This is a great song. Here's what I think the lyrics mean
-Once divided...nothing left to subtract...
once the relationship is over (the people are divided), there isn't anything left between the two to take away.
-Some words when spoken...can't be taken back...
Sometimes when you break up with a person, you can't just take that back no mater what
-Walks on his own...with thoughts he can't help thinking...
Some here say this relates to Kurt Cobain, and that very well may be. But to me it seems to fit into the premise of a break up quite well. More specifically the song is about a guy that broke up with a girl and then regrets it. Hence, he's on his own (all alone) with thoughts of regret that he can't help thinking.
-Future's above...but in the past he's slow and sinking...
Hindsight is 20/20. He saw himself bogged down in the relationship while he was in it...you know slow and sinking.
-Caught a bolt 'a lightnin'...cursed the day he let it go...
The girl is clearly the "bolt 'a lightnin" that he now is kicking himself for letting go.
-Nothingman... (2x)
-Isn't it something?
-Nothingman...
What he is, what the relationship was...
-She once believed in every story he had to tell
-One day she stiffened, took the other side
Pretty self explanatory. Why did she stiffen? Did he lie to her or is it because he broke up with her? the rest of this verse makes it seem as though she "stiffened" before he broke up with her which seems to me that he lied to her or hurt her somehow before he broke up with her. At any rate, she doesn't take his side anymore.
-Empty stares...from each corner of a shared prison cell...
One just escapes...one's left inside the well...
This lyric is what makes me think that the relationship was a burden and was pretty much over before he broke up with her. The prison cell is a metaphor for the relationship they were in. The well is a metaphor for the vast empty nothing left over after she escapes. He didn't have to use the prison cell and escapes refrence. They connotate the state of the relationship and the need to be free of it, and just how hard it is to get free of it. Probably the most important lyrics of the song.
-And he who forgets...will be destined to remember...oh...oh...oh...
He who forgets what? He who forgets the love he has for the other person will be destined not to be able to forget that love.
-Oh, she don't want him...
-Oh, she won't feed him...after he's flown away...
She doesn't care about him at all now that he has broken up with her.
-Oh, into the sun...ah, into the sun...
A refrence to Icarus (the myth of the father and son that fashioned wings from feathers and wax. The son Icarus flew too close to the sun, the wax melted and he plummeted to his death). The guy wanted to escape from the relationship, and when he tried, he flew too close to the sun and got burned, and now he's paying the price.
-Coulda' been something
Could have...if only he wouldn't have...
This is a great song. Here's what I think the lyrics mean
-Once divided...nothing left to subtract... once the relationship is over (the people are divided), there isn't anything left between the two to take away.
-Some words when spoken...can't be taken back... Sometimes when you break up with a person, you can't just take that back no mater what
-Walks on his own...with thoughts he can't help thinking... Some here say this relates to Kurt Cobain, and that very well may be. But to me it seems to fit into the premise of a break up quite well. More specifically the song is about a guy that broke up with a girl and then regrets it. Hence, he's on his own (all alone) with thoughts of regret that he can't help thinking.
-Future's above...but in the past he's slow and sinking... Hindsight is 20/20. He saw himself bogged down in the relationship while he was in it...you know slow and sinking.
-Caught a bolt 'a lightnin'...cursed the day he let it go... The girl is clearly the "bolt 'a lightnin" that he now is kicking himself for letting go.
-Nothingman... (2x) -Isn't it something? -Nothingman... What he is, what the relationship was...
-She once believed in every story he had to tell -One day she stiffened, took the other side Pretty self explanatory. Why did she stiffen? Did he lie to her or is it because he broke up with her? the rest of this verse makes it seem as though she "stiffened" before he broke up with her which seems to me that he lied to her or hurt her somehow before he broke up with her. At any rate, she doesn't take his side anymore.
-Empty stares...from each corner of a shared prison cell... One just escapes...one's left inside the well... This lyric is what makes me think that the relationship was a burden and was pretty much over before he broke up with her. The prison cell is a metaphor for the relationship they were in. The well is a metaphor for the vast empty nothing left over after she escapes. He didn't have to use the prison cell and escapes refrence. They connotate the state of the relationship and the need to be free of it, and just how hard it is to get free of it. Probably the most important lyrics of the song.
-And he who forgets...will be destined to remember...oh...oh...oh... He who forgets what? He who forgets the love he has for the other person will be destined not to be able to forget that love.
-Oh, she don't want him... -Oh, she won't feed him...after he's flown away... She doesn't care about him at all now that he has broken up with her.
-Oh, into the sun...ah, into the sun... A refrence to Icarus (the myth of the father and son that fashioned wings from feathers and wax. The son Icarus flew too close to the sun, the wax melted and he plummeted to his death). The guy wanted to escape from the relationship, and when he tried, he flew too close to the sun and got burned, and now he's paying the price.
-Coulda' been something Could have...if only he wouldn't have...
@lanemik For the most important lyric you reference (prison cell), Big Head Todd's "Bittersweet" is a very detailed song about this meaning
@lanemik For the most important lyric you reference (prison cell), Big Head Todd's "Bittersweet" is a very detailed song about this meaning