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.
Burn
my cit's on fire
burn
modern day tragedy
crim on the rise
police brutality
my reality's B-A-D
cuz the F-A-C-T of the matter's
getting sadder
check it
no unity in my community
everyone for themselfes
that's they way it's gotta be
dont think twice in this false paradise
one step ahead
or you'll end up dead
burn up burn up
my city's on fire
step the fuck back
that flame's getting higher
bleed with me bleed with me
bleed with me
forever now
done my time in a world fulla crime
it's my turn to watch babylone burn
bleed with me bleed with me bleed with me
now you gotta pray to god cuz it's on
defeat from the street
now i know i've been beat burning from the heat
notter than the flames of hell
straight scorching me torchin' me
dirty ash tray dreams
busting up scenes
its everyone and everything
the effect is direct and clean from the peasant to the king
no way out this battle's more than we can handle
the town's a slaughter house and we're the fucking cattle
[chorus]
feel it
soul shake down
headed for a breakdown
my town your town
it's about to go down throw down
forget about tomorrow
cuz you cant pay back all the time that you borrowed
it's too late on streets of hate you await your fate
i tell you brother you were gone from the gate
just another kid swallowed by the streets
and retired
i can smell the smoke shit my city's on fire
we were cursed from birth incarceration planet earth
sentencedto die and smile on the face of the outcry
criminal minded blinded i'm barely getting by reminded
constantly i'm nowhere
that i want to be
cuz it's real in this battle field
no where to run
no where to hide
eventually the other side will catch me slippin' on the trip wire
i can smell the smoke
shit my city's on fire
i can smell the smoke
shit my city's on fire
i can smell the smoke
my cit's on fire
burn
modern day tragedy
crim on the rise
police brutality
my reality's B-A-D
cuz the F-A-C-T of the matter's
getting sadder
check it
no unity in my community
everyone for themselfes
that's they way it's gotta be
dont think twice in this false paradise
one step ahead
or you'll end up dead
burn up burn up
my city's on fire
step the fuck back
that flame's getting higher
bleed with me bleed with me
bleed with me
forever now
done my time in a world fulla crime
it's my turn to watch babylone burn
bleed with me bleed with me bleed with me
now you gotta pray to god cuz it's on
defeat from the street
now i know i've been beat burning from the heat
notter than the flames of hell
straight scorching me torchin' me
dirty ash tray dreams
busting up scenes
its everyone and everything
the effect is direct and clean from the peasant to the king
no way out this battle's more than we can handle
the town's a slaughter house and we're the fucking cattle
[chorus]
feel it
soul shake down
headed for a breakdown
my town your town
it's about to go down throw down
forget about tomorrow
cuz you cant pay back all the time that you borrowed
it's too late on streets of hate you await your fate
i tell you brother you were gone from the gate
just another kid swallowed by the streets
and retired
i can smell the smoke shit my city's on fire
we were cursed from birth incarceration planet earth
sentencedto die and smile on the face of the outcry
criminal minded blinded i'm barely getting by reminded
constantly i'm nowhere
that i want to be
cuz it's real in this battle field
no where to run
no where to hide
eventually the other side will catch me slippin' on the trip wire
i can smell the smoke
shit my city's on fire
i can smell the smoke
shit my city's on fire
i can smell the smoke
Lyrics submitted by ruben
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