Shadow On The Sun - AudioSlave | Interpretation

Once upon a time
I was of the mind
To lay your burden down
Leave you where you stood
You believed I could
You'd seen it done before
I could read your thoughts
And tell you what you saw
And never say a word
But now all that is gone
Over with and done
Never to return

And I can tell you why
people die alone
I can tell you I'm
A shadow on the sun

Staring at the loss
Looking for the cause
And never really sure
Nothing but a hole
To live without a soul
And nothing to be learned

And I can tell you why
People go insane
I can show you how
You could do the same
I can tell you why
The end will never come
I can tell you I'm
A shadow on the sun

Shapes of every size
Move behind my eyes
Doors inside my head
Bolted from within
Every drop of flame
Lights a candle in
Memory of the one
Who lived inside my skin

I can tell you why
People go insane
I can show you how
You could do the same
I can tell you why
The end will never come
I can tell you I'm
A shadow on the sun

Shadow on the sun
Shadow on the sun
Shadow on the sun
Shadow on the sun
Shadow on the sun
Shadow on the sun
Shadow on the sun
Shadow on the sun
Sun
Sun

        Now to begin my interpretation it will mostly be revolved around "Shadow On The Sun." Now what is a shadow? To many it is just something that the sun can't reach. Now lets revolve around that idea. A shadow is a darker portion of its true self. Some place that light can not reach or a lost world. Shadows are to some even considered evil. Now what about the sun? The giver of light that represents the opposite of a shadow. It represents purity or good. Knowing these interpretations I can more easily explain the meaning of this song. 

        I believe that this song is about someone who has lost their hope of the world. A pessimist or someone who is down on their luck. Possibly someone who is depressed. To support this assumption is the stanza that begins with "Staring at the loss." This stanza basically explains that the narrator is hollow shell of their formal self. They try to find a reason for all the wrong that has happened yet they continue to live a shallow life or "To live without a soul."

       Now sometimes the cause a depression may be that they are possibly haunted by their memories. To support this is the fifth stanza. I interpret this stanza as if the narrator looks upon the world with a blank stare finding it difficult to interpret the outside world. As if his mind refuses to understand the things that happen around him. Much like the stanza says " Doors inside my head, Bolted from within."  Now as the narrator looks upon the world there are some things that spark the memories that first plagued him "Every drop of flame, Lights a candle in memory of the one who lived inside my skin." From this I can say its not the memory of an event that plagues him but maybe the loss of someone he cared about.

       So in all I believe that this song is telling the story of the loss of a loved one and from that loss has caused them to question the world around them. Such as how could such bad things happen for no good reason. The narrator also says that he has become "The Shadow On The Sun" which means that he was once a good or happy person but now has become the shadow of his formal self. Therefore shadow of the sun or a shadow of his old self.