To me it is (was) obvious, but then, I came at it already knowing Kara's history, so maybe I had a cheat sheet. But I honestly don't think it's that hard to figure out.
I mean, in the verses you've got Kara breathing, sleeping, waiting for reprieve, lying, learning how to live in the herd, dreaming and dismissing her dreams as foolish, trying to get high enough that she can't hear the cries below her and can't see the clouds above her. And then she goes on the run, look what she's become, she can't turn back, she's given up everything she had. And in the choruses you've got someone, or several someones, hypocrites who always told her about the bright shining promised land, but chose to stay in the darkness, to never fulfill their promises. And the bridge: her voice gets low and hard, and she warns them, she doesn't know what they've been told, but the devil stole her soul, and no amount of running can help her escape, the lies keep building and building. And that promised land? It doesn't even exist, it can't hold back the destruction, the things that bury you. It can't hold back Kara. Everything in the song contributes to the idea that the avalanche is Kara, starting small (in the beginning it's just Kara, breathing, unmoving, waiting for reprieve) and snowballing, like an avalanche itself, every detail rolling on and picking up another, telling you again and again how bad she is, how wrong, how she's running and she can't change her course, no matter what's in her way. The song should sound like an avalanche, because, the song is an avalanche, and so is the singer. (After all, she's what destroys the promised land in the end, by telling the hypocrites it doesn't stand.)
I mean, even if you don't know her background, you've got the basic narrative: Kara, who feels she has to be forgiven, who has to lie and learn to live in the herd, feeling like a fugitive, versus someone who talked a good game about goodness, but wasn't actually all that good. And you've got the faith references: the promised land, the devil stealing her soul. Just from the characters and context, you can tell it isn't just about an unreliable boyfriend -- it's about someone preaching, and someone who's seen what a hypocrite the preacher is, who's felt repressed and shamed by the preaching, who's lost faith and wants the preacher to lose faith too.
no subject
I mean, in the verses you've got Kara breathing, sleeping, waiting for reprieve, lying, learning how to live in the herd, dreaming and dismissing her dreams as foolish, trying to get high enough that she can't hear the cries below her and can't see the clouds above her. And then she goes on the run, look what she's become, she can't turn back, she's given up everything she had. And in the choruses you've got someone, or several someones, hypocrites who always told her about the bright shining promised land, but chose to stay in the darkness, to never fulfill their promises. And the bridge: her voice gets low and hard, and she warns them, she doesn't know what they've been told, but the devil stole her soul, and no amount of running can help her escape, the lies keep building and building. And that promised land? It doesn't even exist, it can't hold back the destruction, the things that bury you. It can't hold back Kara. Everything in the song contributes to the idea that the avalanche is Kara, starting small (in the beginning it's just Kara, breathing, unmoving, waiting for reprieve) and snowballing, like an avalanche itself, every detail rolling on and picking up another, telling you again and again how bad she is, how wrong, how she's running and she can't change her course, no matter what's in her way. The song should sound like an avalanche, because, the song is an avalanche, and so is the singer. (After all, she's what destroys the promised land in the end, by telling the hypocrites it doesn't stand.)
I mean, even if you don't know her background, you've got the basic narrative: Kara, who feels she has to be forgiven, who has to lie and learn to live in the herd, feeling like a fugitive, versus someone who talked a good game about goodness, but wasn't actually all that good. And you've got the faith references: the promised land, the devil stealing her soul. Just from the characters and context, you can tell it isn't just about an unreliable boyfriend -- it's about someone preaching, and someone who's seen what a hypocrite the preacher is, who's felt repressed and shamed by the preaching, who's lost faith and wants the preacher to lose faith too.