A historical - you think this shit just dropped right out of the sky
My analysis: it's time to harvest the crust from your eyes
To surge and refine, to rage and define
Ourselves against your line
so sorry, friend, but you must resign
You want to figure it out?
We'll throw down, we'll throw down
You want to figure it out?
Well, throw down your bulldog front
Bold bold mouthtalking
Not so bold now that you've eaten your own lips
Flecked, mouthspecked, you strip the skin right off of the bone
And I would never say you act without precision or care
But, it's all attention to armor, to the armor you wear
So, well, let's knock and check to see if there's somebody home


Lyrics submitted by PLANES, edited by kalyani, punkrocklives, BlueDiamondx3

Bulldog Front Lyrics as written by

Lyrics © ROUGH TRADE PUBLISHING

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Bulldog Front song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

5 Comments

sort form View by:
  • +1
    General Comment

    i read that this song is about apathy.

    fuzzyslipperson February 07, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    this song seems to be about, in essence, people who put up a macho front. more specifically, the hardcore scene. those involved put up tough guy fronts and refused to see outside the confines of the scene basically.

    marginxxwalkeron February 14, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    this is what i hear

    a historical: you think this shit just dropped right out of the sky my analysis: it's time to harvest the crust from your eyes to surge and refine to rage and define ourselves against your line so sorry friend but you must resign

    you want to figure it out ? we'll throw down yeah we'll throw down you want to figure it out ? well throw down your bulldog front

    bold bold mouthtalking not so bold now that you've eaten your own lips flecked, mouthspecked you strip the skin right off of the bone but i would never say you act without precision or care but it's all attention to armor, to the armor you wear so well \

    you want to figure it out ? we'll throw down we'll throw down you want to figure it out ? well throw down your bulldog front

    you want to figure it out ? you want to figure it out ? let's knock and check to see if there's somebody home let's knock and check to see if there's somebody home let's knock and check to see if there's somebody home let's knock and check to see if there's somebody home let's knock and check to see if there's somebody home let's knock and check to see if there's somebody home let's knock and check to see if there's somebody home

    you want to figure it out? we'll throw down yeah we'll throw down you want to figure it out ? well throw down your bulldog front

    you want to figure it out? you want to figure it out?

    juxtaposedhalfon June 26, 2007   Link
  • 0
    My Opinion

    This song addresses racists that hide behind their "Bulldog Front"; they dismiss all racism past slavery, "a historical, you think this shit just dropped right out of the sky?" and further refer to their ignorance, "let's knock to check to see if there's somebody home." MacKaye prompts a solution: "it's time to harvest the crust from your eyes." There's also identification of their shallow rebuttals- that they "act with precision [and] care/ But it's all attention to [their] armor."

    Grizlahon May 14, 2014   Link
  • -3
    General Comment

    It "seems" to me he might be talking to atheists and or agnostics that rely only on evolution to explain existence.rather than READ SCRIPTURE WITH LOVE IN YOUR HEART.Seen them in dallas in'09 BTW.LOVED IT!

    YAHUSHUAmyRABBIon April 29, 2007   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

More Featured Meanings

Album art
Light Up The Sky
Van Halen
The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
Album art
Holiday
Bee Gees
@[Diderik:33655] "Your a holiday!" Was a popular term used in the 50s/60s to compliment someone on their all around. For example, not only are they beautiful, but they are fun and kind too ... just an all around "holiday". I think your first comment is closer to being accurate. The singer/song writers state "Millions of eyes can see, yet why am i so blind!? When the someone else is me, its unkind its unkind". I believe hes referring to the girl toying with him and using him. He wants something deeper with her, thats why he allows himself to be as a puppet (even though for her fun and games) as long as it makes her happy. But he knows deep down that she doesnt really want to be serious with him and thats what makes him.
Album art
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
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.
Album art
No Surprises
Radiohead
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.
Album art
Page
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.