Lyric discussion by qwertyasdwqs 

Basically 'the horror' refers to a line out of heart of darkness by a character named Kurtz, he cries out 'the horror, the horror'. The line 'the horror' in modernist literature has become an established concept meaning theres nothing beyond death, its the concept of the 'death of god', the horror is nothingness. Future rust/future dust is a contradiction in terms, rust obviously is the outcome of metal decaying over time. Future rust and future dust means that it is inevitable that the future of things will fade. Every other line in the song 'like a lilo losing air' are similes to reinforce this point, God is also interchanged with the term 'i am' from the bible. Furies in your head, is the torment of whether it is something beyond us such as God reminding us that this life is temporary, or just our own thoughts posing as something bigger. Either way, 'the horror' which is the certainty that everyone will die and thats theres nothing beyond death is too much for as to worry about in the present. 'Leave the horror' is leaving behind and ignoring the thought of God, nothingness or just death itself.

Those are some interesting insights to this song and I like your references used. When I hear this song I picture a man describing his experience of the battles fought in the Spanish Sahara time period. I personally like the opening lyric "So I walked through to the haze and a million dirty waves". I picture a man walking through the battle field after the dust has settled and how he's experiencing so many feelings such as doubt, fear, hopelessness, loneliness, uncertainty, and sadness. I think the dirty waves could be all the dead bodies...

I think you are right now about most of this. Just to add some thoughts that would add more support to your interpretation:

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  • "god damn this boiling space" may refer to the increasing entropy of the universe, and the fact that at some point in the future energy will be dissipated and completely disordered. Boiling is a form of physical change in which molecules become more random and less structured, which is a form of entropy.

  • "god damn this boiling space" may refer to the increasing entropy of the universe, and the fact that at some point in the future energy will be dissipated and completely disordered. Boiling is a form of physical change in which molecules become more random and less structured, which is a form of entropy.

  • If HauntedHarmony is right below, perhaps the sight of a dead dog triggered these reflections on death, meaning, chaos, nothingness, etc. This also may help explain what is going on when he describes finding something in the sand and wiping it clean with dirty hands (all of this quite literal).

  • The Spanish Sahara may refer to the place where he saw the dog, or it could be a metaphor for the ambiguous status of life/universe. According to Wikipedia, "Its sovereignty remains under dispute... The United Nations considers the former Spanish Sahara a non-decolonized territory, with Spain as the formal administrative power." Similarly, at one time the universe was thought to be governed by God, but now it is not clear if anything is governing it.

  • Wanting to leave the horror in the Spanish Sahara may be a metaphor for wanting to believe that the universe does have an ultimate meaning/purpose insofar as it is governed by God. When the sovereignty of God in the universe is no longer under dispute, the horror of nothingness goes away.

    I'm not sure if I buy the "I am" references as referring to God. I'm also not sure what any of the "fury" references might mean.

  • It just occurred to me that "fury" might be an allusion to the Shakespeare quote:

    “Life is a tale told by an idiot -- full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”

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