Annotations for Starlight

Lyric: Let’s conspire to ignite
 All the souls that would die just to feel alive
Annotation:
The feelings the narrator and their catalyst share, much like in starlight, combust into something brighter; in this process, they may just shine a light on the languid souls who would “die just to feel alive.” The final line itself has many paradoxical connotations. The concept of souls living or dying alone is paradoxical to some who feel as if souls are immortal. Suspending that concept in disbelief, there is also the concept of dying just to feel alive, which, if played in a minor key or with heavier chord progressions, would find a home in an emo/punk song. But the connotations of it show that these souls would give their lives if they could feel the the first-hand combustion and light of starlight.

Lyric: I don’t know if it’s worth it anymore
Annotation:
Much like the last line in the first verse, this line sort of shifts the tone of the preceding ones to a slightly less optimistic one. The starlight provides connotations of a long-wanted dream that the narrator was willing to chase forever up until now. Perhaps there’s doubt, perhaps there’s a memory keeping them back – either way, something about the dream, the people, or the narrator has changed. During the intimate gig at Shepherd’s Bush(War Child), London 2013, Bellamy changed the line to  “And now I know it’s not worth it anymore.”

Lyric: My life
 You electrify my life
Annotation:
She electrifies his life, i.e. she is the boost of his life and sheers him up Worth noting that an electric guitar comes in

Lyric: Far away
 This ship is taking me far away
 Far away from the memories
Annotation:
He is speaking of sailing. Not just in a sense of fleeting from bad memories. But, perhaps he is meaning sailing, by joining the military. Relating to the fact, that some men of service join the military to run away from something.

Lyric: Of the people who care if I live or die
Annotation:
See  The Smiths – “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now”

Lyric: If you promise not to fade away
 Never fade away
Annotation:
Reference to the song “Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)” by Neil Young or its acoustic counterpart “My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)”, released in 1979 on the ‘'Rust Never Sleeps’‘ album. A line from the song, “it’s better to burn out than to fade away,” became infamous after being quoted in Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain’s suicide note. Young later said that he was so shaken by Cobain’s death, he decided to  dedicate his 1994 album  Sleeps with Angels to him.

Lyric: And our hopes and expectations
 Black holes and revelations
 And our hopes and expectations
 Black holes and revelations
Annotation:
These lines, from which the album takes its name, express all sorts of  stylistic devices. Matt talks of hopes and expectations while comparing black holes with revelations. There are different self-explanatory meanings behind the text. Some of them relate to the romantic relationship and what they expected and hoped for. Now that it’s going to end the way a black hole sucks everything in, they just now realized what it all meant now that it’s gone. Hopes are always considered as bright feelings of expectation. While black holes are symbolized as uncertainty and sinister ambiance. Though the take on the lyrics might regard as a sad moment, the outcome is a message of hope rather than loss. It is like the jigsaw to fall into place and move forward. In some live concerts Matt changes the lines to Our hopes and  expectations Our trials and tribulations

Lyric: A starlight
 I will be chasing a starlight
 Until the end of my life
Annotation:
He will be chasing an ever-elusive dream for the rest of his life. The starlight is the light at the end of the tunnel. The end of the pain and sorrow.

