I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
There's a purple heart on the stars and stripes tonight
It's pinned to the chest of the latest liar
And if you try to speak your mind
They tell you keep it to yourself
You got friends in the armed forces
They wanna know which side you're on
But it doesn't matter cause we're all being used
To train, to fight
To disregard all human rights
To play the part of
The consciense of the damned
You say you're defending me
I'm sick of tying yellow ribbons
Praying not to see
Another folded flag to a mourning mother
He was an army of one but they'll find another
And in the fold of the body bag
She'll find a check for a hundred grand
She's got friends in the armed forces
Now we know what a soldier costs
But what's the cost for the rest of us
To take a life
We all have our price
The wife and kids sleep soundly in their beds
You say you're defending me
Well I'm out tying yellow ribbons
On every single tree I see
I've seen them float like butterflies back home
And I can feel the desert's heat
When you're standing next to me
Our friendship offers no relief
Stay with me now, just hear me out
Don't want to lose you to that great black cloud
Coming down
You've seen the path a bullet makes
When it calls you by your name
And the medic can't play the rythym of your heart
So it starts to fade like footsteps in the march
As the parade passes by
The ticker tape will rise like sparks when we're born
To change our minds
Everything that's wrong looks right
The lives we lead
Are somewhere in between
March
You say you're defending me
I'm sick of tying yellow ribbons
Praying not to see
Now sing it
We're not going to hell
To run rings around a wishing well
It's pinned to the chest of the latest liar
And if you try to speak your mind
They tell you keep it to yourself
You got friends in the armed forces
They wanna know which side you're on
But it doesn't matter cause we're all being used
To train, to fight
To disregard all human rights
To play the part of
The consciense of the damned
You say you're defending me
I'm sick of tying yellow ribbons
Praying not to see
Another folded flag to a mourning mother
He was an army of one but they'll find another
And in the fold of the body bag
She'll find a check for a hundred grand
She's got friends in the armed forces
Now we know what a soldier costs
But what's the cost for the rest of us
To take a life
We all have our price
The wife and kids sleep soundly in their beds
You say you're defending me
Well I'm out tying yellow ribbons
On every single tree I see
I've seen them float like butterflies back home
And I can feel the desert's heat
When you're standing next to me
Our friendship offers no relief
Stay with me now, just hear me out
Don't want to lose you to that great black cloud
Coming down
You've seen the path a bullet makes
When it calls you by your name
And the medic can't play the rythym of your heart
So it starts to fade like footsteps in the march
As the parade passes by
The ticker tape will rise like sparks when we're born
To change our minds
Everything that's wrong looks right
The lives we lead
Are somewhere in between
March
You say you're defending me
I'm sick of tying yellow ribbons
Praying not to see
Now sing it
We're not going to hell
To run rings around a wishing well
Lyrics submitted by eltroyo11
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Why do you think he is "untying yellow ribbons on every single tree [he] sees"?
ACA,<br /> <br /> The lines: "I'm untying yellow ribbons On every single tree I see" and "I'm sick of tying yellow ribbons Praying not see" are definitely a little difficult to understand.<br /> <br /> However, yellow ribbons were more common 'back then' when spouses of military men/women would tie the ribbons to trees at their home to symbolize that they (spouse) were still home and still wanted the returning military man/woman back. This way, the returning military man/woman would recognize that they could return to their spouse at home. <br /> As for why he is untying yellow ribbons, I interpret that line as meaning the military man/woman is dead and won't be returning home. <br /> OR, I may be looking too deep into this. <br /> SO, maybe Geoff is talking about the sense of Patriotism (yellow ribbons are usually support the troops ribbons). He could be sick of people defining supporting the troops and supporting the war, so he is untying yellow ribbons because he doesn't support the war??<br /> I may be wrong on both tries, but we all have different interpretations. The only way we'll know for sure is to ask Geoff himself, haha. <br />