I Will Not Bow

The truth of this song is, it's about Breaking Benjamin's experience in an Indian restaurant one night. I shall take the song one line at a time and explain the real meaning behind the song. I begin with a correction of the opening line:

Contrary to received wisdom, the first word is not "fall", but:

"PHAL!"

A phal is a particularly hot kind of curry; in fact, one of the hottest. In shouting the word at the beginning of the song, Ben Burnley sets up the song's context and tells us straight away that the song is about a curry.

"Now the dark begins to rise, save your breath, it's far from over"

The "dark" here refers to the overpowering strength of the curry. Ben burps a foul smelling burp here, hence the "rise" part i.e. it rises up from his stomach. Of course, the burp isn't alone, and others follow.

"Leave the lost and dead behind, now's the time to run for cover"

People are fleeing the restaurant to avoid suffocating in the poisonous burp of Ben Burnley.

"I don't want to change the world, I just want to leave it colder"

He wants to stop the burning in his throat, and cool the spices burning up his stomach.

"Light the fuse and burn it up, take the path that leads to nowhere"

Walking home, drunk and intoxicated on the incredibly hot curry, Ben lights a cigarette (lighting the fuse) and instead of walking straight home, decides to take an unknown route home (the path to nowhere).

"All is lost again, but I'm not giving in"

His wallet fell out of his pocket and he lost it in the dark path he was talkin about in the previous line.

"I will not bow, I will not break etc..."

Some homeless guy stops him on the road to nowhere and begs him for spare change. But Ben, as we know, has none. He refuses to give in to the homeless man's demands.