The song is a metaphor for the narrator's failure to uphold his own moral code, leaving himself feeling blind and helpless. He sees that wrongs are done and no one is doing anything, and it hits him harder because he didn't do anything to stop it. He compares himself to Esmeralda, the romantic and kind-hearted character from the novel "The Hunchback of Notre-Dame" who is ultimately crushed by a system devoid of justice. The narrator is left mourning a broken world and contemplating his feelings of guilt for not helping when time demanded it. Ultimately, the narrator realises that he cannot keep helping everyone, but resolves to keep going and find freedom in his journey alone.