Annotations for Cave

Lyric: Please close your ears and try to look away
 So you’ll never hear a single word I say
Annotation:
When the man can’t keep it inside anymore and lets out his thoughts and feelings, he doesn’t want anyone to see or hear him, because revealing his emotions would mean revealing his weaknesses. Throughout the whole album we see characters hiding their true feelings while showing a confident persona to society (e.g.  “Sunburn” – “Secretly, she cries”, and  “Showbiz” – “Controlling my feelings for too long”).

Lyric: So come in my cave
 And I’ll burn your heart away
 Come in my cave
 And I’ll burn your heart away
Annotation:
When someone tries to love him, to get closer to him (going into his ‘cave’), they will just end up hurt (broken hearted).

Lyric: And arrest me for my mistakes
Annotation:
A metaphor for how someone trying to reach out to him is reinforcing his feelings of guilt about what led him to the bad situation he’s trying to keep other people away from, or about his depressed status itself.

Lyric: You can see it and you can almost hear it too
 You can almost taste it, it’s nought to do with you
 And there’s still nothing that you can do
Annotation:
This verse points out how men suppressing their feelings will give off telltale signs of depression, with you thus being able to “see it” and even “almost hear it” in the way they act and speak. But even then, such men will still refuse to speak about it, saying you can’t help them.

Lyric: Leave me alone, it’s nothing serious
 I’ll do it myself, it’s got nought to do with you
 And there’s nothing that you could do
Annotation:
According to Matt the first verse is about how, stereotypically, men will suppress their feelings, and hide them in a ‘cave’ as to not show signs of weakness. The repetition of “nought to do with you” emphasises how men, even with prompt, will just refuse to open up, further retreating into their ‘cave’. Interestingly, people coping with depression  share the same approach, giving the song a further reading key.

