An amazing song. Candidate for album of the year, edged out by "Merriweather Post Pavilion." Really stunning, though.

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Obviously a song dealing with the enduring conflict of man's herbivore v. carnivore instincts. It seems that Longstreth sees humans as overall good ("Everyone looks alive and waiting") but when it comes down to fill their stomachs they glutton over meat, not greens. The "Cannibal resource" of a man is not the fact that he/she dines on the flesh of another human, but that the animals we choose to slaughter and process are also, according to Longstreth, man-like. "Can it ask a question? / Can it sing a a melody? / Can it be interpreted? / Or is it more than what the eye can see? / Maybe not." This is the pure example of Longstreth's view of humanity: we are merely aloof, are just "terrified witnesses" to our own demise. The "arbitrary line" is just the line of thought between PETA and KFC.

For some reason I get the feeling this song is sort of about the war in Iraq, and other wars.
"You're more than a witness" is like saying you could do more to stop things like the war from happening, but you don't, so you're like a participant. The cannibal resource is oil.

But that's just the feeling I got...

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I'd be hesitant to say that this is "obviously" about any particular thing, though maybe you know something I don't... The vegetarian stance is an interesting idea (btw, herbivore v. carnivore - "v." = omnivore), as is the Iraq war slant. It seems to me that specifics like this are usually reflections of the opinions of those doing the interpreting. My own personal interpretation is looser than those. I hear it as being about the general thoughtlessness and fear and anxiety that pervades human behavior. Which includes inhumane treatment of animals, and war, but also more mundane things like road rage, boring jobs, gossip... Ultimately, it seems hopeful and empowering. We're all trying to get along in the world.

i think you can interpret this in a number of ways, greens v. meat etc. I believe this song is an allegory of our current battle with our dependence on fossil fuels. It is a resource for our society but it's a cannibal resource because we are destroying ourselves with it. The non-involvement of most civilians is the terrified witness aspect and there is also a reference to greenhouse gases with "the light is fading".

well the way i always viewed it was that "cannibal resource" would be humans, since the main source of energy for cannibals is human flesh. . .expanding from that i took this song as meaning more like "still counting on human kind" type deal. . . especially the "can it ask a question part" seems to be about technology and though we rely on these modern things more heavily, when it comes down to it humans are uniquely capable of performing certain tasks, at least for now