beaches, make the sand white
make the sand, all romantic and shit
palm trees, branches, imagine them, green, naive and shining with pride
oh arrogant island, be buried in
humility like your beaches were buried in ash (buried in ash)
who will, remember you, now? (now)

billows and billows, see the smoke rise, a smoke stack for every sin
but did they believe that, at the center of the island was a volcano?
oh no. oh no!

who will remember you now? youre dead and gone
we came here on a plane, just a couple of scientists, oh oh oh!
among the ruins and remains, this island could have been saved, oh oh oh!

but some people just choose death and cant see a way out
till their bones are all thats left, and their cests are hollowed out
some people never know, too caught up in the beautiful
that their hearts a volcano


Lyrics submitted by constant

Speaker For The Dead Lyrics as written by Rudy Byron Gajadhar Robert Earl Darling

Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.

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Speaker For The Dead song meanings
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15 Comments

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  • +1
    General Comment

    GAD definitely likes using literary allusion. The title of this song is from a novel with the same title, authored by Orson Scott Card. It's a frickin' awesome book, and it's really cool how this song uses the idea developed in the book of a speaker for the dead.

    icarus4586on December 27, 2005   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Orson Scott Card, who wrote the book Ender's Game also wrote this book which is part of the Ender's series.

    Pennon February 28, 2006   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Speaker for the Dead is a science fiction novel by Orson Scott Card... "We came here on a plane, Just a couple of scientists, Among the ruins and remains This island could have been saved"

    Two biologists die from the descoloda virus, which is the virus that keeps the natives alive... their daughter calls Ender, who is the SPEAKER OF THE DEAD to speak on her parents behalf... I am sure there is more meaning than just that...

    ashnicaron June 18, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    .. i havn't really tried to figure out what this song is about.. though it has some lyrical similarities to 'fable' ..

    i know this title is also a book in the enders game series.. but i havn't read that in forever so i forgot what it was about.

    axionon April 05, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I think this song is, like alot of the others on this album, about Pompeii. From what i read the band was really interest in the idea that the people of Pompeii were so arrogant that they wouldn't leave their beautiful city despite living beneath a volcano that was acting up.... "Oh arrogant island being buried in humility Like the beaches were buried in ash." The fact that it talked about scientists finding them and " their chests hollowed out " follows the Pompeii thing too, where the bodies of the citizens of Pompeii were encased in ash, eventually decomposing and leaving hollowed out spaces inside the hardened ash.

    Sparty414on July 14, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Am I the only one who hears "green light" and thinks of The Great Gatsby itself?

    X405pastmidnighton December 08, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    wow sparty thats really interesting. thanks for that bit of information it answers a lot of questions i had

    Your_Biznatchon January 31, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    The song could obviously be referencing a couple of books... with similarites to "Fable", it could be talking about the end of Lord of the Flies. The green light indeed is a reference to Jay Gatsby, but what it has to do with LotF or even Pompeii is anyone's guess.

    ass0bandon March 26, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    "We came here on a plane, Just a couple of scientists Among the ruins and remains This island could have been saved"

    Thats a reference to Jurassic Park, most definitely.

    Co&Cafreakon April 13, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    But isn't there the fact that pompeii wasn't an island or am I just stupid?

    Jozzygrlon April 04, 2007   Link

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