What are you changing?
Who do you think you're changing?
You can't change things
We're all stuck in our ways
It's like trying to clean the ocean
What do you think, you can drain it?
Well, it was poison and dry
Long before you came

But you can wake up younger under the knife
You can wake up sounder if you get analyzed
And I'd better wake up
There but for the grace of God go I

It's hard to believe your prophets
When they're asking you to change things
With their suspect lives, we look the other way
Are you really that pure, sir?
Thought I saw you in Vegas
It was not pretty, but she was (not your wife)

But she will wake up wealthy
And you will wake up forty-five
And she will wake up with baby
There but for the grace of God go I

What am I fighting for?
The cops are at my front door
I can't escape that way
The windows are in flames
And what's that on your ankle?
You say they're not coming for you
But house arrest is really just the same (just the same)

Like when you wake up behind the bar
Trying to remember where you are
Having crushed all the pretty things
There but for the grace of God go I

But I still believe
And I will rise up with fists
And I will take what's mine
There but for the grace of God go I
There but for the grace of God go I
There but for the grace of God go I
There but for the grace of God go I


Lyrics submitted by y plus white girl

Rise Up with Fists Lyrics as written by Jenny Lewis

Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.

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Rise Up with Fists!!! song meanings
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24 Comments

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  • +1
    General Comment

    Am I hallucinating, or did I manage to download a weird version, because she's saying "Before the grace of god" not "But for..."

    But anyway...

    I really like this song. Her voice is so beautiful. This is the only song I've heard, I saw it on The Dive on FUSE ^_^ I also like the whole repetition of "wake up..."

    I agree that it's probably about hypocrasy. Dunno about the religion thing though. It's still a good song.

    Desaparecidaon August 04, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    i like this song better in the slower live version. i think this song is a bit about hypocrisy which seems to be a running thread in some RK songs (e.g. It's a Hit) and even in the album itself with jenny talking about "selling out" and all

    i think the phrase "there but for the grace of god go i" here is important cos it shows that had she been in that same situation as any of the characters mentioned she may have also done what they did but because of her own faith, she's been able to pull it together.

    i see it as her talking about the fragility of decisions. how it's so easy to succumb and be led astray from who you are and what you believe in. and maybe, how difficult it is to change who you are and what you became.

    jadedgypsyon December 27, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    i like this song better in the slower live version. i think this song is a bit about hypocrisy which seems to be a running thread in some RK songs (e.g. It's a Hit) and even in the album itself with jenny talking about "selling out" and all

    i think the phrase "there but for the grace of god go i" here is important cos it shows that had she been in that same situation as any of the characters mentioned she may have also done what they did but because of her own faith, she's been able to pull it together.

    i see it as her talking about the fragility of decisions. how it's so easy to succumb and be led astray from who you are and what you believe in. and maybe, how difficult it is to change who you are and what you became.

    jadedgypsyon December 27, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I too like the slower version better, but the song itself is beautifully written and I love it.

    nyssaneon January 04, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    This song is so delicious.

    "What are you changing? Who do you think you're changing? You can't change things, we're all stuck in our ways. It's like trying to clean the ocean. What do you think, you can drain it? Well it was poison and dry long before you came."

    Sel-explanatory, I think. Reminds me of a quote: "Everybody thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing themselves." I don't remember who said it, so I can't credit. But, basically, touching the subject that people see their friends/family whoever in trouble, and take it upon themselves to "fix" them, even though they had NOTHING to do with them getting that way. Lives are going to be lived, and you can't take away the past (What, do you think you can drain it?), so let them fix their future.

    "But you can wake up younger under the knife. You can wake up sounder if you get analyzed, and I'd better wake up. There but for the grace of God, go I."

    Again, I think touching on the trying to fix the past. Like, getting plastic surgery, or therapy, trying to take the life you have lived and adjust it to better fit you, when in reality, you've lived that life no matter what. And then the most imporant and amazing line in the song, repeated much, "There but for the grace of God, go I." I think anyone, religious or not, should use this as their motto. No matter where they've been, or the things they've done, they've never made a final choice to influence their life because of what they believe in. I was there, but because of what I believe in (God, or yourself, or anything) I am no longer there.

    blueoftheskyon January 27, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    My current favourite track on her album - this is such a powerful song. The lyrics follow me all day until I next hear it, and all the following day afterwards. It's brilliant - some utter genius in songwriting.

    lemonjellyon January 31, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    i think we need to give some love to the Watson Twins and get the artist name changed to Jenny Lewis With The Watson Twins.

    calvins_hobbieson February 16, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    i think the song is about human fallibility, and our ability to rise above whatever driving force might cause us to act poorly. and the realization that its a neverending battle.

    this is definitely my favorite song on the album. the watson twins' backup vocals just suck me in. i could have no idea what this song was about, but if they sang like that on it, i would immediately love it.

    CrayonDrawnCaton February 28, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I think 'profits' is supposed to be 'prophets' ... makes more sense with the whole religious theme going on on this album

    skttrbrainon April 07, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Am I crazy in thinking that this song, along with others on the album, is a renunciation of religion?

    Thief-on April 08, 2006   Link

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