Waking Up

They were tearing down the desert highway,

Like a bullet through the still of the heat

He was pointing at the constellations,

She was sleeping in the passenger seat

You said we're finally gonna get out,

I think we're finally gonna get out, yeah

Oh I can feel it

I'm finally waking up

I'm finally waking up (I know)

I'm finally waking up

I'm finally waking up (I know)

We were caught up in an endless circle,

Always looking for a place we could dream

We were swimming in the deepest ocean,

Wondering why we couldn't find any beach

I think we're finally gonna get out...

I'm finally waking up...

In the black night, melting away,

As the red sun rolls in its place

She sat up stretched and reached for the edge of the sky

Then opened her eyes and woke up

I'm finally waking up, waking up

(Wake up)

I'm finally waking up...

Usually the above section contains a translation, but since this song is already in English, it feels pretty bare. Furthermore, I'm a bit out of my comfort zone in this analysis—I'm less familiar with this band, or with relatively recent music in general. Therefore I'm less confident in this analysis than my previous ones, and would greatly appreciate any feedback or corrections. In any case, I'm hoping this analysis provides you with more meaning to this song.


To start off, there's the clear repeated message of waking up, which is connected to getting out. Getting out implies a current state of stuck, and is communicated using the first person plural (we're finally gonna get out), meaning that there are multiple people who are stuck, and are going to get out together. Waking up, in contrast, is communicated using the first person singular (I'm finally waking up), meaning that only one person needs to wake up.

In addition to that, let's establish the notion that since waking up is a much anticipated event, then conflicting events, such as nighttime, sleeping, or dreaming, are obstructive, and by extension are counterproductive to the goal of "getting out".

Let's now digest this song piece by piece:

They were tearing down the desert highway,

Like a bullet through the still of the heat

From here we already establish what will become a recurring image of this couple who are physically together. They are in a car going down the highway together.

He was pointing at the constellations,

She was sleeping in the passenger seat

While the man is engaged, pointing at constellations, the woman is just sleeping, painting an image of a disconnected couple. This is our first image of the couple's disconnect, although keep in mind that even here they are physically together. In order to analyze this further, we need to return to our previous stipulation: that events conflicting with 'waking up' are counterproductive. The fact that there are constellations implies that it is nighttime, which already is problematic. Furthermore, the woman is sleeping which is in clear obstruction to waking up.

Now I'm going to make several claims that might initially seem far-fetched, but you will hopefully be convinced of them by the end of this analysis. The constellations represent the problems in this couple's relationship. The man, therefore, was pointing out their problems as a couple, while the woman was sleeping—neither acknowledging nor addressing them. From here we understand the both literal and figurative message that it is the woman that needs to wake up, in order for them both to come out of their hole as a couple.

The next stanza backs up the man's claims that the couple has problems, while affirming the notion that the couple is in this together (they are not going their separate ways, they both ultimately want the relationship to succeed, just the woman doesn't acknowledge their problems yet):

We were caught up in an endless circle,

Always looking for a place we could dream

We were swimming in the deepest ocean,

Wondering why we couldn't find any beach

As you can see from the above images, the couple has problems; they are stuck in an endless circle, they are stuck in the deepest ocean—their relationship is definitely stuck. However, they are still in it together, they were caught up in the circle together, they were swimming in the ocean together. I'd also like to point out a side note that while in other contexts looking for a place to dream seems hopeful, when we recall that dreaming is counterproductive to the theme of waking up, we realize that they are also looking for the wrong things as a couple. I thought that was a nice little addition.

In the resolution of this song, the woman finally acknowledges their problems as a couple, and by doing so finally wakes up. This concluding stanza is rich with beautiful imagery and metaphors, so I'll include it below with a little blurb about it:

In the black night, melting away,

As the red sun rolls in its place

She sat up stretched and reached for the edge of the sky

Then opened her eyes and woke up

Remember that they are still in the car; the last thing that happened in the car was the man pointing out the constellations (their problems) while the woman was sleeping. Now in the resolution, the woman sits up in the car and reaches for the sky—symbolically reaching towards the constellations, acknowledging their problems—before finally waking up. The beautiful scenery accompanying this moment was fittingly the break of dawn, where all the stars start fading away.

While I'm hoping that this analysis can deepen your understanding and love for this song, I strongly recommend listening to it again, because no written words can do justice to the amazing vocals complementing the meaning of this song (for example, compare the two times they say, "Oh I can feel it")