Mushroomhead – Solitaire / Unraveling lyrics

The lyrics in this song are written in such a way that I can't help but think that this song was actually written from the perspective of Chewbacca. Everything in this song, especially the "Solo as my pilot" line are obviously supposed to invoke imagery of a man flying a spaceship around space with the help from his furry best friend, Chewie. I'm not sure, yet, what Chewbacca is contemplating and reflecting on throughout the song but I believe we can all agree on the part about it (the song) being about Chewbacca in some way or another. I think maybe he's thinking about self-harm, perhaps he has begun to resent Han Solo for some reason? One could only speculate, I suppose.

I don't feel it's fully about suicide. Though I do feel it as raw emotion. I myself am not fully sure how they feel during this song to start off, it is of raw emotion. As a writer myself I can tell you that raw emotion is hard to decipher. Although I personally feel a relation to the human condition. In the video it goes through a man's life until he is feeble and old. Basically a statement about how he worked his life away. In fact tonight at work I seen this. A feeble old man is doing one of our hardest jobs and a younger gentleman is wearing his body to the bone to help him because nobody else will. For the longest time we have been trying to figure out what is going on because the younger gentleman has stopped taking care of himself and his hair has even begun to turn grey. Tonight I learned that he has been doing a lot of work for the older guy. It's quite sad and brought my mind back to this song. Basically, in my opinion, this song is describing the average person who works their own life away constantly for someone else. They might have built their new product but their boss still takes credit or the company does.
"Have you ever been inside the new masterpiece."
We are all modern day slaves in a way.
"Locked away in a cage.
My rage has got the best of me.
Time finds a way each day.
Of leaving less of me behind.
I find this fight must be won.
Inside my mind.
So uptight and confined.
Often blinded by the light"
I might be wrong about this but this is simply my opinion, I don't feel this song is about suicide. Considering I myself have attempted suicide. The emotion doesn't fit. This reminds me more of a boss that gets under your skin so much you want to beat the living hell out of them and leave them to die.
I can sum up most of this in a quote, though it isn't from this song it still fits the idea.
"Today's slaves are not bound by chains. They are bound by debt. -Anonymous"
The anger I'm relating to in this song is the feeling of constant failure, stolen ideas, your hard work and it all going towards someone else's praise. Most jobs are this way. I have not had a job yet that led me to feel otherwise.
I feel this more as someone who wants to escape from the chains of modern day society. Though I might be wrong. I never asked the author what the meaning was.

The lyrics seem to be, in a way about self harm. Think about it: the beginning of the song talks about being overcome with anger and wanting a way for it to all end. The narrator feels as though "peace of mind and a place to rest" can only be found by hurting oneself.

There doesn't seem to be much hidden meaning with this song. The lyrics, while somewhat vague, seem to deal with the state of mind of an individual who commits self harm, and then eventually suicide. The opening of the song describes the protagonist as being isolated, and filled with hate ("locked away in a cage/my rage has got the best of me.") Jeffery's clean vocals, while out of tune and sometimes flat out ugly, show the anguish of the individual as his or her hatred begins to overcome them. They begin to feel as though "peace of mind and a place to rest" can only be found by way of self harm. As to the details, the song seems to hint towards cutting as the form of hurting oneself, as Jeffery bellows out that nothing could "save my life, cutting strand by strand." The band releases all of their fury as J-Mann chants and chants, "by strand, by strand, by strand, by strand." Until finally, the song closes, and we are left with only a guitar part, and one final whisper. Suicide, after all that the protagonist of the song has put the self through.