Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
Standing on the edge of the palisades cliffs
In the shadow of the skyline very far away
A lightning rod that couldn't pull the storm from me
I was 5 years old my best friends older brother died
He fell from these cliffs
The river washed him away the current pulled him downstream
In our eyes, floating in the headlights, so we parked these cars
Parent's garage
Listen to the lullaby
Of Carbon Monoxide
War all of the time
In the shadow of the New York skyline
We grew up too fast falling apart
Like the ashes of American flags
The sun doesn't rise
We replaced it with an h-bomb explosion
A painted jail cell of blood in the sky like Three Mile Island
Nightmares on TV they used to sing us to sleep
They burn on and on like an oil field
Or a memory of what it felt like
To burn on and on and not just fade away
All those nights in the basement the kids are still screaming
On and on and on and on
War all of the time
In the shadow of the New York skyline
We grew up too fast falling apart
Like the ashes of American flags
And we're blowing in the wind
We don't know where to land
So we kiss like little kids
We used to be very tall buildings
We've been falling for so long
Now your eyes follow the sign on the edge of town
They offer a welcome when you are leaving
War all of the time
In the shadow of the New York skyline
We grew up too fast falling apart
Like the ashes of American flags
The pieces fall it's like a last day parade
And the fires in our streets start to rage,
so wave, to the people that long to wave back,
from the fabric of a flag that sang "love all of the time"
War all the time War all the time
All of the time
War all the time
War all the time
All of the time
All of the time
War all of the time [Repeat: x4]
In the shadow of the skyline very far away
A lightning rod that couldn't pull the storm from me
I was 5 years old my best friends older brother died
He fell from these cliffs
The river washed him away the current pulled him downstream
In our eyes, floating in the headlights, so we parked these cars
Parent's garage
Listen to the lullaby
Of Carbon Monoxide
War all of the time
In the shadow of the New York skyline
We grew up too fast falling apart
Like the ashes of American flags
The sun doesn't rise
We replaced it with an h-bomb explosion
A painted jail cell of blood in the sky like Three Mile Island
Nightmares on TV they used to sing us to sleep
They burn on and on like an oil field
Or a memory of what it felt like
To burn on and on and not just fade away
All those nights in the basement the kids are still screaming
On and on and on and on
War all of the time
In the shadow of the New York skyline
We grew up too fast falling apart
Like the ashes of American flags
And we're blowing in the wind
We don't know where to land
So we kiss like little kids
We used to be very tall buildings
We've been falling for so long
Now your eyes follow the sign on the edge of town
They offer a welcome when you are leaving
War all of the time
In the shadow of the New York skyline
We grew up too fast falling apart
Like the ashes of American flags
The pieces fall it's like a last day parade
And the fires in our streets start to rage,
so wave, to the people that long to wave back,
from the fabric of a flag that sang "love all of the time"
War all the time War all the time
All of the time
War all the time
War all the time
All of the time
All of the time
War all of the time [Repeat: x4]
Lyrics submitted by prayingmantis84
War All the Time Lyrics as written by Geoffrey Rickly Iii
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Great version of a great song,
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This song is amazing!! Thursday has to be the best band out there right now and they are making great music. I love...
standing on the edge of the Palisades' Cliffs
in the shadow the skyline
it seemed very far away
like a lightning rod that couldn't pull the storm from me
its awesome how you can hardly hear him, but you feel his emotion
THURSDAY IS REALLY REALLY RAD!
Geoff uses imagery of war and current wars to relate them to his feelings. Geoff wrote that he thought sad girl songs were cliche and this was he was of writing music in a totally new direction.
I think that it does have some of 9/11 in there, along with the memories of his friends. I think the overall message is "gone but not forgotten" * , both for his friends and the people who died in the attacks. If it didn't have anything to do with the 9/11-war deal, he wouldn't have written "nightmares on TVs", "burn on an on like an oil field", "used to be very tall building", "now we're falling apart", "when the pieces fall", and "the fires in our streets." I mean, maybe one of those could be a coincidence, but more than five? And if he was only talking about his friends who he lost, then why would he write about "War all the time" and "Ashes of American flags"? Thats about a country, and isn't unintentional.
It's because 9/11 and his friends' suicides are both instances that happened to innocent people who had so much to live for, and both events struck close to home, making it so much more personal. Geoff linked these together because they were each a great loss, and by writing about them he could put his jumbled confused thoughts into words, a memorial to them.
The 9/11 stuff is nonsense. Oi. Must everything that involves a "New York Skyline" and a mention of an American flag be involved with 9/11? I've seen people say it to songs written over 10 years before 9/11, yet they were still somehow "alluding to it".
Anyhoo, there was a time in his life (or so I've heard) where New Brunswick was just an absolute hellhole (of which it still is). Kids either grew up to sell drugs or were killed by age 18. Thursday's way out was music, and thank god for that. But the whole situation was maddening. Kids would kill themselves just to get away from the hell on earth, which would promote more suicide.
New Brunswick was the battlefield, the place where violence was an every day struggle. That's the war he is speaking of. The war against the streets. Hell, his girlfriend was raped within 2 weeks of moving there (as heard in Dying in New Brunswick).
I was at a show once where he could barely finish the song; he was basically in tears. It's such a personal and moving song. That is why Thursday is one of the greatest bands of all time, the lyrics are personal, not simply manufactured for a sound.
@Socodax You really have to try HARD to be so blind to not see the 9/11 references in this song. The only thing that would make it more obvious is if the first lyric was "This song contains 9/11 references".
Even though I don't agree with the ideals of Thursday, I can acknowledge that they are a solid band and do an awesome live show.
I cant believe how amazing this entire CD is. Ive been listening to Thursday for probably almost 2 years now, and they never get old. Whenever I feel down or miserable, or even depressed, Thursday is always there for a lift-me-up. In this song geoff tells a story and as ussual uses it to define the very essance of social struggling. He uses his own stories in his songs, and some people think he may be selfish, but he uses them in a way that we can all relate, in all of his songs. Thursday doesnt try to teach you something you dont already know or dont already have inside of you, they just make you realize it. Idle how can you not agree with their ideals, you live in society dont you? They just try to bring answers to the daily confusions of life i believe, or at least thats what i get out of them. I am greatful there are a handfull of bands out there writting from hearts and not there pockets, and i dont think i will ever grow old of truth.
This is one of my new favorite songs, the best part of it is the very start, it's just the singers voice that has a quality to it that draws me into it.
yeah... The shadow of a new york skyline is in New Jersey where they grew up, and the war is just the toil of growing up.
I did a project on Thursday and they talk about how Ian Curis, and also Geoff's friend killed themselves', and how a kid from close by fell off a cliff, and his friends responded by killing them selves, and people dying in car crashes and how all of that just scars your childhood.
I could really relate with this, because when I was in 8th grade the first friend I knew died... and from there on it seems like evry few mothes. It really is reality, and "War all of the time" just with human emotions, and fate.
Does this song have some sort of September 11th homeage implied? The talk of war, New York skylines, and how, basically, the sh*t has hit the fan gave me that feeling.
It definitely seems to allude to September 11th and the war. It seems at first like a protest, but really I think its just talking about the situation in general and how depressing it is. War all the time, of one type or another. Good shit.