Default
Atoms for Peace Lyrics

The opening lines of Atoms for Peace's "Default" suggest a sense of forgetting something important, and in the absence of that thought, the singer is temporarily released from the weight of the world. While he's feeling free, he is also mindful of the troubles and challenges that he has faced, symbolized by the imagery of a "silent, poor boy / A pawn into a queen." The singer recognizes the folly of laughing off his troubles in the present because he knows it won't be easy to deal with them later. His will is strong, but his resolve is weak in the face of the flesh's temptations. And though he is aware that his actions are responsible for the predicament he now finds himself in, he realizes that he must accept and bear the consequences.

The chorus implies that the singer is like a bird caught between waves, unable to swim to safety or fly away. He tries to hide from someone, maybe a former lover or acquaintance, but he can't avoid the sense of guilt, self-loathing, and unease that comes with it. He once again compares himself to a "pawn into a queen," suggesting he has been manipulated or put through a transformative experience that has changed him in some way. The last stanza of the song brings the most interesting irony: "It's eating me up" is repeated four times, each time with a different added line that makes no logical sense. This adds another layer of meaning to the song by pointing out the multiple contradictions, paradoxes, and absurdities of life.