So our open wounds will bleed
Until our veins run dry
Now we have to take this thorn
And tear it from our side
Agitated at the fault line
Still agreed to disagree
Your connected to the heart
But tonight we'll set you free

So swallow the knife
Carve the way for your pride
Now our hands are tied
The problems lie within
So we pray for night
To start over again

Even now as i write this down
All pretensions disappear
Now our impulses will bite
At the ankles of our fear

So swallow the knife
Carve the way for your pride
Now our hands are tied
The problems lie within
So we pray for night
To start over again

Now our hands are tied
The problems lie within
So we pray for night
To start over again

Words are spoken
Words are broken down

So lets make this night be our best mistake
So lets take the time to wipe the blood away
Now our hands are tied
And our world is caving in

Now our hands are tied
The problems lie within
So we pray for night
To start over again

Now our hands are tied
And the problems lie within
Words are spoken
Words are broken
Broken Down


Lyrics submitted by rjbucs28

Swallow the Knife Lyrics as written by Dan Marsala Adam Russell

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Swallow The Knife song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

15 Comments

sort form View by:
  • 0
    General Comment

    First, I just want to say I grew up with these guys. They even played my high school several times. They're some of the most talented, amazing guys anyone could ever meet and I'm so glad that they're finally getting the success they more than deserve. Their sound is so different from anything out there right now. It really is. It's awesome, and SOTY kicks total ass.

    Anyway, here is my take on the song. To me it's about taking a break during a fight. I know it's not looking too deep into the meaning of each line, but to me it's just about taking a break from a fight when both sides are too stubborn to admit they're wrong. The first verse seems like it could mean that two people have been fighting so long that they've bled themselves dry and now, it's time to take the fight and put it on hold for a while. Tear the thorn from one's side so to speak; let the issues that brought the fight on rest. Agree to disagree is like, let's call a truce for now, and we'll pick it up later.

    Swallow the knife is like, letting it go even though it's not what you want to do. Lines get crossed, and words go too far so it comes to a point where both people have to cool off and take some time alone to heal. Praying for night to start over again, to me means that maybe after some sleep, the bad mood will be lifted and things can be talked about more rationally.

    The part about making the night be their best mistake and taking time to wipe the blood away could mean that the fight was so bad, let's not have another like it. Let's make this our best mistake and now let's make it better.

    This is just my interpretation as I am often the type who likes to take some time on my own to blow off some steam and relax, and clear my head when I'm in an argument because after so long my head gets clouded. That's kind of what brought this on, anyway. I had a fight with my girlfriend and was listening to the CD when the song came on. It's one of my favorites off of Page Avenue, although the whole CD is amazing.

    crying_aloudon November 30, 2004   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

More Featured Meanings

Album art
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him. There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
Album art
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Album art
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Album art
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988. "'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it." "There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Album art
When We Were Young
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.