Popular belief dictates that the song title references an idea first conceived by Carl Jung and later expounded upon by Drunvalo Melchizedek concerning the possibility of reaching a state of evolution at which the body would have two more than the normal 46 total chromosomes and leave a currently disharmonious state. The premise is that humans would deviate from the current state of human DNA which contains 44 autosomes and 2 sex chromosomes. The next step of evolution would likely result in human DNA being reorganized into 46 autosomes and 2 sex chromosomes, according to Melchizedek.
Furthermore, it is believed the song references a wish to experience change through the “shadow”; an idea which represents the parts of one’s identity that one hates, fears, and represses, this exists as a recurring theme in the work of Carl Jung.
– Straight out of Wikipedia
Join in my… join in my child
And listen… digging through my old numb shadow
My shadow’s… shedding skin
I’ve been picking… scabs again
I’m down, digging through
My old muscles, looking for a clue
I’ve been crawling on my belly
Clearing out what could’ve been
I’ve been wallowing in my own confused
And insecure delusions
For a piece to cross me over
Or a word to guide me in
I wanna feel the changes coming down
I wanna know what I’ve been hiding
In my shadow
My shadow
Change is coming through
My shadow
My shadow’s
Shedding skin
I’ve been picking
My scabs again
Join in my… join in my child
Shadow’s… closer to meaning
I’ve been crawling on my belly
Clearing out what could’ve been
I’ve been wallowing in my own chaotic
And insecure delusions
I wanna feel the change consume me
Feel the outside turning in
I wanna feel the metamorphosis and
Cleansing I’ve endured within
My shadow
My shadow
Change is coming
Now is my time
Listen to my muscle memory
Contemplate what I’ve been clinging to
Forty-six and two ahead of me
I… choose to live and to
Grow… take and give and to
Move… learn and love and to
Cry… kill and die and to
Be… paranoid and to
Lie… hate and fear and to
Do… what it takes to move through
I… choose to live and to
Lie… kill and give and to
Die… learn and love and to
Do… what it takes to step through
See my shadow changing
Stretching up and over me
Soften this old armor
Hoping I can clear the way by
Stepping through my shadow
Coming out the other side
Step into the shadow
Forty six and two are just ahead of me
The Prevention of Ascension 