Eyes As Candles by Passion Pit Lyrics Meaning – Illuminating Emotional Depths in Modern Synthpop
Lyrics
Spits out our voices singing
“Tra la la la” on high now
To kingdom come so slightly
Herein a void in your place
I twitch and tweak in allusion
To sit and stare so blankly
Until all hope is used up
Why do I always need to need you when you’re fleeting?
Where do you go when I’m around?
What have I done, what have I lost that’s so defeating?
And have the nerve to wear a crown?
Oh na na na na na na
Hey hey hey hey
In some dark room
A smoky figure fills me full
Makes my head swell in ruin
My family kneels at their pew
They nod, “We believe in
What you’re doing”
I feel it rise above me
The western landscapes towering
And from my shell of a body
The flowers blossom for picking
I’ve waited and waited
For someone to take it
Don’t fight it, don’t bother
An inch for another
Don’t listen
Don’t hear them
They’re in this together
I’ve learned well
Now hear me
There’s much to be fearing
I’m used to your absence
Your faceless distractions
I’ve painted your patterns
But found them attractive
Now I’ve been leaning towards
A life far more candid
Though lead through the dark
With your eyes as my candles
Where your life
And my life’s directions
Can wrangle
And all of a sudden
You’ve left me to handle
The reasons that never
Forbid me to stand tall
And somehow or somewhere
I found out the secret
To staying alive
Without actually breathing
Under the shimmering veneer of synth-pop beats and falsetto vocals, Passion Pit’s ‘Eyes As Candles’ pulses with a vibrant yet pensive heart. Its lyrics, a mosaic of yearning and loss, offer much more than a cursory listen might reveal. The track from their 2009 album ‘Manners’ encapsulates the profound complexities of human emotions through metaphor and allegory, intertwining despair with a sort of reluctant hope.
As the melody oscillates between upbeat rhythms and haunting refrains, so too does the narrative alternate between dark introspection and the luminescence of determination. The song presents itself as a chiaroscuro of sound — a play of light and shadows — in which the quest for meaning within the cacophony of life dances to the forefront.
A Dance of Desperation and Desire
At first blush, ‘Eyes As Candles’ appears as a track filled with conflicting emotions. The opening lines set the scene within a ‘world astir and sickly,’ suggesting a tumultuous inner landscape riddled with disquiet. Passion Pit’s frontman, Michael Angelakos, sings of a siren-like ‘void’ that beckons, hinting at the human tendency to dwell in the empty spaces that sorrow leaves in its wake.
The repetition of ‘na na na’ and ‘hey hey hey’ serves as an almost hymnal mantra, a congregation bearing witness to the unfolding internal struggle. With these nonsensical syllables, the song could be capturing the ineffable – the myriad of feelings that words alone fall short of expressing.
Chasing Shadows in the Smoke
The narrative then delves deeper, moving the listener through ‘some dark room’ where a ‘smoky figure’ looms. These lines could symbolize the intoxicating allure of nostalgia or melancholy, which often swells to a size that overshadows the present. Such vice-like grips of past influences can distort reality, making the mind swell ‘in ruin,’ a powerful image of mental disarray.
Amidst this introspective chaos, supportive voices emerge. The mention of family kneeling at their pew, believing in the protagonist’s journey, perhaps suggests the presence of an external faith when self-belief falters. Yet, is this reassurance enough to stem the tide of inner turmoil?
The Secret to Staying Alive
Arguably the most poignant turn in the song comes from the revelation of a ‘secret/ To staying alive/ Without actually breathing.’ Herein lies the paradoxical nature of endurance – existing in a liminal state where life continues in spite of a figurative suffocation. This line could be a nod to those stoic moments of life where survival is less about vitality and more about going through the motions.
Angelakos’ mention of leading ‘through the dark/ With your eyes as my candles’ reinforces the reliance on another, despite their ethereal presence. It’s a powerful metaphor for using someone’s memory or essence as a guiding light, even as their actuality proves transient.
Unraveling the Enigmatic Chorus
The central questions posed in the chorus,’Why do I always need to need you when you’re fleeting? Where do you go when I’m around?’ strikes at the core of human longing. The words encapsulate a universal struggle – the pursuit of a sense of completeness that seems perpetually out of reach, a psychological cat-and-mouse where satisfaction is an ever-moving target.
It’s these lines that underscore a hidden meaning within the song: The act of clinging to someone or something that is inherently impermanent. The vocalist grapples with the paradox of holding a crown of victory or authority while steeped in defeat, pointing to a deep-seated cognitive dissonance.
Memorable Lines that Resonate with Listeners
Passion Pit’s adeptness at crafting lyrics that resonate on a profound level is epitomized in the memorable line, ‘I’ve painted your patterns/ But found them attractive.’ These words evoke the human penchant for romanticizing the traits or behaviors of others that, while potentially destructive, possess an undeniable magnetic draw.
As Angelakos sings of learning ‘the reasons that never/ Forbid me to stand tall,’ the song crescendos into a declaration of emancipation from invisible chains. It’s in such lyricism that ‘Eyes As Candles’ leaves an indelible mark, echoing the intricate dance between the light of others and the strength found within oneself.
