Warehouse In-Depth
I believe Warehouse is about the relationship between our bodies and our souls and the different emotions we feel when we contemplate the questions of life and death as we grow from a child to our old age. A warehouse is a place where something is stored for a time and then it goes somewhere else. Dave is using the word as a metaphor saying our bodies are warehouses for our souls.
See I'm leaving
This warehouse frightens me
Has me tied up in knots
Can't rest for a moment
The song starts with the soul entering the body. The soul has existed before entering the body since the soul is eternal. When the soul enters the body, it is frightened and restless. -We can imagine a soul existing outside the body as being free, with no limits, and unconfined.- When the soul enters the body, it must feel weighed down and confined (tied up in knots).
Soon I'm going I'm slipping slow away
Hoping to find something better
Than I've got inside of here
The warehouse slips away
The soul does not know where it is or why it is there. It does know that there is a place where it truly belongs (heaven) and eventually, it will leave the body and return there.
Hey reckless mind
Don't throw away your playful beginnings
You and I will fumble around in the touches
And be sure to
Fast-forward a few years from when the soul first entered the body. It has had time to adjust and form a relationship with it. Now the mind has developed and it controls the body. The soul is telling the mind not to forget its playful beginnings (as a child). The soul and the mind will fumble around in the touches (grow and mature with each-other throughout life). Eventually, the soul and mind function as one.
Leave all the lights on
So we can see the black cat changing colors
And we can walk under ladders
And we can swim as the tide turns you around and around
As the soul and mind mature, they realize that they don't have to be afraid of life. Life is not about fear. Life is natural and they are supposed to be here, and these superstitions should not dictate the way we live life.
Hey we have found
Becoming one in a million
Slip into the crowd
This question I found in a gap in the sidewalk
When we realize we are only one in millions, it is almost hard to comprehend. Are we significant? Are we insignificant? The gap in the sidewalk is insignificant and un-noticed when looking at the whole street. Looking at the gap and seeing how it fits into the street as a whole, makes us think of ourselves and how we fit into the big picture.
And here I sit
Life goes on
End of tunnel, TV set
Spot in the middle
Static fade, statistical bit
And soon I'll fade away, I'll fade away
Here, the person (body, mind, and soul now functioning as one) is sitting watching tv. Like the previous verse, they are contemplating their existence. This time they focus more on death. As they turn off the TV the static fades and they see a spot in the middle of the screen. This spot makes them think of "the light at the end of the tunnel" Soon he will fade away just like the TV screen....So will millions of people. Is he just a statistic?
This I admit tastes so good
Hard to believe an end to it
Smell touch feel
How could this rhythm ever quit
Bags packed on a plane
Hopefully to heaven
At this point the soul has become comfortable in the body. Thinking about death its hard to believe something as complex and wonderful as this could come to an end. Life is good. How could the rhythm of our hearts just stop? How could the rhythm of life stop? He knows it will and he knows he will go somewhere else (hopefully heaven).
Shut up I'm thinking
I had a clue now it's gone forever
Sitting over these bones
You can read in whatever you're needing to
Here I think the speaker was in deep thought, thinking about life, what it means, and where we go when we die. These complex ideas are hard to grasp, and just when he thinks he can understand (have a clue), he completely loses it and has to start over. Sitting over these bones might mean he was thinking about life/death while looking at bones or someone who has died. You can read into whatever you're needing to might refer to the song itself. Dave purposefully wrote the song to mean different things to different people.
This I admit
Seems so good
Hard to believe an end to it
Warehouse is bare
Nothing at all inside of it
The walls and halls have disappeared
They disappear
Now he is dying or thinking what it will be like when he does die.
There is nothing inside the warehouse (his body) because the soul has left. The walls and halls that have confined the soul disappear.
My love I love to stay here
My love I love to stay here
This is obvious. The person knows they have to die, but they would love to stay if they could. The person not only has to leave the life they have grown to love, but also the people they have grown to love. I think this is the most beautiful and touching part of the song because of what is said and because of the music behind it.
In a corner I was wondering
If a change would be better than this
And then I worry
Maybe things won't be better than they have been
Here in the warehouse
At the warehouse
How
I love to stay here
At the warehouse
Every man and woman
Get alive
This verse almost seems to be out of order with the rest of the song. The speaker wonders what will happen to them after they die. Will it be better than this life? Will it be worse?
That's my blood down there
Seems poured from the hands of angels
But trickle into the ground
Leaves the warehouse bare and empty
And my heart's numbered beat
Still echo in this empty room
And fear wells in me
But nothing seems good enough to defend
So I am going away, I'm going away...
Now the speaker has died. The soul has left the body and is looking down on it. The angels have taken the soul away and now the warehouse is empty. His heart last beat still echoes in the empty body. He is afraid because he is entering the unknown. But at the same time it all seems right, because nothing seems good enough to defend, there is something greater than this life, so he doesn’t resist, he decides he will go.
I know Dave used to play at a warehouse in Charlottesville and had a hard time leaving and moving on. I think the experience inspired him to write the song. He realized leaving the warehouse in Charlottesville is a microcosm for us leaving our bodies. I encourage you to fully explore this song and write your own interpretation of it!
