Songfacts®:

• "Waiting" was written by Porcupine Tree mainstay Steven Wilson. The song deals with our coping mechanisms in life as we look to distract ourselves from pain and despair, waiting for our inevitable deaths. Drugs and religion are among the methods. Wilson's lyrics often explore these kind of heavy themes.
• This was the first single from Signify, the fourth Porcupine Tree album. The group started as a Steven Wilson solo project, and their first album was just him. He started using other musicians on his next two albums, and by Signify they were key contributors.
• Porcupine Tree was still in the underground when this song was released, but they were starting to get some press in major publications like Q magazine. The group never found a huge audience but build a strong and dedicated fanbase after the internet made it easier to spread the word. Meanwhile, Steven Wilson also recorded as a solo artist and with his duo No-Man.
• On the album, the song is listed as "Waiting Phase One," followed by "Waiting Phase Two," and instrumental with lots of synthesizer and congas.
• The photo on the Signify album cover ties into this song. It shows a woman in olden times strung up with ropes, but with a very placid look, as if she's perfectly content to just hang there. The photo was taken by the graphic designer John Blackford, with his girlfriend as the subject. When Steven Wilson saw it, he thought it would make a great cover and asked to use it.