Ah, this is a nightmare - ec's lyrics are always complex!. He seems to convey an extraordinary depth of sentiment with only a few words. For example, "Well, I recall his parting words..." Do we assume that the next lines *are* the parting words ("Must I accept his fate, Or take myself far from this place"), and who is speaking them? Or is the singer referring to the person who spoke those parting words when they say "Must I accept his fate?"? It seems to have been written from the perspective of somebody who is deeply disillusioned. "Man has no choice, when he wants everything," but who is the little bird who made that observation? And then "Man goes beyond his own decision... swindlers who act like kings... brokers who break everything," and so on. And is the black bell a metaphor (for what? Death?), or should it be taken literally? The Scarlet Tide may be a reference to war, per Busk (we don't know if ec is familiar with this work (do we?), although he is widely read, I think), or it may be more generalized, as in "red rage," and may just be a general reference to uncontrolled anger. And yet, "we'll rise above the Scarlet Tide," which is then rendered impotent through the use of the word "trickles." This Scarlet Tide, whatever it is, is not a flood, but something altogether less potent, which may be avoided. Hmmm. Something's gone very badly wrong in this person's life; (s)he feels (s)he's been cheated by people who were serving their own ends, and have left others bearing the fallout, I think.