After reading through a few of the top responses, I feel confident that they are much closer to the true meaning of this song than my initial interpretation. Still, I thought I would share how I took the lyrics, just for fun.
"What else should I be,
All apologies"
I always thought (after hearing the married/buried line) this song was from the perspective of a man trapped in an unhappy marriage, where he is constantly his wife's scapegoat. A guy that has been worn down with blame for so many years that he has come to accept his role as the source of everything wrong in their lives.
"What else could I say
Everyone is gay"
I imagined that he eventually came to feel like everyone was against him, and became cynical and worn out with people in general.
"What else could I write
I don't have the right"
This bit only makes sense if I think of the lyrics as his bitter suicide note to his family/wife. Exhausted, he is sarcastically saying that if he is such a monster that he doesn't even deserve to explain himself.
"In the sun, I feel as one."
By this point, my own assigned meaning to the song really starts to reach. I apologize, but move forward anyway! "In the sun" meaning under heat constantly. "Feel as one" could be a reference to the joining of he and his wife in marriage. So, with both considered, he is always under scrutiny in his marriage, always having to sweat it out.
"I'm married/Buried."
Well, that is pretty much the reason for the rest of my interpretation. Married and feeling utterly trapped.
"I wish I was like you
Easily amused
Find my nest of salt
Everything is my fault"
Get ready for some more stretching, because here I go! He is wishing that he could be as easily satisfied with assigning blame and dodging responsibility. The "nest of salt" meaning the home/habit people have made out of rubbing salt in his wounds; giving him problems because it is easier on them (namely his wife).
"I'll take all the blame,
Aqua sea foam shame,
Sunburn with freeze burn,
Choking on the ashes of her enemy"
Sigh, I can only suspect the ocean has something to do with the "nest of salt." Maybe, just maybe, meaning the relentless nature of the criticism, like the ceaseless tide?
The sun/freeze burn is somewhat an oxymoron to draw attention to the way his wife is leaving him alone and isolated by the constant heat she puts on him. The sunburn could be a reference to the earlier lyric "in the sun, I feel as one," explaining that all the blame he receives is catching up with his mental health/self esteem. The "freeze burn" meaning the cold, icy, relationship he now has with his wife.
"Choking on the ashes of her enemy" describes how she is growing tired with ripping him to shreds because he is no longer able to be hurt by it. He has lost feeling and become numb, which robs her of much of the satisfaction gained from hurting him.
"All alone is all we are"
Finally, his feelings that marriage only advertises lifelong companionship without ever providing it. Again, this is the cynical conclusion drawn in what could be a suicide note.
After reading through a few of the top responses, I feel confident that they are much closer to the true meaning of this song than my initial interpretation. Still, I thought I would share how I took the lyrics, just for fun.
"What else should I be, All apologies"
I always thought (after hearing the married/buried line) this song was from the perspective of a man trapped in an unhappy marriage, where he is constantly his wife's scapegoat. A guy that has been worn down with blame for so many years that he has come to accept his role as the source of everything wrong in their lives.
"What else could I say Everyone is gay"
I imagined that he eventually came to feel like everyone was against him, and became cynical and worn out with people in general.
"What else could I write I don't have the right"
This bit only makes sense if I think of the lyrics as his bitter suicide note to his family/wife. Exhausted, he is sarcastically saying that if he is such a monster that he doesn't even deserve to explain himself.
"In the sun, I feel as one."
By this point, my own assigned meaning to the song really starts to reach. I apologize, but move forward anyway! "In the sun" meaning under heat constantly. "Feel as one" could be a reference to the joining of he and his wife in marriage. So, with both considered, he is always under scrutiny in his marriage, always having to sweat it out.
"I'm married/Buried."
Well, that is pretty much the reason for the rest of my interpretation. Married and feeling utterly trapped.
"I wish I was like you Easily amused Find my nest of salt Everything is my fault"
Get ready for some more stretching, because here I go! He is wishing that he could be as easily satisfied with assigning blame and dodging responsibility. The "nest of salt" meaning the home/habit people have made out of rubbing salt in his wounds; giving him problems because it is easier on them (namely his wife).
"I'll take all the blame, Aqua sea foam shame, Sunburn with freeze burn, Choking on the ashes of her enemy"
Sigh, I can only suspect the ocean has something to do with the "nest of salt." Maybe, just maybe, meaning the relentless nature of the criticism, like the ceaseless tide? The sun/freeze burn is somewhat an oxymoron to draw attention to the way his wife is leaving him alone and isolated by the constant heat she puts on him. The sunburn could be a reference to the earlier lyric "in the sun, I feel as one," explaining that all the blame he receives is catching up with his mental health/self esteem. The "freeze burn" meaning the cold, icy, relationship he now has with his wife. "Choking on the ashes of her enemy" describes how she is growing tired with ripping him to shreds because he is no longer able to be hurt by it. He has lost feeling and become numb, which robs her of much of the satisfaction gained from hurting him.
"All alone is all we are"
Finally, his feelings that marriage only advertises lifelong companionship without ever providing it. Again, this is the cynical conclusion drawn in what could be a suicide note.