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.
Blood on the pedals
Blood on the grips
Steel-leveled, chest-level
Smear my lips
Let them slip into a smile
Because now after awhile
It's all we're seen to do
'Cause the business is as business does
Trash is trash until it's sealed
From above and left on to the corner of your mind to disappear
Lockdown the remains
Machine works best when the machine's not shy
Trash is trash but trash from cash must divide. Body bent, body doubled
Dismissed by time a five to nine
Will serve the nine to five
Lockdown the remains
Blood on the grips
Steel-leveled, chest-level
Smear my lips
Let them slip into a smile
Because now after awhile
It's all we're seen to do
'Cause the business is as business does
Trash is trash until it's sealed
From above and left on to the corner of your mind to disappear
Lockdown the remains
Machine works best when the machine's not shy
Trash is trash but trash from cash must divide. Body bent, body doubled
Dismissed by time a five to nine
Will serve the nine to five
Lockdown the remains
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I have a recording of a Fugazi show where, before playing this song, Guy mentions that prison construction is the second largest growth industry in the United States.
To me this song is about the attitude that the American prison system has. Prisons are used to simply get criminals off the streets, in the way trash is dumped into a landfill, as opposed to rehabilitating the criminals to make them productive members of society.
yep, just about how prison construction is such a booming industry. "...once you build a prison, you have to find people to put in it." - Guy
I got this album when it was released when I was a rookie bike messenger in Boston. I think it is about being a courier-- "blood on the pedals, blood on the grips", "machine works best when the machine's not shy", as well as descriptions of a rider's bodily position. Also, the references about business, trash and cash; the fact that trash (financial or legal documents) is transformed from some imprimatur "from above", higher ups literally in buildings, or figuratively social/corporate. And the spoken refrain that's not included in the above lyrics, "seal it with a kiss," is a reference to children, particularly little girls, writing S.W.A.K. on the back of letters.