Come With Me Now Lyrics Meaning

This song is more about breaking free from [(being trapped in societal norms) / (getting caught up in the rat race) / (materialism) and regaining individuality than it is about good vs. evil. These ideas are referred to collectively below as "trap."

There are two speakers. Speaker 1 is the chorus and introduction ("come with me now") and Speaker 2 is the verses, although Speaker 1 might be Speaker 2's inner voice.

Speaker 2 is "afraid to lose control" and "caught up in this world". This is supported by the video, which includes various Speaker 2's (the lady blow-drying her hair, clearly very concerned about her appearance; the lady jumping rope and spinning - trying to look and feel good about herself; the guy in the suit collecting money in an office - focused on making money rather than living life; the guy in the coffee shop smoking a pipe, taking a selfie, and flipping pages - trying to fit an image of how he should act and what to think).

"I've wasted time, I've wasted breath, I think I've thought myself to death." Speaker 2 is starting to realize his predicament. In particular the "I think I've thought myself to death" line relates to the guy in the coffee shop in the video.

"I was born without this fear" refers to the earlier line "Afraid to lose control." Speaker 1 realizes that he wasn't always afraid to break free from his trap. "Now only this seems clear: I need to move, I need to fight, I need to lose myself tonight." Speaker 2 realizes that he needs to do something different - make a move, fight back against his trap, and let go or lose himself.

"I think with my heart and I move with my head." This is the opposite of what we would expect - you should think with your head and move with your heart. Speaker 2 still has dreams (thinks with his heart) but his actions are based on his fear / reason (moves with his head).

"I open my mouth and it's something I've read." Speaker 2 laments not having any original ideas and just regurgitating what society is feeding him.

"I stood at this door before, I'm told, but part of me knows that I'm growing too old." Someone (Speaker 1?) told Speaker 2 that he's had an opportunity to break free from his trap before, but time is running out - if Speaker 2 doesn't act soon, it will be too late and he won't be able to break free.

"Confused what I thought with something I felt. Confuse what I feel with something that's real." Remember that Speaker 2 still has dreams, but doesn't act on them. In reverse order of the lyrics, what he feels isn't even real. He's so caught up in his trap that he doesn't even realize that his "passions" aren't even real or for real things. Because his feelings are so off, it also confuses his mind. {I'm not super confident of this interpretation}.

"I tried to sell my soul last night. Funny, he wouldn't even take a bite." Speaker 2 is joking that his soul is so starved from being caught in his trap that he couldn't even sell it - it wasn't worth anything. This isn't necessarily speaking of soul in the religious sense. Soul here is a metaphor for his spirit or individuality.

"Come with me now." Speaker 1 is trying to get Speaker 2 to break free from his trap.

"I'm gonna take you down." Speaker 1 is telling Speaker 2 that it won't be easy to change.

"I'm gonna show you how." Speaker 1 will lead Speaker 2.

Drawing analogies to two movies:

In Pushing Tin, Speaker 1 is Nick Falzone (John Cusack) and Speaker 2 is Russell Bell (Billy Bob Thornton), who tries to get Falzone to wake up and let go. Bell gets Falzone to jump into a river (re: the music video where the Speaker 2's all wind up in the water).

In The Matrix, Speaker 1 is Neo (Keanu Reeves) and Speaker 2 is Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne). The parallels here are clear.