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:
  • 0
    General Comment

    This song is not mindless anti-bush rhetoric. This band is simultaneously NOT hypocritical. Perhaps they're the rich, but they aren't asking you to support bush like 99% of the others. They're wealthier people showing support for poor people, not badgering them.

    This song's message is like the music video for World on Fire. F***ing amazing.

    NeoNatakuon June 08, 2007   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
Corpse I Fell In Love With
Gadjits, The
He reuses the verse melody from the previous album's "Dirty Little Religion", the topics of the verses are all over the place, and he packs too many words into one line (goes to show...) and too few in another (it's pretty hard to find), and rhymes "Henley Regatta" with "Persona non grata", but gets away with it all as only he could.
Album art
Grand Theft Auto
Insane Ian
The way this song speaks to me🥺🥺when I sing it I feel like I relate
Album art
Fast Car
Tracy Chapman
"Fast car" is kind of a continuation of Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run." It has all the clawing your way to a better life, but in this case the protagonist never makes it with her love; in fact she is dragged back down by him. There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
Album art
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Album art
Son Şansın - Şarkı Sözleri
Hayalperest
This song seemingly tackles the methods of deception those who manipulate others use to get victims to follow their demands, as well as diverting attention away from important issues. They'll also use it as a means to convince people to hate or kill others by pretending acts of terrorism were committed by the enemy when the acts themselves were done by the masters of control to promote discrimination and hate. It also reinforces the idea that these manipulative forces operate in various locations, infiltrating everyday life without detection, and propagate any and everywhere. In general, it highlights the danger of hidden agendas, manipulation, and distraction, serving as a critique of those who exploit chaos and confusion to control and gain power, depicting a cautionary tale against falling into their traps. It encourages us to question the narratives presented to us and remain vigilant against manipulation in various parts of society.