This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere.
In general, it highlights the danger of hidden agendas, manipulation, and distraction, serving as a critique of those who exploit chaos and confusion to control and gain power, depicting a cautionary tale against falling into their traps. It encourages us to question the narratives presented to us and remain vigilant against manipulation in various parts of society.
Dead songs are drowning out voices of compassion with a sigh
Alright? Alright
Deadlines are winding down
Fatal clocks keep ticking off dead time
Nothing hurts, nothing moves, nothing stays (No one sleeps and no one dreams)
Nothing matters when the dead songs play (Reject the death)
When all the color fades away, the world is black and white
Dead breath from TV sets fill the empty houses with a dead white light
It's no surprise
Dead checks, dead sex, dead cigarettes flood the ambulance in the dead of night
Alright? Alright
Nothing hurts, nothing moves, nothing stays (No one sleeps and no one dreams)
Nothing matters when the dead songs play (Reject the death)
When all the color fades away, the world is black and white
There?s a dead song on the audio tape
The strongest magnet couldn't wipe away
Singing, "It's alright, but it's not alright
Then, pin-pricks on the back of your neck
A little voice inside you says,
"When you hear dead songs don't sing along, let it die."
Lift your small voices up and we?ll stitch these cries into a choir
Our lonely notes form chords that the orchestra just can't divide
Alright?
Alright? Alright
Deadlines are winding down
Fatal clocks keep ticking off dead time
Nothing hurts, nothing moves, nothing stays (No one sleeps and no one dreams)
Nothing matters when the dead songs play (Reject the death)
When all the color fades away, the world is black and white
Dead breath from TV sets fill the empty houses with a dead white light
It's no surprise
Dead checks, dead sex, dead cigarettes flood the ambulance in the dead of night
Alright? Alright
Nothing hurts, nothing moves, nothing stays (No one sleeps and no one dreams)
Nothing matters when the dead songs play (Reject the death)
When all the color fades away, the world is black and white
There?s a dead song on the audio tape
The strongest magnet couldn't wipe away
Singing, "It's alright, but it's not alright
Then, pin-pricks on the back of your neck
A little voice inside you says,
"When you hear dead songs don't sing along, let it die."
Lift your small voices up and we?ll stitch these cries into a choir
Our lonely notes form chords that the orchestra just can't divide
Alright?
Lyrics submitted by Lanimilbus
Dead Songs Lyrics as written by
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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"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."
I Can't Go To Sleep
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This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
No Surprises
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Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Plastic Bag
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“Plastic Bag” is a song about searching for an escape from personal problems and hoping to find it in the lively atmosphere of a Saturday night party. Ed Sheeran tells the story of his friend and the myriad of troubles he is going through. Unable to find any solutions, this friend seeks a last resort in a party and the vanity that comes with it.
“I overthink and have trouble sleepin’ / All purpose gone and don’t have a reason / And there’s no doctor to stop this bleedin’ / So I left home and jumped in the deep end,” Ed Sheeran sings in verse one. He continues by adding that this person is feeling the weight of having disappointed his father and doesn’t have any friends to rely on in this difficult moment. In the second verse, Ed sings about the role of grief in his friend’s plight and his dwindling faith in prayer. “Saturday night is givin’ me a reason to rely on the strobe lights / The lifeline of a promise in a shot glass, and I’ll take that / If you’re givin’ out love from a plastic bag,” Ed sings on the chorus, as his friend turns to new vices in hopes of feeling better.
I was at the TLA in Philly on sunday and Geoff said that this song was about all the bullshit that's fed to us by turning on the television set and being told what to believe in and all to fear.
Another great song by a great band.
the song is about shitty commercialized songs that the media jams down our throats. It is about songs with no feeling, but they're written to make a 'hit' Hence, they are 'dead' songs.
That is what he said at the TLA Sunday night as well.
I think its about how we're all just walking around only half alive, just dragging ourselves to work and hating it, sitting and watching tv even though there's "nothing on", stuffing ourselves with lots of food that tastes disgusting just because its there, being bored with everybody we're around, etc.
"Dead breath from TV sets fill the empty houses with a dead white light It’s no surprise Dead checks, dead sex, dead cigarettes flood the ambulance in the dead of night"
dead songs are drowning out voices of compasion with a sigh people who just want you to be like them are blocking out people who really care for you.
no one sleeps (its supposed to be no one hopes) and no one dreams nobody has feelings of their own
when all the colour fades away the world is black and white everything becomes thrown into two catagorys once people stop being s\who they are
Dead breath from TV sets fill the empty houses with a dead white light kids are raised by the tv sets and the things on them arent real theirs no such thing as a reaality show
There’s a dead song on the audio tape The strongest magnet couldn’t wipe away there will always be people who arent always going to be real
Singing, “It’s alright” but it’s not alright the popular feeling is not the right one its fake
A little voice inside you says, “When you hear dead songs don’t sing along – let it die.” dont do what the popular culture says to just leave it to fade away
Lift your small voices up and we’ll stitch these cries into a choir Our lonely notes form chords that the orchestra just can’t divide. even though youre one person make a differance and say what you feel and you cant be taken down
another meaning i found is music related: about how music is just numb and nobody feels that way and cant relate
I have a video of them playing this song in Troy, New York on November 3rd (here's the link: youtube.com/watch) and this is what Geoff said during its introduction:
"We're going to play a new one...it's about false culture. Don't believe people when they tell you what you're supposed to like, 'cause all the shit that's out there that's mass-produced and pushed down your throats is usually garbage. Speak for yourself. This one's called Dead Songs."
Yeah, there isn't much to add to what has already been said. Awesome song.
"Ah, my dead songs , the songs I might have sung! What alien service claimed my faithless tongue?"
-from the poem 'unsung' by Julia P. Boynton
i like it whenever he says "alright." sounds cool
I think jjgirl23, j42justin and infmoe are all correct. This song is not just about the dead, mass produced garbage the media forces on us but also about all the other shit they do that gives us a shitty, emotionless, passionless existence filled with food that tastes like shit and is terrible for us, passionless sex resulting from are perpetual state of apathy and of course dumb, boring television and advertisements that tells us what to like and what to wear etc. In this song we can see that the legendary punk band Refused(if you haven't heard of them check them out) not only influenced there music but there philosophy and politics as well.