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.
Yes I know this is politically correct
But it comes to you spiritually direct
An attempt to thoughtfully affect
Your way of thinking
That is if you believe in race
Or that you were born in the right time or place
This is a thought about face
Your way of thinking
Your way of
And the same could be said
For all the people lying dead
For them to die was a distraction
And what they found out a bit too late
Got covered up with all that hate
And now its nothing but reaction
If you have to carry a gun
To keep your fragile seat at number one
This is a bullet you can't outrun
Your way of thinking
So wait and see it's coming round
Conscripted through the lost and found
And still we find so tightly wound
Your way of thinking
Your way of
And the same could be said
For all the people lying dead
For them to die was a distraction
And what they found out a bit too late
Got covered up with all that hate
And now it's nothing but reaction
Action, Reaction, Action, Reaction.
But it comes to you spiritually direct
An attempt to thoughtfully affect
Your way of thinking
That is if you believe in race
Or that you were born in the right time or place
This is a thought about face
Your way of thinking
Your way of
And the same could be said
For all the people lying dead
For them to die was a distraction
And what they found out a bit too late
Got covered up with all that hate
And now its nothing but reaction
If you have to carry a gun
To keep your fragile seat at number one
This is a bullet you can't outrun
Your way of thinking
So wait and see it's coming round
Conscripted through the lost and found
And still we find so tightly wound
Your way of thinking
Your way of
And the same could be said
For all the people lying dead
For them to die was a distraction
And what they found out a bit too late
Got covered up with all that hate
And now it's nothing but reaction
Action, Reaction, Action, Reaction.
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I see this song as being about tyrants, police, oppressors etc who use violence and intimidation to maintain power ("...your fragile seat at number one"). This is their attempt to convince those in power ("...to thoughtfully affect/your way of thinking...", that their mentality is not only wrong, it doesn't work ("this is a bullet...you can't outrun"). But the oppressors don't listen, so they predict endless cycles of violence and resistance until someone can be convinced of a more enlightened path.