August 1961 stole
The taste of freedom
The life I used to know
16 long years to wait and wonder
Did she make it? Safely make it? Is she still alive?
If she's still breathing then I'm still waiting.
No hope in love.

Scream at the thought, it's not o.k.
And you dream of the day that she'll be here.

I still remember the last note you sent.
Eight simple words said
"No hope in love, no hope in waiting"
No hope in hell that I'll stop waiting, that I'll stop loving you.

If you still loved him, you'd wait for him.
No hope in love.

Scream at the thought, it's not o.k.
And you dream of the day she'll be here.
And your last dying wish would be to see Her one last time
When the wall came down.

Scream at the thought.
No hope.

Scream at the last thing you said.
There's no hope in love it's just inside your head.



Lyrics submitted by Inoue versus Date

The East Has Stolen What the West May Want Lyrics as written by Erik Hughes Chris Hughes

Lyrics © BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC

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The East Has Stolen What the West May Want song meanings
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4 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment

    Well the August 1961 refers to the title, which basically refers to the Berlin Wall. Other than that...i have no idea.

    ourmodernredon April 15, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    It sounds like it's about someone missing his girlfriend/wife/daughter/whatever who is stuck on the other side of the wall. It was sadly common for families to be completely torn apart when the wall was put up and many people were unable to find out what happened to the people they lost.

    Oni13on June 30, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    From Absolutepunk interview:

    What’s the inspiration behind “The East Has Stolen What the West May Want”? Is there a story there?

    Kenny: Yeah, that was one of the first songs I wrote on the album. It was inspired by a journal entry I read from someone who was separated with the Berlin Wall, whereas my story is a little different than theirs because I didn’t want to take anyone else’s own words. It all basically has to do with a couple that split up between the East and the West of the Berlin Wall. One side the living conditions were much better. So the only way for this couples to keep communication between each other were to write these letters. The woman was actually the one writing saying forget about me and there’s no hope, just go on without me, let’s forget about each other, there’s nothing we can do and move on with your life. The song is coming from his perspective and he’s saying I can’t do that and I don’t want to give up. It’s all about the struggle that people really did have by being split up by this stupid wall that made no sense. It was basically just there to ruin people’s lives. It was such a landmark of stupidity and this was the first song that I wanted to write about something different. I really dove into head first and in the end I didn’t know if it was going to work because I’ve never done anything like this before. Which it’s now one of my favorites on the album and one that I’m really excited to play acoustic.

    Aikichion September 07, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    man, this song is definitely one of the best moneen songs ever, they're just soo amazing, how do they do it? the ending lines are just soo amazing.. moneen, you're the best

    Zach121on April 04, 2007   Link

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