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It's been a long time coming
It's not up for debate
You've been a hollowed-out apple
Though you're standing up straight
It's later than you think
And we're not going to wait
If you continue to tell us
If you continue to tell us
"The universe is going to catch you"
Well, it was fine until you fell off
Of the face of the Earth
Because we would call you at home
And no one picked up the phone
But we were worried that you'd fallen
In the river, or worse
But then you sent us back a letter
It said in capital letters
"THE UNIVERSE IS GOING TO CATCH YOU"
Come back inside
To this house
To your home
Made of steel-structured styrofoam
Nobody's out there
But someone is singing you
Back to your birthplace
That voice is the same voice
You heard on the same night that
Everything glowed
Took you into the air
And the arms of the universe
Kept you from falling
But after that happened
Those arms did not come back
So when you leapt up
And nobody caught you
Your neck broke
It's not up for debate
You've been a hollowed-out apple
Though you're standing up straight
It's later than you think
And we're not going to wait
If you continue to tell us
If you continue to tell us
"The universe is going to catch you"
Well, it was fine until you fell off
Of the face of the Earth
Because we would call you at home
And no one picked up the phone
But we were worried that you'd fallen
In the river, or worse
But then you sent us back a letter
It said in capital letters
"THE UNIVERSE IS GOING TO CATCH YOU"
Come back inside
To this house
To your home
Made of steel-structured styrofoam
Nobody's out there
But someone is singing you
Back to your birthplace
That voice is the same voice
You heard on the same night that
Everything glowed
Took you into the air
And the arms of the universe
Kept you from falling
But after that happened
Those arms did not come back
So when you leapt up
And nobody caught you
Your neck broke
Lyrics submitted by UsedToVacation
Track duration: 03:55
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It's been a long time coming
It's not up for debate
You've been a hollowed-out apple
Though you're standing up straight
It's later than you think
And we're not going to wait
If you continue to tell us
If you continue to tell us
"The universe is going to catch you"
This is the actual intervention. They're telling him he's obviously not in control of himself but he denies it. He asks them to put it off, to wait until tomorrow, but they want him to confront his issues now.
"Well, it was fine until you fell off
Of the face of the Earth
Because we would call you at home
And no one picked up the phone
But we were worried that you'd fallen
In the river, or worse
But then you sent us back a letter
It said in capital letters
"THE UNIVERSE IS GOING TO CATCH YOU"
Everything was fine until something happened to trigger him. He fell into a bad place, moved away, stopped all contact with his family. They worried about him, thought he had died or gone to jail. Finally he corresponded with them, giving the same excuse, basically "whatever will be will be, don't worry about me."
Come back inside
To this house
To your home
Made of steel-structured styrofoam
Nobody's out there
But someone is singing you
Back to your birthplace
That voice is the same voice
You heard on the same night that
Everything glowed
Took you into the air
And the arms of the universe
Kept you from falling
But after that happened
Those arms did not come back
So when you leapt up
And nobody caught you
Your neck broke
I don't know if this is a happy ending or a sad ending. It could mean he's realized his wrongs and wants to return home and fix things. Or it could mean he refused help and now he's all alone with memories of how it used to be before he went off the rails.
It sounds like a depressed (or manic?) person "hollowed out shell" who's been edging away from family and friends and, frankly, sanity for a while. "the universe is going to catch you" sounds like the catchphrase of a really apathetic person who thinks it's not worth the effort to try to stay grounded and anyway, it's not like anything truly bad can happen.
Tbe song is his family's plea for him to just come home, and knock his shit off. It's implied that it wasn't the universe catching him all this time, but his family. The voice calling him home.
The last little bit could be a metaphor for this guy facing real consequences for his actions for once. It sounds, at least, more like a metaphorical death than a literal one.
I did acid when I was eighteen, and while I was high I felt like I understood everything, and I comprehended a vast amount of knowledge and, let me tell you, I slept in the crooked arms of justice and I felt safe. I thought the universe would catch me. That I was on some different level now, that suddenly the rules of Karma I'd always wanted to be real would finally catch up with me and prove themselves.
"It's been a long time coming
It's not up for debate
You've been a hollowed-out apple
Though you're standing up straight"
The person mentioned is probably a normal person, maybe someone who doesn't break many rules or who keeps in line most of the time. His friends convince him he's a "hollowed-out apple" and needs to experience LSD to jumpstart his soul or become a little more interesting or something.
It's later than you think
And we're not going to wait
If you continue to tell us
If you continue to tell us
"The universe is going to catch you"
The first line alludes to the fact that the tripping has begun. When I dropped acid, my time perception was completely messed up for a good eight or nine hours. Which can be a little exhausting, by the way.
I think the rest is just conversation during the trip, but I'm not sure. Meh.
Well, it was fine until you fell off
Of the face of the Earth
Because we would call you at home
And no one picked up the phone
But we were worried that you'd fallen
In the river, or worse
But then you sent us back a letter
It said in capital letters
"THE UNIVERSE IS GOING TO CATCH YOU"
This person is completely caught up in their trip. He is really into it and trying to explain it to his friends, who I assume are more drug-experienced and don't take him seriously. I think he's starting to worry them with his insistence and fervor.
Come back inside
To this house
To your home
Made of steel-structured styrofoam
As opposed to the chemical-induced "home" he's found.
Nobody's out there
But someone is singing you
Back to your birthplace
That voice is the same voice
You heard on the same night that
Everything glowed
In my opinion it's alluding to another trip now, because obviously this guy was convinced the truth can only be exposed while he's in an altered state. The "same voice" is the acid. It does talk to you in certain ways, and now he's dropped again--
Took you into the air
And the arms of the universe
Kept you from falling
The trip was going as well as last time.
But after that happened
Those arms did not come back
So when you leapt up
And nobody caught you
Your neck broke
I mean, this could be a literal translation, and the guy could have accidentally died while tripping, being so sure that nothing bad could happen to him. Maybe he leapt from a building thinking he couldn't die. Or it could be metaphorically, like when he stopped tripping he realized that it was all a fantasy, it wasn't real, and his sense of comfort was a lie. And he couldn't cope with that.
That's what it sounds like to me, anyway.