Song Analysis of Deathwish
[Intro]
For what you did to me or what I'll do to you
You get what everyone else gets, you get a lifetime (Go)
(Let's go!)
[Intro Analysis]
the album is a time loop of the orpheus and eurydice story, protagonists r called the demolition lovers (demolition man and woman).
It's a double meaning thing. first is the prison meaning, where it's a reference to how the demolition man's murders landed him in jail, so it's a continuation or reference to a previous song (you know what they do to guys like us in prison). second imo is that it's a conversation between the demolition man (for what you did to me) and hades (what i'll do to you, you get a lifetime).
[Verse 1]
Do you remember that day when we met?
You told me, "This gets harder," well, it did
Been holdin' on forever
Promise me that when I've gone, you'll kill my enemies
[Verse 1 Analysis]
demolition woman talking to demolition man
[Chorus]
The damage you've inflicted, temporary wounds
I'm comin' back from the dead
And I'll take you home with me
I'm taking back the life you stole
[Post-Chorus]
We never got that far
This helps me to think all through the night
(Woah-oh-oh-oh-oh) Bright lights that won't kill me now or tell me how
Just you and I, your starless eyes remain
[Chorus to Post Chorus Analysis]
demolition man's deal with hades is that he has to kill 1000 evil souls to bring demolition woman (chorus) back from the dead. at the end of the album the demolition man realizes that he himself is the one thousandth evil soul because he's been corrupted by the evil souls so he kills himself (we never got that far).
[Verse 2]
Hip-hip-hooray for me,
you talk to me
But would you kill me in my sleep?
Lay still like the dead
From the razor to the rosary,
we could lose ourselves
And paint these walls in pitchfork red
[Verse 2 Analysis]
Perhaps a representation of his obsession of bringing her back becoming self-destructive and how its intensity is akin to religion.
[Chorus 2]
I will avenge my ghost with every breath I take
I'm comin' back (I'm comin' back from the dead) from the dead (I'm comin' back)
And I'll take you home with me
I'm takin' back the life you stole
[Bridge]
This hole you put me in wasn't deep enough
And I'm climbin' out right now
You're running out of places to hide from me
[Chorus 2 to Bridge Analysis]
The demolition man gets brought back from the dead to fulfill his contract but by being brought back his one thousandth soul is like cancelled? so it becomes a sisyphean loop. and the bridge is also part of the whole revenge theme the album has going on.
[Outro]
When you go, just know that I will remember you
If livin' was the hardest part, we'll then one day be together
And in the end, we'll fall apart
Just like the leaves changin' colors
And then I will be with you
I will be there one last time now
When you go, just know that I will remember you
I've lost my fear of falling
I will be with you, I will be with you
[Outro Analysis]
It's a play on 'til death do we part. Instead of parting once they die, they reunite when they die.
I think the last 2 lines have a double meaning. Out of the album's context, i.e. as a standalone song, it's about how singer lets go of their fears and hesitations of falling in love. in the context of the album, it could maybe mean the demolition man has 'lost his fear of falling' by jumping off a ledge to be with his wife. so it could be one of his deaths (another death being the gunshot in the final song).
