In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
You have no interest in the past
Where you came from
Where you're going to
There's a cliche in your eye
File the edges down
Soon be underground
There's nothing here for you under the sun
There's nothing new to do, it's all been done
So put your faith in another place
Never seem to get away from this
It's all falling into an abyss
So put your foot on the pedal boy
All you know is secondhand
The bullet passed through the cage inside you
You stole the only thing you love
So unfaithful, the drop is fatal
Where you came from
Where you're going to
There's a cliche in your eye
File the edges down
Soon be underground
There's nothing here for you under the sun
There's nothing new to do, it's all been done
So put your faith in another place
Never seem to get away from this
It's all falling into an abyss
So put your foot on the pedal boy
All you know is secondhand
The bullet passed through the cage inside you
You stole the only thing you love
So unfaithful, the drop is fatal
Lyrics submitted by CoyoteLongshot
Black Dahlia Lyrics as written by Steven John Wilson Richard Barbieri
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Downtown Music Publishing
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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This seems to be about somebody who is putting their faith into something that is dangerous.
Aniland - you nailed it, I think. Wilson spoke in an interview that he came up with 'The Incident' when he saw a fatal accident on the freeway, and if you look at that song and contemplate Black Dahlia, it seems he's saying that putting your faith in something inherently dangerous such as driving as we do every day is a leap we really don't pay much attention to.
This song was one of the few last songs that i heard from the album 'THE INCIDENT'. This album to me is like a journey or more like the description of a lifetime of a person. Music does the justification with all the incidents and events that took place on the run and it has been very beautifully portrayed. BLACK DAHLIA….still not sure why the name but from what i can hear from the song it is that he is warning you against something that you are about to put your faith on. And i guess it’s not just faith but something more because he talks about how you have lost all your interest in the past when you arrived at this point. How you are ready to give yourself and your trust to something that has nothing in it for you. Well you can relate it with whatever emotion or incident you want ...that’s the beauty of PT they don’t generalize the human emotions but they allow us to make and have our own interpretation!! For me i like to think he's talking about love. How people forget their self, their past and future when they fall in love. or may be its the start of falling in love which suits most in these lines….the kind of love that is one sided for now. He warns you that there is nothing for you that would be good for you in this. All things that you could possibly imagine have already been done and so you can bring nothing new to the picture. He says to put your faith on any place but this… “You stole the only thing you love So unfaithful…..” Sometimes you start loving someone so deeply that you forget the most important thing…YOURSELF. I read it somewhere “It’s impossible to love someone else without loving yourself”….well sometimes you are so lost in loving the other person that you forget about yourself. It can be fatal for blinded in love you would not mind doing something for the sake of love that may harm you and so it’s dangerous. Love is beautiful, I know but only when you respect it but love has no limits, love knows no bounds and sometimes people cross that boundary without even noticing it. Love can be dangerous believe me….. Well so much from a novice in love and lyrical interpretation….YOUR TRUTH IS YOURS TO DECIDE!!!!
Here's what i hear:
"You have no interest in the past Where you came from Where you're going to
There's a cliche in your eye File the edges down Soon be underground
There's nothing here for you under the sun There's nothing new to do, it's all been done So put your faith in another place
Never seem to get away from this It's all fallen into an abyss So put your foot on the pedal boy
All you know is secondhand Bullet pass through The cage inside you
You stole the only thing you love So unfaithful"
Your lyrics are a lot closer than mine, I think. Thanks for the help!
Aniland and Dingo666 both your points are really good, I agree that thats probably waht it's about
But why the namesake? These lyrics seem to have practically nothing in common with the Black Dahlia murder...
Steven talks about this song on a roadrunner website somewhere.
He said that the album Signify was all about how people feel a pressure and desire for their life to signify something. With this song, he said as you grow older you start to realize it isn’t so important for it to signify something, as long as what you have done has still been fulfilling etc. That people shouldn’t put so much pressure on themselves to have their life signify something. The reference to Black Dhalia murders is that the victim was trying hard to be famous supposedly, I think an actress and this came at the ultimate cost — her life. Maybe is she hadn’t been striving so hard to make her life be ‘significant’ then she’s still be alive.
I think that was the general gist of what he said, I don’t really remember it that well.
There's nothing here for you under the sun There's nothing new to do, it's all been done
It just feels like a reference to this being the penultimate track on the last PT album
I think it is about an addiction to drugs. When people get addicted to drugs, they tend to forget family and friends. They are only interested in getting their next fix. This song seems to be referencing a person who uses many different drugs to escape reality. This drug addict has tried them all. 'The bullet passes through the cage inside you' could be about taking a pill and it passes through the stomach. 'You stole the thing you ever loved' probably is a reference to how people steal to have the money to buy the drug. ' So unfaithful' is probably a reference to loving the drug and not the people that love you. 'The drop is fatal' is probably a reference for the ending of this drug addicts life. As with other interpretations, i am just offering mine. I have had a drug problem before , and this is just how this song resonates to me. I will have to say it is one of the most beautiful melancholy songs I have ever heard.