of their own. They might not follow the advice to hide the ailment. "Even if you feel you've got nothing to hide. Keep it inside of you. Don't give in, don't tell them anything." The ailment urges them that there isn't a problem, they have something to hide, even if you don't believe it.
This song can end in one of two ways: the sufferer takes the ailment's advice, or the sufferer bears their scars and gets help, killing the ailment.
Weird how a lot of the songs on these albums remind me about the conditions of living life with autism, especially Breakdown. Then again, some people might comment on autistic people as behaving like sci-fi robots. But that's just a personal connection, a likely murder of the artist, so to paint it more broad, it's how we all have to hide something. The speaker could be a personification of grief, trauma, even something as common as anger. Anything someone would feel compelled to hide.
"if it's getting harder to face every day, don't let it show" This introduces that this is a man vs self problem, something is eating the person the speaker is singing to. "if it's getting harder to take what they say, just let it go" it's also a man vs man problem. Other people set off the alarms in the suffering person's brain, they make the suffering person feel worse, probably judging them for what's making them suffer. "And if it hurts when they mention my name, say you don't know me" The sufferer is compelled to wear a disguise around others, as not to expose the barely hidden plague. "And if it helps when they say I'm to blame, say you don't own me." When the ailment is hated, but not the sufferer, it helps, but they choose to deny they have the ailment because the help they need is out of reach because half the crowd blames the sufferer. "Even if it's taking the easy way out, keep it inside of you, don't give in, don't tell them anything." we're afraid of getting help, we would rather take the easy way out (die, implied by our own hands) than to take the easy way out (have other people help us out of the hole we're in) We won't let our guards down because we've been wrong about allies before, and shame is a weight hardly lifted. We let what's killing us kill us, keeping it inside of us.
"Even though you know it's the wrong thing to say, say you don't care. Even if you want to believe there's a way, I won't be there." The ailment begs the sufferer not to get better, not to trust their better judgement, and trying to convince them that the way without them isn't worth it. Our problems try to make us think we're better for having them, but it isn't true, we can be good people without being hurt. "But if you smile when they mention my name, they'll never know you. And if you laugh when they say I'm to blame, they'll never own you" Here, it seems like the ailment is giving them advice that doesn't reach them as well. The sufferer doesn't want to be alone, they want people to know them, they belong with people who call them one of their own. They might not follow the advice to hide the ailment. "Even if you feel you've got nothing to hide. Keep it inside of you. Don't give in, don't tell them anything." The ailment urges them that there isn't a problem, they have something to hide, even if you don't believe it.
This song can end in one of two ways: the sufferer takes the ailment's advice, or the sufferer bears their scars and gets help, killing the ailment.