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SUBJECT: Try not to breathe. REM...POSTED: 07/09/03 BY: SAM
This is another of those songs that makes me really sad. its a very personal song for me. im not gunna do a line by line here cos i just dont think it needs it. it speaks for itself.
to me, the song is about an old man or woman whos realised the end of their life is upon them, their health is failing and their mind is going. rather than being a burden on their familly they'd rather just die while they still can do so with dignity, rather than drag out the inevitable. they're saying that they've had a good life and would rather be remembered the way they were than the way they fear they will become.
ok, changed my mind, i'll do it line by line, but im gunna do some of it from the singers point of view (shown with a "). this is not my thoughts but how i feel the singer is feeling. (my opinions and notes are shown with **)
Try Not To Breathe
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I will try not to breathe.
"i want to die, its time to go"
I can hold my head still with my hands at my knees.
"while i still have my mind, dignity and some semblance of self control"
These eyes are the eyes of the old, shiver and fold.
**shiver and fold is the body shutting down, the person givin up on life**
I will try not to breathe.
This decision is mine. I have lived a full life
"and i will make the decision while its still mine, before nature and well meaning relatives take it away from me, ive had a good innings, cant complain about that"
And these are the eyes that I want you to remember. Oh.
"let me go like this, i cant leave them with their last memories of me being a dribbling shell in a retirement home, let my family remember my with dignity"
I need something to fly over my grave again.
**the shivers and "fly over my graveyard" are connected. its said that if something flys over the spot where your grave will someday be you will feel a shiver run down your spine. **
I need something to breathe.
"am i doing the right thing, i feel my body givin up, lack of oxygen is taking its toll"
I will try not to burden you.
"i will not be a burden to my familly, i raised them, protected them, loved them all my life, i will not go out helpless as a bawling baby, an embaressment to my bloodline"
I can hold these inside. I will hold my breath
Until all these shivers subside,
Just look in my eyes.
"im scared, i want to cry out, but i cant, i have to finish this, i have to strong, one last time"
I will try not to worry you.
I have seen things that you will never see.
"ive seen beauty and greatness, ive seen cruelty and evil. some of these i have passed on in the form of storys, others i will take to my grave. there are things no one should see"
Leave it to memory me. I shudder to breathe.
"the me in your memories will be there with you, even after i am gone."
**the body will always attempt to breathe, its a natural instinct that we cant stop, its almost inpossible to suffocate yourself. as the body shuts down the first part of the brain to stop is the cerabellum housing higher functions which controls the thought not the breathe. this passes control back to the r-complex and brain stem which, once taken control will make the body breathe again. i think in this case the singer is either hanging themselves or gassing themselves, hence the "I can hold my head still with my hands at my knees" **
I want you to remember. Oh. (you will never see)
I need something to fly (something to fly)
Over my grave again. (you will never see)
I need something to breathe. (something to breathe)
Baby, don’t shiver now.
Why do you shiver now? (I will see things you will never see)
I need something to fly (something to fly)
Over my grave again. (I will see things you will never see)
I need something to breathe. Oh. Oh. Oh.
**i think this bit is the soul leaving the body, the second voice is the spirit, while the first voice is the earthly mind. the soul talks in future tense, in that it will go on after the body has long died, maybe to come back for another round in the reincarnation game**
v1.0 14/03/03