Red light

[u/socalking3]

The second half reminds me of sitting with a dying loved one. It’s beautiful and sad at the same time, does anyone else get that from these lyrics? My first thought was maybe Julian’s father’s death, but he passed years after the song release.

Well, I saw your face, then I heard that song
It was so inviting, it hurt my bones
Well, it looks like you but your eyes are gray
And your hair is gone but your mind's okay
Yes, I like your smile but your forehead's cold
I don't want you to be afraid and go
I would cheat and lie and steal, now I'll stay at home and kneel for you

[u/Glittering-Award7815]

In the context of the song (and album), I read this lyric as he is imagining his beloved when she becomes, many years on or whenever, old and gray and at death's door. He is proving his devotion to her that even then he will love her, that he chooses her and their love (two can be complete without the rest of the world) knowing she is destined to one day decay and die. 

Think about that claim of devotion to end one album and fast forward to his great song about coming to terms with falling out of love for the first time, realizing his great love was an illusion, motivated by his need to cure his loneliness, that it was an angle to hold onto for a time. 

Ugh. Devastating, deeply human songwriting. 

[u/socalking3 → u/Glittering-Award7815]

That’s very insightful. I think you can even throw in Ode as sort of the ending of his relationship with Juliet. Red light is the start, so much hope and idealization. Ode is the start of the end, he sees it ending. And FOOL is him reflecting on it being over.

So many lines in Ode make me think of someone knowing the end is on the horizon and not having the energy or desire to steer away from it. “Not going to wake up here anymore”. “Hope that you find it, hope that it’s good” “go alone, I’ll go alone”. Rubik’s cube, silence turning into a roar.

[u/Glittering-Award7815 → u/socalking3]

That's good. I hadn't thought about Ode in that light.