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.
The sun sets on the desert
Of Thee Evil Empire
The seeds of Mass Destruction
Are still very much alive
All we got were lousy weapons
Piled up from the Cold War
The free market wrecked our country
To the black market we go
Hand grenades way up to nuke toys
From Afghanistan to Latvia
We will sell to anyone
Who wants the Bomb
So the conga line of missiles
Dances out of storage sites
Past the checkpoints left abandoned
Kuz the guards all took a bribe
And on all the hot spots
Gettin' tired of being stomped on
By great satans and their neighbors
This will change if we have the bomb
Spread gift-wrapped do-it-yourself kits
Pay our debts to the World Bank
Before you can say Islam
Before you can say Saddam
Who's got the bomb? Islamic Bomb
For a real Axis of Evil
Keep an eye on free enterprise
Like our top secret project
At a warehouse right in town
No one here knows all the details
We just ship components out
Selling to the highest bidder
If we don't, someone else will
To third parties in Third countries
You can't stop what you can't find
This is what we wanted all along
Now the arms race can go on and on
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Piss ant little countries
They were getting in our way
Trying to claim their soil's riches
Tellin us we have to pay
So we tricked their wacky rulers
To go wipe each other out
Russian Roulette regime change
In a sea of mushroom clouds
Dying peasants slave at gunpoint
All their oil is finally ours
Life will never be
Quite like it was
Hide in our Green Zones
Til Jesus comes
But we fixed you all
With Thee Islamic Bomb
Of Thee Evil Empire
The seeds of Mass Destruction
Are still very much alive
All we got were lousy weapons
Piled up from the Cold War
The free market wrecked our country
To the black market we go
Hand grenades way up to nuke toys
From Afghanistan to Latvia
We will sell to anyone
Who wants the Bomb
So the conga line of missiles
Dances out of storage sites
Past the checkpoints left abandoned
Kuz the guards all took a bribe
And on all the hot spots
Gettin' tired of being stomped on
By great satans and their neighbors
This will change if we have the bomb
Spread gift-wrapped do-it-yourself kits
Pay our debts to the World Bank
Before you can say Islam
Before you can say Saddam
Who's got the bomb? Islamic Bomb
For a real Axis of Evil
Keep an eye on free enterprise
Like our top secret project
At a warehouse right in town
No one here knows all the details
We just ship components out
Selling to the highest bidder
If we don't, someone else will
To third parties in Third countries
You can't stop what you can't find
This is what we wanted all along
Now the arms race can go on and on
10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Piss ant little countries
They were getting in our way
Trying to claim their soil's riches
Tellin us we have to pay
So we tricked their wacky rulers
To go wipe each other out
Russian Roulette regime change
In a sea of mushroom clouds
Dying peasants slave at gunpoint
All their oil is finally ours
Life will never be
Quite like it was
Hide in our Green Zones
Til Jesus comes
But we fixed you all
With Thee Islamic Bomb
Lyrics submitted by flavour country
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I think the pay our debts to the world bank line refers to the scientist who was selling "do it yourself nukes" just to pay back massive debts from rhe world bank