u/phyllostomus

Not sure how recent this is, but when i took the train on Monday they were running 2-car trains, and this morning they're running 3 car trains.

Hi all! I've got a theory on the interpretation of Chaos Space Marine that I've not seen repeated anywhere else. Warning, obviously, for discussion of suicidality.

I think the smoking gun line is "I'll bury the hatchet between the window and the kingdom of men". I interpret this as the narrator attempting to make peace with life and a failed relationship in between jumping from the window and encountering the world of the physical on the ground below. This fits into the song's (and album's) theme of trying to run away from one's problems.

Similar themes of suicidality via window are expressed in Track X, of course, which shows that it's a theme that interests BC:NR.

With this interpretation a number of other lines suddenly make sense: "Though England is mine, I must leave it all behind" and "I'm leaving this body, and I'm never coming home again" are self-explanatory. "I'm becoming a worm now, and I'm looking for a place to live" ties into the narrator's poor self-esteem, feeling that he would be best reincarnated as a worm. The line "Darling, will you take my metal hand? It's cold" furthers this sense of alienation.

Perhaps this part is a stretch, but the line "set an open course for New York state lines" could reference the historical phenomenon of people committing suicide by jumping from NYC's skyscrapers.

And of course, "so long chumps, I'm coming home" makes sense in this context as a reference to religion and afterlife. Like Concorde, the narrator "will fly". This interpretation fits well with the frenetic feeling of the song, which evokes the sensation of falling, and adds an additional meaning to the phrase "ants from up there".

Thoughts?