Drew the blade way too slow Was shackled by your honesty Made a mess, I guess I have should have known That life was lust and liberty Not a chance mutation or the last temptation Laid so low for so long, so low
I know what the words mean, but I'm struggling to get the gist of the lyrics as a whole as well. It gives me the impression of a metaphor saying that the person took too long to fight back, and now life is a mess and misery, misery, misery. I say that because next lines are:
"Into that void of silence
Where we cry without sound
Where tears roll down
Where tears roll down".
I think it may be a reference to 'severing ties'. Most of the song was written after Curt Smith left the group, so Roland Orzabal was 'solo'. Orzabal has admitted to 'so low' being a play on 'solo'. See 6.16 here. So maybe it took too long to sever/cut the ties of their partnershipp - i.e. they should have parted ways sooner.
I think some of the other lines may be inside references to their friendship or parting, perhaps?
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