Turn my mic up louder
I got to say something
Lightweights stepping aside
When we come in
Feel it in your chest
The syllables get pumping
People on the street
They panic and start running
Words on loose leaf
Sheet complete coming
I jump on my mind
I summon the rhyme I'm dumping
Healing the blind
I promise to let the sun in
Sick of the dark ways
We march to the drumming
Jump when they tell us
They want to see jumping
Fuck that, I want to
See some fist pumping
Risk something
Take back what's yours
Say something that you know
They might attack you for
'Cause I'm sick of being treated
Like I had before
Like it's stupid standing for
What I'm standing for
Like this war is really just
A different brand of war
Like it doesn't cater the rich
And an abandon the poor
Like they understand you
In the back of the jet
When you can't put gas in your tank
These fuckers are laughing their way
To the bank and cashing their check
Asking you to have compassion and to have some respect

For a leader so nervous
In an obvious way
Stuttering and mumbling
For nightly news to replay
And the rest of the world
Watching at the end of the day
In the living room laughing
Like what did he say?

Amen, amen, amen, amen, amen

In my living room watching
But I am not laughing
'Cause when it gets tense
I know what might happen
The world is cold
The bold men take action
Have to react
Or get blown into fractions
Ten years old is something to see
Another kid my age drugged under a jeep
Taken and bound and found later under a tree
I wonder if he thought the "next one could be me"
Do you see?
The soldiers they're out today
That brush the dust from bulletproof vests away
It's ironic
At times like this you pray
But a bomb blew the mosque up yesterday
There's bombs in the buses, bikes, roads
Inside your markets, your shops, your clothes
My dad, he's got a lot of fear I know
But enough pride inside not to let that show
My brother had a book he would hold with pride
A little red cover with a broken spine
In the back he hand wrote a quote inside
When the rich wage war, it's the poor who die

Meanwhile, the leader just talks away
Stuttering and mumbling
For nightly news to replay
And the rest of the world
Watching at the end of the day
Both scared and angry
Like what did he say?

Amen, amen, amen, amen, amen

With hands held high
Into a sky so blue
As the ocean opens up
To swallow you

With hands held high
Into a sky so blue
The ocean opens up
To swallow you

With hands held high
Into a sky so blue
The ocean opens up
To swallow you

With hands held high
Into a sky so blue
The ocean opens up
To swallow you

With hands held high
Into a sky so blue
The ocean opens up
To swallow you

With hands held high
Into a sky so blue
The ocean opens up
To swallow you


Lyrics submitted by theDrunkPianist

Hands Held High Lyrics as written by Chester Charles Bennington Brad Delson

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Hands Held High song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

291 Comments

sort form View by:
  • +7
    My Interpretation

    I thought it was pretty clear that the little book with a red cover was a Quran, not a bible. The entire verse describes war from the viewpoint of a Muslim child, probably in Iraq or Afghanistan. This is further backed up by the line saying "At times like this you pray, But a bomb blew the mosque up yesterday."

    The first part of the song is from the American viewpoint, and the things that they are angered by, and how they think that the world is laughing at their leader; the second part from the viewpoint of the outside world, watching the leader stuttering and lying and feeling scared and angry, not laughing.

    doggonemesson January 07, 2013   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

More Featured Meanings

Album art
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
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”
Album art
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988. "'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it." "There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Album art
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988. "'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it." "There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Album art
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
Album art
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.