Kiss the Flag

This song reminds me of my best friend over in Iraq fighting for us!

this song was written from a neutral perspective on the war and warfare in general.

it's beautifully written, though a tad on the dull side the lyrics more than make up for it.

particularly poignant are the dialogue consisting of a woman being told that a man she loved was killed in battle:

"He kissed the flag before he died, he took one for his country" "...I'd do anything to have him back..."

pride and nationalism are rendered meaningless when you take into account the personal calamity that modern warfare brings about.

best line is "they say we're straddling fences, and its not so comfortable" therye not comfortable with where theyre at in life... awesome lyrical song

What a great song. it's good to see that people haven't spammed this with "OMGZ LEAVE J0R POLITICAL CRAP TO YOURSELF"

I love these types of songs because they remind us all about what's going on out there and the harsh reality of it all.

Rock on Evans Blue

This song always makes me think of a former soldier suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (is it disorder or syndrome? You know what I'm talking about in either case, right?)

The line, "They woke up to hear me screaming" makes me think of this particularly. I think he's screaming in his sleep from having nightmares.

Also the line, "She says, "I'd do anything to have him back," doesn't necessarily mean the man she loves died in combat, but returned a completely different person than the one who left her to go to war.

The other line is "I'm lost, and by myself," I don't know how much I know about the Vietnam war (way before my time) but I know a lot of the veterans were ignored, not treated well at all, many did not receive the help that they needed. I think that line alludes to the reception returning spilders got after the war.

I hope I'm not talking out of my ass about that, I don't know if my facts are straight, but that's what this song makes me think of. I'm sure it could pertain to the war in Iraw now as well.

Desaparecida, I agree with you entirely. Especially about the line "She says, "I'd do anything to have him back," I didn't really think it was about the soldier dying. All in all, my interpretations were the same as yours.

Does anyone know what is meant by "I saw you get up on your toes but don’t step back too fast, Or you will cut yourself in half." ?

I disagree with you, Desaparecida. I think that the "He said "He kissed the flag before he died, he took one for his country." She said "I’d do anything to have him back.’" Lines don't mean he didn't die. I mean, it SAYS he did. But I don't think it necessarily means that the man and the woman were in love. They could be siblings, or something.

And I, too, would like to know what the "I saw you get up on your toes but don’t step back too fast, Or you will cut yourself in half." line means.

i think when he says "I saw you get up on your toes but don’t step back too fast, Or you will cut yourself in half." refers to the start of the song talking about straddling the fences, meaning the choices we make can be tough and instead of standing around doing nothing he decides to join the military. "but don’t step back too fast, Or you will cut yourself in half." is someone else saying to him, as a metaphor, don't make decisions too fast or rash you might become a different person or constantly fight yourself for the decision he makes. hence "I wanted, all I wanted was to find the something here inside of me they couldn’t keep." a part of him wants to join and fight for his country instead of "straddling the fences"

Sounds to me like an anti-warfare song from a Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder perspective. Beautiful song!