This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere.
In general, it highlights the danger of hidden agendas, manipulation, and distraction, serving as a critique of those who exploit chaos and confusion to control and gain power, depicting a cautionary tale against falling into their traps. It encourages us to question the narratives presented to us and remain vigilant against manipulation in various parts of society.
And something warm and soft just passed through here
It took the precious things that I hold dearer
It rifles through the grey and disappeared
The creeping darkness makes the small hours clearer
Like a cancer scare
In a dentist's chair
Sucking in the air
Wire across the stair
Kicking down the door
At your local store
When your world of bore
Forces through the floor
Unexpected news
Wearing high-heeled shoes
Blowing out the fuse
Paying all your dues
Tempering lullaby
Like a fractured tied
It's a worthless lie
To the public eye
I don't take waifs and strays back home with me
My bleeding heart does not extend to charity
Yes, I'd have to say I like my privacy
Did you know you're on closed-circuit TV?
So smile at me
And a dream you had
Of your mom and dad
On a beach somewhere
And the boys aren't there
With the cancer threat
In a cigarette
Tempering lullaby
Find a place to hide
And from the yellow windows of the last train
A specter from the next life breathes his bargain of pain
I look with you into the speeding black rain
Afraid to touch someone, afraid to ask her for a name
And in the morning when I find I've lost you
I throw a window open wide and step through
It took the precious things that I hold dearer
It rifles through the grey and disappeared
The creeping darkness makes the small hours clearer
Like a cancer scare
In a dentist's chair
Sucking in the air
Wire across the stair
Kicking down the door
At your local store
When your world of bore
Forces through the floor
Unexpected news
Wearing high-heeled shoes
Blowing out the fuse
Paying all your dues
Tempering lullaby
Like a fractured tied
It's a worthless lie
To the public eye
I don't take waifs and strays back home with me
My bleeding heart does not extend to charity
Yes, I'd have to say I like my privacy
Did you know you're on closed-circuit TV?
So smile at me
And a dream you had
Of your mom and dad
On a beach somewhere
And the boys aren't there
With the cancer threat
In a cigarette
Tempering lullaby
Find a place to hide
And from the yellow windows of the last train
A specter from the next life breathes his bargain of pain
I look with you into the speeding black rain
Afraid to touch someone, afraid to ask her for a name
And in the morning when I find I've lost you
I throw a window open wide and step through
Lyrics submitted by christsizeshoes, edited by DutchLyric, PaulZero, flameisgone
Deadwing Lyrics as written by Gavin Richard Harrison Colin Edwin Balch
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Downtown Music Publishing
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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At the San Francisco Deadwing concert, Wilson gave a long explanation, which was chilling and deeply affected me.
Wilson explained that it was a screenplay about a man who had lived his life after an event that did not go as it was supposed to. The event altered his life from its intended path and everything that happened from that juncture onward was wrong. The event haunted him for life. At the end of his life something miraculous occurred, and he was brought back to the event and given the opportunity to life his life as it should have played out.
My personal interpretation of the term "Deadwing" after hearing this was that after the event his life was crippled by a "dead wing", the incorrect path his life took and how it haunted him, a bird with a bad wing could not fly.
All right, here's my interpretation of this song. First of all, I have read the 15 aviliable pages of the script and the rest of the album's lyrics, and I can tell that Elizabeth (the woman) meets David (the man, whose name is also mentioned in 'Lazarus') in a the last train of the night
And from the yellow windows of the last train A specter from the next life breathes his fog on the pane I look with you into the speeding black rain Afraid to touch someone, afraid to ask her for her name
After that, something happens that leads them into a romance, but as you can clearly find in the other songs' lyrics, she leaves him really quickly or is only using him, while David really falls in love with her. Many phrases in this song relate to the script:
Voices through the floor (David's neighbors' voices can be heard through his apartment's ceiling) Unexpected news Wearing high-heeled shoes (Elizabeth appears at the train station suddenly, wearing high heels)
With the cancer threat In a cigarette (Elizabeth is a smoker, and references to cigarettes are also found in 'Open Car')
And in the morning when I find I've lost you I throw a window open wide and step through (As I said, she doesn't really care about him, but he is in a real crush)
I don't think Deadwing is about incest...I think it's a beautiful romance story with a tragic end for him. That's why a new version of 'Shesmovedon' is also included in the album, because the lyrics fit in very well. You know Steven, always making sad compositions. Anyway, I hope you liked this interpretation, and if you'd like to read the script, feel free to email me at josemariacastillo@hotmail.com, and I'll send it over to you.
The album (or just the song, I can't remember) is apparently a screenplay written by SW about some sort of ghost story....either way, great great album...they just keep getting better...
The opening reminds me of Led Zepp's Song Remains the Same. Anyone else think so?
Nickmasterx,
The first time I heard the opening it reminded me of The Song Remains the Same.
or Achilles Last Stand
What is Mikael Akerfeldt doing on this track again? I can't remember
Nice song. "Deadwing" was pretty much a commercial album but this one is one of the better songs there. I think Steve Wilson said that theres gonna be a movie about the theme of this song and a script is being written.
i disagree with Tbrings90. I believe the album is a concept album about a deranged lunatic. "It took the precious things that I hold dearer" could mean some trauma took his sanity, "The creeping darkness makes the small hours clearer" could mean he thinks the night is easier to catch his victims.
Anyway, i ramble...
i'm not very good at interpreting songs, but i know that this album is basically a screenplay for a movie that steven wilson wanted to make.
from what i've read Deadwing is a ghost story. This man (that this song is about) is being haunted by a woman who was murdered. It is said that the man could have been anyone, but was most likely either her lover, her murderer, or both. There are lots of different ways to interpret who the man was, like he could have loved her, than ended up hating her, then took revenge on her, and now is haunted by her. Another one (my favorite so far) is that he has schitzophrenia and one personalilty loved her, one killed her and now he is livig a different persona and does not know why he is being haunted.
Anyways not much detail has been given out because Steve didn't want to spoil anything if the movie actually does come out someday.
Oh and that inscestuous twist that Tbrings suggested is really interesting, never thought of that.
Schizophrenia is not what you described. You are thinking of Multiple-Personality Disorder. I forget the technical name, but that is what you are thinking of.
Schizophrenia was, for decades, thought to be the same thing as Multiple-Personality Disorder, as was, on occasion, bipolar disorder. Over the years, they have become more defined, but some people still use Schizophrenia as a word for MPD.