This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
I won't shiver in the cold
I won't let the shadows take their toll
I won't cover my head in the dark
And I won't forget you when we part
Collapse the light into earth
Collapse the light into earth
I won't heal given time
I won't try to change your mind
I won't feel better in the cold light of day
But I wouldn't stop you if you wanted to stay
Collapse the light into earth
Collapse the light into earth
Collapse the light into earth
Collapse the light into earth
I won't let the shadows take their toll
I won't cover my head in the dark
And I won't forget you when we part
Collapse the light into earth
Collapse the light into earth
I won't heal given time
I won't try to change your mind
I won't feel better in the cold light of day
But I wouldn't stop you if you wanted to stay
Collapse the light into earth
Collapse the light into earth
Collapse the light into earth
Collapse the light into earth
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
Lord Huron
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
Son Şansın - Şarkı Sözleri
Hayalperest
Hayalperest
This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere.
In general, it highlights the danger of hidden agendas, manipulation, and distraction, serving as a critique of those who exploit chaos and confusion to control and gain power, depicting a cautionary tale against falling into their traps. It encourages us to question the narratives presented to us and remain vigilant against manipulation in various parts of society.
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.
Think about the title "Collapse The Light Into Earth", with this being the last song it reminded me of the sun setting. Kinda like something comming to an end.
It's the end. While I will never be the same, I won't try to stop it from happening. One of the few songs in which there is no hope ("I won't heal given time."). A nice alternative to most "it'll be alright" lyrics and tunes.
At least that is the way I see the song.
@filR It's a soul-crushing depressing lyric set against a soul-uplifting melody. Stroke of genius.
I was thinking for this song that it is a metaphor for the serial killer's end. The first verse could be the man accept conviction for his crimes of murder (committed during "The Creator Has a Mastertape" and "Strip the Soul"). So the first verse, with lines like "I won't cover my head in the dark" (he can't escape his own actions) and "I won't forget you when we part" (him being either locked up forever or being given capital punishment) support this idea.
The second verse shows the man's condition: a killer. He won't heal, this is his nature. He is ruthless and knows not of right and wrong. But we see a glimpse of the human heart here as well with the line "I wouldn't stop you if you wanted to stay". He is a troubled character, but still very human.
I think the line "collapse the light into earth" is a metaphor for this man. Light, not of this world, collides into earth. This man, who's spirit and soul don't belong here, has collapsed onto this earth, never to roam elseware again.
Well that's what I get out of it. I plan on outlining the whole album as a cohesive piece. Good stuff.
To me this song is about someone who struggles with relationships due to depression and/or something else.
I won't shiver in the cold (you never really feel much when depressed)
I won't let the shadows take their toll I won't cover my head in the dark (implies the shadows and darkness will always be there even when you fight it)
And I won't forget you when we part (he likes someone but accept the fact that maybe they can't be together)
I won't heal given time (when suffering from clinical depression, it never really goes away)
I won't try to change your mind (the person knows about the difficulties with being with someone with depression and knows not everyone can handle it)
I won't feel better in the cold light of day (nothing really helps against clinical depression, other people feel happy when the sun shines, someone with depression don't feel anything)
But I wouldn't stop you if you wanted to stay (the person wants the one he/she likes/loves to stay but don't really want him/her to suffer, which is kinda inevitable when engaging in a relationship with someone who is suffering from depression... but yeah, please stay anyway..)
im so having this played at my funeral
Oh man, I so thought that when I heard it! I'm almost EXCITED to die now! I'm going to fangirl all over my will whilst I'm writing it, doodling little porcupine tree band members all over the sheet and erring over what Ptree song I should use. They're the best!
It's closure. But it's different. With the piano going and going, I wont heal given time, I wont shiver in the cold. It's saying that im not scared, I'm leaving this behind. And as the sound and voice builds up, the organ and the guitars--> they just stop, ceasing to exist, leaving only that flicker of light, the piano before it to is collapsed.
i obviously think it about a break up, how ever, i get the methaphore of "collapse the light into earth" like some sort of lonelyness, now the light is shinning (collapsing) in the spot (earth) where his lover should be now.
i dont know about you, but i dont thinkg that the meanning is THAT sinnister, i think it is just sad:
"I won't shiver in the cold"----(he won't feel anything because of his pain) "I won't let the shadows take their toll" (like he is not going to forget her, or let anything to take his picture out of his head) "I won't cover my head in the dark" (he wont hide his sadness) "And I won't forget you when we part" (simply that...)
Collapse the Light Into Earth
I won't heal given time (the pain is so hard) I won't try to change your mind (he accept his girlfriends decision) I won't feel better in the cold light of day (it doesnt matter how bright the day is, he will still fell sad) but I wouldn't stop you if you wanted to stay (maybe he thinks that it was necessary to break up too, but he loves her so much that it doesnt matter anything else)
Collapse the Light Into Earth
excelent and beautiful song ever!
It's not a breakup song. It's about how the serial killer is finally cornered by the police, he's nearing his end but begs his final victim to stay with him.
In the 2020 Porcupine Tree: In Absentia Documentary at 1:08:02, Steven Wilson explains the song in the following way:\n\n"On September 11… I was home in my studio working on a song, I don’t remember what the song was but about two days later I wrote the song Collapse the Light Into Earth which is the final song of the record, and it’s kind of for me, it was a requiem for 9/11. It wasn’t a song about 9/11, it’s a love song, but there’s a feeling imbued in the song that is that absolutely has to do with 9/11, it’s like William Basinski’s Disintegration Loops, it’s got nothing to do with 9/11 but there’s a quality in that music that connects with that time and that event. It’s my song that I associate with the feelings that I had in the few days after the world changed forever. I was in my studio working on a song, I probably never finished and probably should never have finished that song."
This song is simple, its about when you break up, you wont regret anything, how you wont try to change the others mind, how you will accept it with pain and all
So sad, yet so beautiful...!