Ashes in the Fall

A mass of hands press on the market window Ghosts of progress Dressed in slow death Feeding on hunger And glaring through the promise Upon the food that rots slowly in the aisle A mass of nameless at the oasis That hides the graves beneath the master's hill Are buried for drinking The rivers water while Shackled to the the line at the empty well

A mass of hands press on the market window, ghosts of progress dressed in slow death feeding on hunger

Those who have been abused by “progress” are starving (slow death), and looking in through the window at the riches that exist.

And glaring through the promise upon the food that rots slowly in the aisle

Through the window they see so much food (anything useful for life – medicine, clothes, food, etc) that is wasted (rotting), and there is no “promise” to them, they are starving. They don’t care about the promises of tomorrow if they cannot eat today.

A mass of nameless at the oasis that hides the graves beneath the master’s hill are buried for drinking the river’s water while shackled to the line at the empty well

The oasis is where things are plentiful (USA, West Europe, etc), so these people seem to refer to the people in these countries. The are buried for drinking the rivers water… they are jailed for taking what life has given them, yet have not waited at the well for their turn to drink (like stealing food from an abandoned field when you are starving). “shackled to the line at the empty well” refers to the order with which these starving people must follow in order to drink (you must have $ to buy the food – you must have a job to have $ - you must be a productive person in terms of your ability to function in our economy, not as a person; you cannot go and find a field and plant a farm, that’s illegal because someone somewhere owns it).

Listen to the facist sing "Take hope here War is elsewhere You were chosen This is Gods land Soon we'll be free Of blot and mixture Seeds planted by our Forefathers hand"

Well this first and formost calls the leaders of America fascists. And what they are “singing” is that our country is fine (war is else where) and that this is the place of destiny on this earth (this is gods land), so by that logic, since god chose us, and our land, he chose our actions too, so we can do whatever we damn please to maintain this land. “soon we’ll be free of blot and mixture – seeds planted by our forefathers hand” (blot – a blemish or smudge). It says the fascists sing that soon our country will be free of the blemishes and imperfections, and if god chosing this doesn’t do it for you, then it was also decided by our forefathers (founding fathers).

Zach is mocking how leaders claim a) god chose this land so we must… or b) the founding fathers wanted us to… Do as our leaders say in order to accomplish the freedom of smudges and imperfections in our land. This alone doesn’t say anything profound, but if you consider what he is really mocking in real life – the horrible decisions our leaders have made in the name of the founding fathers and god, like unnecessary war (Vietnam, and after he wrote this – Iraq), disproportionate defense spending (500 Billion Dollars a year), not spending 10% of that value to feed the hungry in our country, not spending 1% of that to feed the hungry in the rest of the world (hey, this is Gods land, so only here matters, not there, right?).

A mass of promises Begin to rupture Like the pockets Of the new world kings Like swollen stomachs In Appalachia Like the priest that @#%$ you As he whispered holy things A mass of tears have transform the stones now Sharpened on suffering And woven into the slings Hope lies in the rubble of this rich fortress Taking today what tomorrow never brings

A mass of promises begin to rupture like the pockets of the new world kings, like the swollen stomachs in Appalachia, like the priest that @#%$ you as he whispered holy things. Jesus that is deep. The mass of promises is just the promise of how amazing this country is and could be (the lines just prior to this). The pockets of the new world kings are too full (take a look at the big Oil companies, take a look at almost any large American corporation. The only problems they face is a collapse of stock price, thus the everyday share holder loses money – the executive already have million dollar + salaries and could quite today and live their life just fine), while the people who live in Appalachia (Eastern Ohio, Western Pensylvania, West Virgina, Parts of Tennesee, and other states, mainly on the West side of the Appalachian Mountains) have horrible living conditions. There are no longer many jobs there aside from working in river casinos, the Military, small time employment (mom+pop shops), and public service (police, etc). That means not a lot of income, and thus horrible living conditions. “Like the priest…” there goes any inkling of this being god’s land. This line points to how much bullshit there is in saying anything in gods name, none the less calling our country god’s land and justifying our actions with his name.

A mass of tears have transformed the stones now, sharpened on suffering, and woven into the slings, hope lies in the rubble of this rich fortress, taking today what tomorrow never brings.

He says that so many people have been mistreated and are living poor lives, that sooner or later, something is going to break, snap, give, whatever you want to call it. “[Take] today what tomorrow never brings.” He says to stop listening to promises you hear everyday that “tomorrow will be better” when it never is… he says take what you need. That could be interpreted in a few ways: 1) steal to eat if you are starving 2) take back this country, stop listening to the promises that our leaders will get around to fixing it tomorrow I would bet money that he meant the latter. “hope lies in the ruble of this rich fortress” he says there is hope that we may yet take our country back.

Ain't it funny how the factory doors close Round the time that the school doors close Round the time that the doors of the jail cells Open up to greet you like the reaper

Its not the time of day he mentions. It’s the time in your life. The second you leave school you run into your job, and live the rest of your life there almost like it were jail, fearing your boss because in his hands is your ability to feed yourself. The reaper? After that I think that’s pretty obvious

Ain't its funny how the factory doors close Round the time that the school doors close Round the time that a hundred thousand jail cells Open up to greet you like the reaper

I will interpret this a little differently this time, as more than one interpretation obviously exists. Factories close at 5pm. School lets out 3-5pm. What do we do when we get out of school, and get out of a job? What do we do when we are not in school, and have no job? The only place to go is eventually jail (via crime of some sort), and its so easy to do this, that they just open up and great you.

The chorus This is the new sound, just like the old sound Just like the noose wound, over the new ground

Every time they tell us something different… its always the same. We are still noosed in to our lives (the new ground being America). “just like the old sound”

Like ashes in the fall… A few different ways of looking at this: 1) Fall -> November -> elections… Ashes -> fires -> revolution

Calling for revolution in November? Probably not

2) Fall -> November -> elections Ashes -> as in ashes after cremation

Saying each time we vote is like another nail in the coffin? Probably not

3) Fall -> the end of times Ashes -> after cremation

Ashes in the fall… this is the end.

This makes the most sense when you tie it into the rest of the song.

So what is Like these ashes in the fall?

Everything he has described. The people starving while looking into the window of a store, the people jailed for taking what the need out of “turn,” the people in Appalachia starving (swollen stomachs is a symptom of starvation), the people welcomed into jail, the things wrought by the world we live… that is what is like ashes in the fall.

If you don’t like this, remember I didn’t write the song, and can only guess at Zach’s mind. I hope it helps though.