Porcupine Tree - Collapse the light into earth
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
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
Thought I'd run another song review on a track that I'd been neglecting for a while , it always seemed to stray in the shadow of Trains by Porcupine Tree, the song itself is pretty short and simple which is why I chose to put up the lyrics here.The other reason is because the song (like any other) is open to interpretations of it's meaning.
Feel free to comment on your own interpretations here.
As for my thoughts about the song, I always took note of the finer details in life,
the brushed aside
the silent performers
the subtle yet integral elements that mean so little to a body , and yet seem to be so important.
A great example would be a bassist in a band, (except for a select few that have managed to make their mark)
Collapse the light into earth atleast for me is the 'silent performer' behind Porcupine Tree , its written in a way that it can mean so much to almost anybody if given time to grow on you,
Simple and light with the flowy piano and blissful voices that echo in the foreground, as the song seems to take flight without the help of vocals, the violins kick in like wind on a kite and take the song right up to it's zenith.
The song itself would never be chosen as a title track to promote a band and there are alot of songs that fit that description but the fact that they're discarded and made to wait patiently on track 1x of an album makes it so rewarding upon discovery of such songs.
Coming to my own interpretation of the song's meaning.
Its still a little vague but on taking a look at the lyrics and the divinity that seems to be present in the music and lyrics to some extent,
I'd have to say that it was about God being alot more down to earth than religion makes Him out to be, and his letter is in the form of a song dedicated to mankind.
Comment at will.
Dayaan,
4 comments:
Porcupine Tree is ace
This is from the in absentia album which is a concept album, where each track is about a murderer/serial killer/rapist/family abuser, etc. As the last song of the album it is basically the wrap-up of the story through the album, where the main character is now rethinking his life.
The first half the album, basically he gets depressed after childhood (Trains/Sound of Musak), then his life starts falling apart, he becomes a sex addict (Gravity Eyelids/Lips of Ashes), he marries but his wife dies (Wedding Nails), gets into necrophilia or some creeppy s#!t, (lips of ashes), contemplates suicide (Prodigal) and starts going insane and kills someone(.3). Then he starts abusing his family and in his insanity, presumably kills/tortures/abuses his girlfriend or something (the creator), then has to leave the scene and has a heart attack in his car from the stress during which he is in denial and thinks she is waiting for him at home and things will go back to normal(Heartattack in a Lay by). By this time he realizes his life is so messed up and beyond repair that the only way to get rid of his pain for what he did is to destroy whats left of his conscience (Strip the soul). In doing so he systematically kills his family and tells himself they aren't really dead and gone but "only sleeping". Then some neighbor sees this and calls the police, who arrest him only to find he has already "killed them all".
This song is in the aftermath of that, where he has restored sanity and promises never to let the shadows of his path take their toll and tries to turn his life around. The girlfriend is leaving him and he respects that decision because he knows he can never "heal given time" or feel better about what he did to her, but he says "I wouldn't stop you if you wanted to stay'; he knows they can't build a new life but he still loves her so these feelings don't matter to him anymore.
Overall great song on a great album, but I don't listen to it much because it gives a sort of sinking, depressing feeling. Still worth listening though.
This is from the in absentia album which is a concept album, where each track is about a murderer/serial killer/rapist/family abuser, etc. As the last song of the album it is basically the wrap-up of the story through the album, where the main character is now rethinking his life.
The first half the album, basically he gets depressed after childhood (Trains/Sound of Musak), then his life starts falling apart, he becomes a sex addict (Gravity Eyelids/Lips of Ashes), he marries but his wife dies (Wedding Nails), gets into necrophilia or some creeppy s#!t, (lips of ashes), contemplates suicide (Prodigal) and starts going insane and kills someone(.3). Then he starts abusing his family and in his insanity, presumably kills/tortures/abuses his girlfriend or something (the creator), then has to leave the scene and has a heart attack in his car from the stress during which he is in denial and thinks she is waiting for him at home and things will go back to normal(Heartattack in a Lay by). By this time he realizes his life is so messed up and beyond repair that the only way to get rid of his pain for what he did is to destroy whats left of his conscience (Strip the soul). In doing so he systematically kills his family and tells himself they aren't really dead and gone but "only sleeping". Then some neighbor sees this and calls the police, who arrest him only to find he has already "killed them all".
This song is in the aftermath of that, where he has restored sanity and promises never to let the shadows of his path take their toll and tries to turn his life around. The girlfriend is leaving him and he respects that decision because he knows he can never "heal given time" or feel better about what he did to her, but he says "I wouldn't stop you if you wanted to stay'; he knows they can't build a new life but he still loves her so these feelings don't matter to him anymore.
Overall great song on a great album, but I don't listen to it much because it gives a sort of sinking, depressing feeling. Still worth listening though.
One of my favourite Porcupine Tree songs.
I've always viewed it as a song about suicide, or at least about a specific parting of ways. The phrase 'Collapse the light into earth' conjured up images of dirt being flung into a hole (grave), so, as such, the light of the person was being distinguished by the act of burying, and the verses are the person by the graveside expressing how they feel.
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