schema
Circa Survive Lyrics
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There's nothing that could be there now
X marks the page you see
Trapped in a cold white room
I wanna know who'd be there when you snuff the wick
I won't reflect the same as you
I want the proof you'll promise to let 'em down quick.
I never want to see clear at all
There's nothing that could be there now.
Pull out your teeth (until)
There's nothing left (at all)
Immediately I feel relief from dragging this vessel around
Exit the stage you keep
Sleep in a cold white room
I wanna know who'd be there when you snuff the wick
Just shut your mouth,
And if it takes forever to be sure
I want to know, I'll wait it out
And see your hand without fingerprints
I want to know, I want to know
Pull out your teeth (until)
There's nothing left (at all)
Immediately, I feel relief from dragging this vessel around.
I'm playing dead (until)
There's nothing left (at all)
Immediately I feel relief from dragging this vessel around.
The lyrics of "Schema" by Circa Survive explore the desire to escape from the stresses of life and society's expectations. The lines "I never want to see clear at all / There's nothing that could be there now" suggest a desire to avoid confronting reality and remaining in a state of ignorance. The use of the phrase "X marks the page" and the reference to being trapped in a "cold white room" suggests a feeling of being stuck and unable to progress.
The song also expresses a desire to find comfort in the face of mortality. The lines "I wanna know who'd be there when you snuff the wick" can be interpreted as a questioning of who will be there for us when we pass away. This is juxtaposed with the desire for a quick and painless death, as expressed in the line "I want the proof you'll promise to let 'em down quick."
The chorus, with its repeated line "Pull out your teeth (until) / There's nothing left (at all) / Immediately I feel relief from dragging this vessel around," seems to be a metaphor for shedding one's identity and the burdens that come with it. The desire to "play dead" and to feel "relief from dragging this vessel around" suggest a desire to escape from the pressures of daily life and find a sense of peace.
Overall, the lyrics of "Schema" seem to explore the desire to find freedom and comfort in a world that can often feel suffocating and overwhelming.
Line by Line Meaning
I never want to see clear at all
The singer prefers to keep things vague instead of seeing the unpleasant reality clearly
There's nothing that could be there now
There's nothing meaningful or worth looking for in the present moment
X marks the page you see
The singer refers to a specific page or moment they want to highlight
Trapped in a cold white room
The artist feels isolated and stuck in a joyless, sterile environment
I wanna know who'd be there when you snuff the wick
The artist wants to know who will still be around when things go wrong or when they die
I won't reflect the same as you
The singer won't blindly follow others, especially those who reflect values they don't agree with
I want the proof you'll promise to let 'em down quick
The singer wants evidence that someone will act swiftly and efficiently when it matters
Pull out your teeth (until)
The artist is asking someone to endure extreme pain and discomfort
There's nothing left (at all)
Once the teeth are out, there's nothing remaining
Immediately I feel relief from dragging this vessel around
Removing the teeth brings physical relief and a sense of being unburdened
Exit the stage you keep
The singer wants someone to leave or disappear from their life
Sleep in a cold white room
The artist envisions the person they want to leave being in a dismal, depressing place
Just shut your mouth
The singer wants someone to stop talking or being confrontational
And if it takes forever to be sure
The singer is willing to be patient and wait as long as it takes to feel confident about something
I want to know, I'll wait it out
The singer is determined to get the information or resolution they need, even if it means waiting a long time
And see your hand without fingerprints
The artist wants to see who someone truly is, without any layers or disguises
I'm playing dead (until)
The artist is pretending to be something they're not, or trying to fade into the background
Lyrics © SC PUBLISHING DBA SECRETLY CANADIAN PUB., Songtrust Ave
Written by: Anthony Green, Colin Frangicetto, Brendan Ekstrom, Nick Beard, Steve Clifford
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Michael Brown
First off, I LOVE this song. So fucking intense and the lyrics take me back to the days of when I first fell in love with this band. I assume Will Yip produced this, and I gotta give mad props to him for his work. That guy's a madman.
Here's my interpretation. Obviously it's got some powerfully emotional undertones, so I hope this doesn't come off as totally ignorant to the actual meaning, or like, disrespects it or anything like that. And I definitely don't want someone I admire as much as Anthony or the rest of the band to come along, read this, and be like "this kid's a dick, he doesn't know shit." because I'm really just a fan who was incredibly moved by this song and video, and this theory could toootally be wrong lol and it could very well just be a weird treatment thought up by a really artistic director. But, I'm kinda leaning towards Anthony having a lot to say with this video. So sorry this is gonna be long, but here it goes.
Anyways, I'm seeing the crow as a symbol for death or an omen for a potential death, first off. Secondly, this whole boxing match seems to represent Anthony's struggle with guilt and emotional turmoil he faced experiencing miscarriages. The baby he's fighting could either be a representation of the baby who wins and is ultimately born, or he could be a symbol for revenge on behalf of his lost children (the latter making more sense to me). I imagine he had a lot of nightmares and guilt during that time in his life, and this whole video is like how nightmares work, in a way. They're very surreal, like this video. Also, notice when Anthony first sees his opponent, it's such a total shock, and he seems so caught off guard. Like when you go into something as beautiful as trying to have a child, you're not expecting to face something as gut wrenching and negatively life changing as having a miscarriage. I've never been through that, and I can't even imagine, but from what I can tell with people I know who've gone through it, it's just mortifying, and leaves you with a huge struggle that challenges you and makes you question yourself on so many levels. Which brings me to the old men who are on his side - they're like a symbol for how he may have began to perceive himself - as being infertile or having been ripped dry of your masculinity. They're rooting for him, because they're either that piece of him that's been created out of that embarrassment, or they're there because they're separate people and have an idea of how he's felt, not knowing whether or not they can have children.
