Churchill December 24th, 2007 03:36PM  

It is my personal belief that this song is about a person who is contemplating suicide and feels like they are
metaphorically being crucified. Because a good portion of Thirteenth Step is about suicide this is the climatic song at the end that is describing a persons struggle with dying.

The reason I say metaphorically being crucified is because if it were really about a person being nailed to a cross it really wouldn't fit the rest of the album in my opinion.

The song uses great imagery of someone hanging on a cross when it says

"I am surrendering to the gravity and the unknown"

You can almost see a person suspended in air on a cross trying to raise themselves up to breath and just giving up due to exhaustion and embracing death.

This person is conflicted with living or dying however. As soon as they surrender they are wanting help from the outside

"Catch me heal me lift me back up to the sun
I choose to live"

As soon as they ask for help however, they fall again and the cycle continues...

"I fell again"

I get my metaphorical crucification theory from later in the song...

"Calm these hands before they
Snare another pill and
Drive another nail down another
Meaty hole please release me"

Chances are this person is ending it with pills they are looking for help but just like in the song "Blue" people just sit and watch as this person dies.

I think that with the end of the song the person decides they do not want to die with "I choose to live" repeated a few times but they are too late because they have already taken the pills and end up dying.

This is what I hear when I listen to gravity, I really want to know what everyone else thinks...

anonymous February 14th, 2008 06:00AM  

I pretty much agree with the above interpretation. I've never gotten anything about suicide from it, but what I get instead is that he's put himself on this self-destructive path that he wants to leave, but can't. He's "surrendering to gravity and the unknown" because he's just throwing himself out there and hoping that he comes through alright.

smalls99 May 19th, 2008 09:08PM  

This song is about addiction "I am surrendering to the gravity and the unknown Catch me heal me lift me back up to the sun I choose to live" and they want to overcome their addiction and they are reaching out for help. Then they relapse "I fell again Like a baby unable to stand on my own
Tail in hand Dizzy and clearly unable to just let this go" but they still want someone to help them get better."Calm these hands before they Snare another pill and Drive another nail down."

anonymous August 4th, 2008 02:54PM  

To me this songs is about drugs and the struggle within when trying to get clean.

Churchill - the lyric is not meaty hole, its needy hole. I am not saying your interpretation is wrong, just wanted to let you know.

anonymous November 10th, 2008 12:14PM  

Twelve-step program (+1)