Make A Sound

I think Autopilot Off often talk about topics like religion or faith, but rather then speaking of them directly, they use hidden clues and you have to search for them inside the lyrics. Maybe the band was inspired by Bad Religion a bit, after all, they've done a pretty good cover of Generator :-)

To me, this song is about life and being surrounded by uncertainty. The motive of ocean is very important here. When you turn the "autopilot off", it's like sailing into great wide open - you don't know what to expect, what to do, where to go. You can be destroyed by waves at any moment, and you'll never have the chance to call for help - because "you won't even make a sound".

"I'm losing track of all the days Lost inside a lifeboat, drifting out with all the waves, the waves!"

I think this is about living in stereotype. Everyday's the same, repetition's taking over, and you can't escape it, because you have no other choice, as you are alone in the middle of the ocean of your problems.

Here comes the "faith" part;

"And some will find their way by looking towards the sky And some will leave their fate up to these ocean tides"

"looking towards the sky" - faith. Religious faith, to be accurate. For many people, it's the universal solution, it gives their life a purpose, a meaning. They need to believe there's someone watching over them, that there's a better place to be, or that better days will come. I'm not against it, though I'm not a believer, I'm agnostic, and I think (and also appreciate) that the songwriter doesn't put himself into a position of some kind of judge, he just states the fact.

However, there are also people who don't have the will to fight and they rather choose to remain passive and leave their fates up to the circumstances.

"The water gets so heavy" living under pressure, it's getting worse and you are close to drowning.

In the end, the message of this song could be that whatever happens, you have to fight against the pressure - you should make a sound, you shouldn't give up, there's no solution in waiting for some "divine intervention" (which is another great song, heh) or giving up to determination, because no one really cares, when you drown. Take control. Or try, at least.

<i>"looking towards the sky" - faith. Religious faith, to be accurate. For many people, it's the universal solution, it gives their life a purpose, a meaning. They need to believe there's someone watching over them, that there's a better place to be, or that better days will come. I'm not against it, though I'm not a believer, I'm agnostic, and I think (and also appreciate) that the songwriter doesn't put himself into a position of some kind of judge, he just states the fact.

However, there are also people who don't have the will to fight and they rather choose to remain passive and leave their fates up to the circumstances.</i>

This isn't exactly what I'd consider that verse to be. They're sticking with the theme of being lost at sea; and, before the compass was invented, sailors had to rely on the constellations to navigate the oceans. "looking towards the sky" isn't faith, it's a reference to an archaic form of navigation. If you want to get into a subtext of the meaning, I'd go with something along the lines of looking towards the sky requires knowledge and mastery over the stars, which implies that one must know what one is doing.

So the line "And some will find their way by looking towards the sky" refers to the people at sea who know how to navigate and get back to shore, and the next line "And some will leave their fate up to these ocean tides" refers to people who don't know what to do or how to get back to shore so they do nothing and hope that the waves will carry them home.

I'm not exactly sure what thsi song means but im pretty sure that the water just symbolizes problems in life and when they overcome u (and u drown) you die...and no one will know because their your own problems not theirs, hense, you'll never even make a sound.

Corrected First Verse:

I don't know if we'll make it home All we can do for now is hope

I don't know if we'll make it home Water all around could swell and wash us all away, away! And if we never set our feet on land again This will be one lesson I will not forget

this song is awesome

Im so happy to see many comments on Autopilot Off. The band are awesome :-)

I think jinsengta is close with the meaning of the song, maybe about keeping it all in and not talking to others makes your problems worse. Great band and top song :-)

i think these r the correct lyrics for verse 1-

I don't know if we'll make it home All we can do for now is hope

I don't know if we'll make it home Water all around could swell and wash us all away, away! And if make a sound, we'll be on land again This will be one last time I will not forget

no actually i believe decaf has the correct lyrics

its a shame this is such an underrated band, i've always been curious as to its meaning but regardless its an excellent song

awesome great intro

Rufio, you're way off. No offense. I've listened to the intro 5 times and I still can't see how you got the 3rd line. Last time and lesson could be confused, but lesson makes more sense.

Great song. And yeah, jin was best on meaning. I agree 125% =P