Rocky Votolato – Makers

General Comment"makers" refers to a very tastey and popular kentucky bourbon known as Maker's Mark.

i hate to say this song is about suicide because many of his songs that aren't about that could be taken that way. i think it's more along the lines of someone drinking during hard times until they die one day and are free from their troubles.

"Heaven or heavenless we're all headed for the same sweet darkness"

love this song.

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  @jacrosse

General Commenti feel like this is about suicide. it seems like the narrator's friend killed himself, and now the narrator is remembering how they used to talk about how death would be nice, to be free from all the misery of life, but it seems like the narrator realizes that life has good to it as well, and he's regretting that he didn't help his friend see that before it was too late. but he also seems to be at peace with his friend's death, like he knows that death really is what his friend wanted.

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  @fivedollarstory

General Commentwhen i first listened to it i thought, wow, the first cheerful song about euthanasia. to me it is about someone who suffers badly from a disease and tells his friend to put him out of his misery. but then again he might do it without his friend's help, which would make it suicide. what strikes me most about it is the mingling of a very dark subject with the positive, hopeful overall tone. my favorite song off the new record.

i have a question of understanding, as english is not my mother tongue: what exactly is or are "makers"? i found out that there is a kentucky bourbon called maker's (which would fit as he talks about filling a glass with it), but here the apostrophe is missing. so?

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  @SammyWasLow

General Commentmakers is in refrence to the burbon

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  @ajbland

General Commenti think his friend died of an overdose, not suicide. the "final dosage" sets him free from his addiction

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  @bloke

General CommentI don't think it's about overdose, maybe he was just so sick of living... like sammy said, they make plans together but finally he die alone.... wich is sad but I like the way hes telling he wanted to die so he got what he wanted... hes not juging at all almost aproving wich may seems absurd but make this song so goog, so nostalgic !

The sweetest remedy to ever be delivered
Heaven or Heavenless

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  @lua-

General CommentOkay Maker's= Kentucky burbon. It deals with suicide
"final dosage to set you free..you escaped." Many people who commit to suscide have to have something to push them over the line to be able acomplish it(drugs/makers)

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  @beaverateer

General CommentI get the reference to makers meaning a bourbon, but when I first heard this I interpreted it to mean 'creators' or something of the like. As if, he and his friend would stay up late discussing gods and whatnot, and finally came to the conclusion, in short, religion is bunk. Also, I would venture a guess that Allen was sick 'the bones inside your mind were all broken', perhaps he had cancer or something, and the suffering drove him to suicide? Also, the line 'oh Allen how you suffered' could be a reference to his sickness. To me, this song is essentially about a man's search to find meaning at the end of life.

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  @Oriss
  0

  "The bones inside your mind where all broken
  The keys that opened any answers were all stolen"
  
  i think that just means the guy is depressed/tormented and they are drinking and talking about life.

  Flag jacrosseon January 19, 2009  

General CommentI just saw Rocky play a show and he explained a bit about this song.

It was inspired by a poem written by Allen Ginsberg named "Kaddish" which Ginsberg wrote for his mother Naomi after she passed away. Rocky and his friend were talking about existentialist philosophy which deals with the meaning of life, whether or not God exists, the consequences of believing or not believing... essentially the philosophy of existence. They were also drinking Makers. It just so happens that on this night they were in the same New York apartment building that Ginsberg wrote "Kaddish" in.

"Oh Allen how you suffered" is a reference to Ginsberg's mothers death.

"Lower eastside apartment" references that they were in the same apartment building as Ginsberg once was.

some of the lines from Rocky's lyrics like "the sweetest remedy" and "the final moment" strongly reflect Ginsberg's poem.

I dont think this song is at all about suicide, it's just about the final moment of life, death, and looking upon death as a sweet relief more than something to be afraid of. we all have our beliefs but we're headed to the same place. "heaven or heavenless we're all headed towards the same sweet darkness."

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  @waking13giants
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  i agree. very nicely put. also, i think, a way to look at the song that is not so entirely dark and negative. whenever i listen, i've always felt this sort of bittersweet sense of acceptance.

  Flag TheWrongGirlon December 26, 2009  

General Commenti love this song becuase my mom is dying of a drinking problem right now and she tried to commit suicide before so it describes everything perfectly and makes me sad especially "the bones inside your mind were all broken the keys that opened any answers were all stolen" because she has a lot of emotional&mental problems and no one understands her
idk if this translation makes any sense im only 13 lol but this is how i see this song

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  @danae272