Notes

I think a lot of people don't want to face what this actually could be. Jimmy was my favorite musician ever and he was such an influence to me, and as much as I don't want to admit it, I'm 99% sure he committed suicide.

My reasons for thinking so:

1. Now I think I understand
How this world can overcome a man
Like a friend we saw it through
In the end I gave my life for you

He realizes that life has become too much for him to handle. "It" in this case refers to the band, maybe the final album. He gave his life for his music.

2. Gave you all I had to give
Found a place for me to rest my head
While I may be hard to find
Heard there's peace just on the other side

He put everything he had into this last album. He told Matt that it was going to change the world. He was satisfied what he had done and felt that he had nothing left to give, therefore he was ready to rest his head for good. The "peace just on the other side" was most likely a reference to life after death.

3. Not that I could
Or that I would
Let it burn
Under my skin
Let it burn

This part is kind of satirical. He's pretty much telling us flat out here that he committed suicide while sarcastically saying "no, I could never and would never." He died due to a combination of oxycodone (OxyContin), oxymorphone (a metabolite of oxycodone), diazepam (Valium), nordiazepam (a metabolization of diazepam) and alcohol, and if that combination doesn't kill someone, I don't know what will. He "let it burn" under his skin, inside of his body, until it ruined his organs.

4. Left this life to set me free
Took a piece of you inside of me
All this hurt can finally fade
Promise me you'll never feel afraid

This, again, is pretty much straight-forward. He's reassuring us that this is what he wanted. He was trapped inside his life but now he has been set free. His pain is finally gone, as Syn wrote in "So Far Away" (which also suggests that the band members know he committed suicide), and he wants us not to worry.

5. I hope it's worth it
Here on the highway, yeah
I know you'll find your own way
When I'm not with you

So tell everybody
The ones who walk beside me, yeah
I hope you'll find your own way
When I'm not with you tonight

I hope it's worth it
What's left behind me, yeah
I know you'll find your own way
When I'm not with you

So tell everybody
The ones who walk beside me, yeah
I know you'll find your own way
When I'm not with you tonight

AGAIN, straight-forward. He hoped that what he had done in his life was worth dying for. His music, and anything else he gave us, was what he wanted to be remembered for. He knew he was no longer going to be with us. Otherwise, why would he write this? His message to everyone who was a fan, friend, loved one, family member, etc. was that he had faith that they would be able to move on without him.

6. In "So Far Away" which is about The Rev, Brian wrote, "A final song, a last request/A perfect chapter laid to rest." Final song=Fiction (which was titled "Death" by Jimmy and submitted by Jimmy to the band three days before his death). Last request=the final verses of Fiction.

7. In "Save Me" (which is the track after Fiction) the first words you hear are "they all know." I guess no one has made the connection that this line might mean "everybody knows you killed yourself." What else could it mean?
Also in "Save Me": "So much to see tonight/so why'd you close your eyes?/Why can't I shut mine?" Matt knows Jimmy "closed his eyes" with his own will to close them. Here, he's wondering why Jimmy had to do it.

So that pretty much sums it up. There are many more references to this event throughout the whole album. I hate that Jimmy ever did such a thing as commit suicide, but I still revere him as an artist and just an all-around character. He will never be forgotten.

R.I.P. Jimmy
foREVer