This is the time in which I'll aspire
Set down the bottle
That's what'll make my dad retire
We killed his best friend
A sign I had hoped would strike
This epiphany
I was on the road
I promised I'd never walk so long ago
He used Harakiri to break the cycle
A means for me to defeat my demons
A push to inspire
Even after I struck his final coffin nail
And the snake still eats its tail
The sunlight through the trees
He sent his message between the leaves
what a dead man did for me
This is dedicated to Jason a family friend that was an alcoholic and died less than a week after he made a surprise visit (he lives 5 hours away) we had no idea of his health problems and he didnt mention it at all
I wanted to break this one down a bit just because it seems completely random at first glance, the first half I think it's pretty clear but the second half gets a little hazy. "He used harakiri to break the cycle" harakiri is the suicide by the samurai in Japan that's seen as an honorable death, without this I dont think I would've stopped drinking which was getting out of hand.
"Even after I struck his final coffin nail, the snake still eats its tail" when we drank with him that's what threw him over board, the three of us went through almost a half gallon that night. The snake still eats it tail is referring to the Ouroboros, "This symbolizes the cyclic Nature of the Universe: creation out of destruction, Life out of Death. The ouroboros eats its own tail to sustain its life, in an eternal cycle of renewal"
"The sunlight through the trees, he sent his message between the leaves" this is my imagery of everyone is so focused on the trees (his death) but taking in the whole picture the beautiful and the heartbreaking