Obstacle 1

This was the second track off Turn On The Bright Lights, Obstacle 1. This song has a faster pace to it than the last track, which transitioned really well into this song by the way. It felt smooth and really well executed. The guitar on this song has many similar features to the previous one, and the drums sound really clear and well done. I'm most intrigued by the lyrics of this album, which is what I'm mostly focusing on.

I think that the song is about Paul Banks losing someone in a relationship from a long time ago. The song starts off with the lines
"I wish I could eat the salt off of your lost faded lips"
now im a bit unsure what the salt represents (tears? or cocaine?) but the words lost faded lips confirms this person was from a long time in the past. The next lines are
" We can cap the old times, make playing only logical harm" and " We can cap the old lines, make playing that nothing else will change".
would playing be sex? Or actual playing, like flying kites and frolicking. It may be something else or some type of metaphor for having memorable and enjoyable times with this person. But saying we can cap the old lines makes me lean into the idea that the first line had something to do with cocaine (15% sure on that.)
The next lyrics say,
"she can read, she can read, she's bad Oh, she's bad"
This may hint at the past lover of Banks being very aware of the world around her, and this could have led to her being disillusioned with a lot of it, leading to being labelled as an "undesirable" person by many. (or she is good at reading and is evil but that's unlikely.)
After this, the story develops more. Banks is getting older, and his lover is gone. presumably dead due to the part of the song saying
"I'll never see this face again
You go stabbing yourself in the neck"
"stabbing yourself in the neck" is a manner of speech to say that she died because of a situation she got herself in, due to her previously mentioned disillusionment. The song then goes on to say that they can find new ways of living, maybe telling that banks is imagining her still alive, and the lyrics repeat this way for a bit, with the she can read lines and the old and aging. It sounds really raw and moving to me. It really touched me. (Nadja reference).
The lyrics nearing the end seem more like a callback to when they were together, or a memory of that relationship's end. Banks was uninterested in what she had to say ("Her stories are boring and stuff") and that she also was growing discontent, calling his bluff in presumed arguments. I could presume that putting weights in his little heart was to say that there was emotional manipulation and threats of bad things happening if they break up (?). I'll return this part at some point.
Saying she gets in his room and takes it apart could be either a metaphor for her tearing apart his mental state, becoming incredibly burdensome and tiresome, or literally destroying his room. It really could be either with how this song has played out so far.
The recurring lyric "she packs it away" Is most likely her just not expressing her problems in the relationship by the end, not trying to fix anything. by the end the line "her heaven is never enough" could either mean that banks was trying very hard in this relationship, but it was never enough for her, but now she is in heaven for real.
Overall, "Obstacle 1" is a BREATHTAKING song. It tells such a beautiful story and I get caught up in the atmosphere this song creates every time. LISTEN TO THIS AT NIGHT OUTSIDE IN THE COLD PLEASE. 10/10