Curtain Call
System Syn Lyrics


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His nervous heart has long stopped beating
But the body still pretends that it is me
And if all the queues are met
The lowest expectation set
You will suspend your disbelief

And you and I can act like nothing ever happened
We can be so unaffected by the course of history
If what you've lost gives you a reason to surrender
How can you pretend that this is who you want to be

Wanted to tell you not to give up
That the reward was worth the pain
But a lie to ease your sorrow is still a lie
And what could either of us hope to gain

When you and I still act like nothing ever happened
We can be so unaffected by the course of history
If what you've lost gives you a reason to surrender
How can you pretend that this is who you want to be

We let our systems shut down
We build so many walls
Yes we're afraid, but we are safe
And no one ever has to know
That we have nowhere else to go
We want outside ourselves
But it's to late

We were acting like nothing ever happened
So ashamed to be affected by the course of history
And what we lost gave me a reason to surrender
I can't remember now what I had hope to be

You didn't want to lie to me
You didn't want to tell the truth
But there was just no other way
The world would keep it's faith in you
You didn't want to burn it down
But you couldn't let it be
You sweep the ashes off the ground
And you suspend your disbelief

By my own hand he said




By my hand
I will fall

Overall Meaning

These lyrics depict a person attempting to ignore the weight of the past and present a facade of normality, with their body carrying on despite their inner turmoil. They desperately want to forget what's happened and just move on, but they can't help feeling ashamed and affected by their personal history. The singer acknowledges that pretending to be untroubled, no matter how convincing they may be or how low their expectations, won't alleviate the pain, and worries about the possible lies they may have to tell. They and their fellow person mentioned have "nowhere else to go" and "let [their] systems shut down," resulting in a hopeless resignation to their situation.


The internal struggle described in the song is compounded by the weight of external pressures. The world expects the singer to act a certain way, to maintain the illusion of perfection even if they feel like they're falling apart. There seems to be no escape from the pain, and as the song progresses, the singer becomes more and more resigned to their fate.


Line by Line Meaning

His nervous heart has long stopped beating
Despite his anxiety, he has reached a state of emotional numbness.


But the body still pretends that it is me
He is pretending to be someone he is not, and his body is going along with it.


And if all the queues are met
If everything goes according to plan.


The lowest expectation set
His expectations are low, and he is not aiming for much.


You will suspend your disbelief
You will ignore any doubts and believe in what you are being shown.


And you and I can act like nothing ever happened
We can pretend that everything is normal, despite what has happened in the past.


We can be so unaffected by the course of history
We can live our lives without being burdened by past events.


If what you've lost gives you a reason to surrender
If the things you have lost have caused you to give up hope.


How can you pretend that this is who you want to be
Why are you settling for a life that is not what you truly want?


Wanted to tell you not to give up
He wants to encourage you to keep going despite your hardships.


That the reward was worth the pain
The end result will make all the struggles worth it.


But a lie to ease your sorrow is still a lie
Telling you what you want to hear to make you feel better does not change the truth of the situation.


And what could either of us hope to gain
What benefit would either of us receive from pretending everything is alright?


We let our systems shut down
We become emotionally closed off and disconnected from the world.


We build so many walls
We put up barriers to protect ourselves from pain and disappointment.


Yes we're afraid, but we are safe
We are scared of what will happen, but in building walls we create a sense of safety.


And no one ever has to know
We keep our true feelings and emotions hidden from others.


That we have nowhere else to go
We feel trapped in our current situation with no other options available.


We want outside ourselves
We desire change and something greater than what we currently have.


But it's too late
It feels like it is too late to make changes or move forward from our current situation.


So ashamed to be affected by the course of history
Feeling embarrassed or guilty about the impact of past events on our lives.


And what we lost gave me a reason to surrender
The things we have lost have caused us to give up and lose hope for the future.


I can't remember now what I had hope to be
The person he wanted to become in the future does not seem attainable anymore.


You didn't want to lie to me
He did not want someone to lie to him, he wanted the truth.


You didn't want to tell the truth
The truth of the situation was something he did not want to hear.


But there was just no other way
Despite wanting to hear a different answer, there was no alternative truth.


The world would keep its faith in you
Telling the truth could have a negative impact on how others perceive him.


You didn't want to burn it down
He did not want to destroy everything.


But you couldn't let it be
The situation was too toxic to simply ignore or leave alone.


You sweep the ashes off the ground
He takes action to clean up the aftermath of what has happened.


And you suspend your disbelief
He has to ignore any doubts and believe in his actions.


By my own hand he said
He is taking personal responsibility for some action.


By my hand
He is again taking personal responsibility for some action.


I will fall
He is predicting some kind of downfall or failure in the future.




Contributed by Nora P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
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