To continue with my theory, think a lot of fans are a little confused by him fighting the baby, but it makes sense to me in a surrealistic freaky dream sense. It's like he's facing the guilt, and I see it as the spirit of a child who wanted so badly to fight and live, but he didn't make it, and I think for a while, Anthony may have blamed himself for that, and this is like the child taking revenge on him, if that makes sense at all. That's why he's crying through the whole end of it, neither of them wanted to go through this. Maybe in the beginning, it was going to be a triumphant vengeful victory against his father, but by the end of it, they're both just so broken by it, and Anthony's still his father, and they know that doing this won't change what happened.
And I think that's kind of the point of the video, sorta. So much anguish came out of this, but none of that will change the reality of what happened. Wounds were dug and blood was shed (figuratively speaking), but life must go on.
So all in all, I'm seeing a very dichotomous video that transfers a ton of very heart wrenching memories, struggle, and guilt that Anthony may have struggled with for a while (and may still struggle with) onto film in the form of a boxing match that kind of displays and is probably meant to give us an idea of what it's like to go through what he did.
I see it as a nightmare he may have had, in which, his unborn child is taking revenge on him, which obviously isn't a fact or reality or any type of deserved situation by ANY means, it's just how Anthony may have been beating himself up over it for so long. And the way he gets so beaten up by it, is a representation of how emotionally stomped he was. You notice he makes a comeback halfway through the video, but he just couldn't beat it. I think that means he's definitely still facing this stuff deep down, and this video being made kinda shows that too, but I think we can all obviously tell how much he LOVES his children, by the songs he put out about James, etc, and all the glowing facebook posts he makes. I think this video just gives us an idea about how he's still dealing with all that weight of the world stuff he went through.
Kudos to the makeup folks, looks phenomenal, the big baby boxer is freaky as shit, and the overall cinematography here is breathtaking. Can't wait for the new Circa record, I definitely feel like they're taking some influence from bands like Title Fight with the more aggressive feel, and I especially love the lines in this song like, "Exit the stage", "Pull out your teeth, there's nothing left", "I feel relieved from dragging this vessel around" and "When you snuff the wick". So fucking excellent. Can't wait to buy this, and I'm really happy to see them on Sumerian, I thought that was a really nice fit for them. Fucking stoked to say the least.
Full_On_Oblivion
For those of you who don't know this, Anthony went through tough times being addicted to drugs, almost ruining his marriage, and basically his whole life, almost killing himself multiple times, so the point of this whole album from schema to nesting dolls is the story of his struggles of fighting his addiction of drugs,(While violent waves was about over excessive uses of alcohol and such, and getting over that lifestyle.), and schema is really basically about him fighting for his life in a sense that the crow is death and he is trying to stop himself from committing suicide or ruining his life. I give him my most sincere endeavors for what he fought for. His career, his little gods, his wife, and even life. Congratulations Anthony for being sober for over 10 months! Your music is my best getaway!
NEMusic
I heard this was about the struggle and pain Anthony went through when they lost a child. The crow metaphor still works and the video is a bit more metaphorically on the nose.
Dana Freeman
The symbolisms here are crazyy guess is this hulk baby is the man child on drugs...cause thats a big boi
Margot Almanzar
The drug addiction made him impotent for a time as well. Hence he’s fighting the baby, he and his wife tried to get pregnant for years but only had miscarriages still births and phantom pregnancies. It drove them both into deep depressions and drug addictions got worst “I never wanna see grey” he’s literally taking about a grey ultrasound, when the womb is empty/the baby has died there’s no white or black bits showing the contours of the child. It’s just a grey screen.
“Promise to let her down quick” begging the doctor to just get it over with when he tells the wife again she has lost her baby.
Margot Almanzar
Full_On_Oblivion I’m pretty sure they have children now btw 😁
Michael Smith
Tyler, as a musician, I'd like to remind you that the Esthetic of art is it's ability to be expressed by the subjective to be related to the collective. In this way, music doesn't come from you, like Kahlil Gibran explains birth, music comes through you. We are all just as valid to interpreting the artist's work as we are all participants in the process and to say you hold the monopoly, as an artist, on the interpretation is arrogance. It's like literature, there are wrong answers, but if you can back up the interpretation with support from the work, then who is to say what is wrong and right? Yes, it may be a bit much to say, "This is what it's about....", but it's just as valid.
Brandon
The symbolism in this video and song is actually really touching when you realize where the lyrics are coming from. I feel like Circa has always had a theme based around the enduring physiological impact certain experiences can have on our minds. You can hear the soul in Anthony's voice. I'm very impressed.
I think you guys should have EASO write/direct and design a music video! He's done some film work before ask him! Hope one of them reads this hahah. Andrews if you see this comment consider it!!!
patchyxx
Drums have always been important in Circa Survive's music. This album is not as ethereal as past albums, but it''s totally Circa Survive.
BuffetSugar
Listening to Circa from way back until now has been amazing. I feel very lucky to have found them when I was pretty young, and to grow up along side they're maturing music.
I love every album and EP, other than just a hand full of songs, and watching a band such as this push out with a more refined and unique sound every album is fucking incredible.
I'll be seeing you guys in 'Frisco.
bastiondg
These guys keep going from strength to strength. This song is incredible.