In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
To the ends of this lost world
You have marched and you have sworn
To a tainted crown of thorns
As the hungry sails unfurl
We are trusted from the shore
And it's you that we search for
The blackest night
The midnight sun
The covered tracks and days spent on the run
The strangers we've become
These whereabouts unknown
Please know you can come home
It's alright
I long for the moment
Our silence is broken
It's alright
It's alright
It's alright
Another place, another time
We toed the same side of the line
Yeah we saw eye to eye
Even then the saddest sounds,
Were nothing laughter could not drown
But we are not laughing now
I see your face
In my sights
I hesitate
And then look for a sign
Somewhere in the sky
These whereabouts unknown
Please know you can come home
It's alright
I long for the moment
Our silence is broken
It's alright
It's alright
It's alright
Even together, we stand apart
Swallow the sun, erase the sky
An invitation has been declined
Where did you go? Where did you go?
These whereabouts unknown
Please know you can come home
It's alright
I long for the moment
Our silence is broken
It's alright
It's alright
It's alright
It's alright now
Oh, oh
It's alright now
'Cause all is forgiven
If you could just listen
It's alright
It's alright.
You have marched and you have sworn
To a tainted crown of thorns
As the hungry sails unfurl
We are trusted from the shore
And it's you that we search for
The blackest night
The midnight sun
The covered tracks and days spent on the run
The strangers we've become
These whereabouts unknown
Please know you can come home
It's alright
I long for the moment
Our silence is broken
It's alright
It's alright
It's alright
Another place, another time
We toed the same side of the line
Yeah we saw eye to eye
Even then the saddest sounds,
Were nothing laughter could not drown
But we are not laughing now
I see your face
In my sights
I hesitate
And then look for a sign
Somewhere in the sky
These whereabouts unknown
Please know you can come home
It's alright
I long for the moment
Our silence is broken
It's alright
It's alright
It's alright
Even together, we stand apart
Swallow the sun, erase the sky
An invitation has been declined
Where did you go? Where did you go?
These whereabouts unknown
Please know you can come home
It's alright
I long for the moment
Our silence is broken
It's alright
It's alright
It's alright
It's alright now
Oh, oh
It's alright now
'Cause all is forgiven
If you could just listen
It's alright
It's alright.
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I agree with yoshu... initially reading his analysis I had only listened to the song 3 or 4 times w no attn to lyrics but still thought he was out of the park; it seemed a little too divisive even for the avant-garde Rise Against. In looking at the lyrics I agree... "another place, another time; we saw eye to eye. We towed the same side of the line" establishes that yes; they, the two parties in question, were fighting the same fight. And the dedication to the "tainted crown of thorns" line really puts this argument to rest. Goodjob Yoshu. This song to me really wraps up the album by coming full circle. The band is really making a metaphor here; their former companion is now indefferent to their cause... yet he is still no enemy. He is no traitor. There are many novels/stories about innocent children growing up only to face each other in battle and realize the gift of emotions offered by humanity. Ultimately, I think this song is about returning to innocence and not asking the subject to switch sides back to the narrator's. The song is written in the language of war, but the narrator really wants to ignore the differences of himself and the subject and return to the innocence of one person appreciating another person for who they are disregarding sociopolitical beliefs...Ultimately pulling apart the diviseness aforementioned and promoting unity.
@ bathosdrift, amazing, at first I thought it was just about Tim looking for a new friend (maybe Chris) and telling him to come back, reminiscent to "Paper Wings", but your post made me go back and relook at the lyrics. <br /> <br /> "As the hungry sails unfurl<br /> We are thrusted from the shore<br /> And its you that we search for"<br /> They have become enemies, and its not a state of becoming indifferent like in "paper wings" or an actual hated enemy like "1000 good intentions", as their differences seem reconcilable, and they both seem to still be after the same "tainted crown of thorns". After your post I realized this is probably a religious choice vs. religious choice or a political choice vs. political choice. <br /> <br /> Then I ventured on to think this may even be something like Republicans as a whole vs. Democrats as a whole, or something of that nature (as in, an entire political ideology is personified in this song, this example is not accurate since RA is not Democratic, in reality its like Anarchists vs. Liberatarians or something :P ).<br /> <br /> And I disagree that this was a good album, I mean I couldn't care that much that they stopped screaming, I didn't like screaming in the first place, but the songs themselves have become worse. There's a HINT of musical theory evolution since Sufferer (it hasn't changed much at ALL though), but the melodies they choose are a lot worse than the ones they created earlier. Though its good that they are atleast still real punk, though I don't think they had much of a choice, their name being "rise against" and all, they couldn't become unpunk without a name change. Imagine Rise Against putting out an album called "heartaches and wet pillows"<br /> <br /> I think the song that made them choose this style for this album ("But Tonight We Dance") was a far better song than anything on this album.<br /> (lol and like deathadder said, can anyone decipher the morse code in the song :P )