In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
blood done been running down streets flood with beats
pepper spray over cracked concrete
so vicious make a rich mans neck split
underworld bout to wreck shit bet this
banks closed stomachs churning
lines and rows cops blastin out church windows
they heard word of two on a terror list
hid in the pews just two city terrace kids
one held a piece just for peace of mind
the other was spittin poems blowin minds
on the picket line
barricades lay cross made with bumpers and burning tires
and you could smell the exhaust
and you could hear the kids screaming don't
play us, too close
you can have the mic or the heater but you can't hold both
and they were both...
and they were both...
ocean of tears rise, rise a flame to tear them down
ocean of past crimes now fill our hearts to tear them down
the water main's cut off panic hit the manor of the
mayor who's soft
word hit the streets that the cops got off
they shook to rhythm of heaters that burned
like claps of thunder
you turn to look at vengeance returned that shatter control
after the whole shock of the news that a bomb hit the
bridge at broadway
gridlock full stop every exit way from Chavez to main
downtown was the same
every corner a flame with lines of people stripped of they clothes
freeze hold up your ID's their houses burned as they watched
the colonel looked at his clock
and they were all...
and they were all...
oceans of tears rise, rise a flame to tear them down
ocean of past crimes now fill our hearts to tear them down
pepper spray over cracked concrete
so vicious make a rich mans neck split
underworld bout to wreck shit bet this
banks closed stomachs churning
lines and rows cops blastin out church windows
they heard word of two on a terror list
hid in the pews just two city terrace kids
one held a piece just for peace of mind
the other was spittin poems blowin minds
on the picket line
barricades lay cross made with bumpers and burning tires
and you could smell the exhaust
and you could hear the kids screaming don't
play us, too close
you can have the mic or the heater but you can't hold both
and they were both...
and they were both...
ocean of tears rise, rise a flame to tear them down
ocean of past crimes now fill our hearts to tear them down
the water main's cut off panic hit the manor of the
mayor who's soft
word hit the streets that the cops got off
they shook to rhythm of heaters that burned
like claps of thunder
you turn to look at vengeance returned that shatter control
after the whole shock of the news that a bomb hit the
bridge at broadway
gridlock full stop every exit way from Chavez to main
downtown was the same
every corner a flame with lines of people stripped of they clothes
freeze hold up your ID's their houses burned as they watched
the colonel looked at his clock
and they were all...
and they were all...
oceans of tears rise, rise a flame to tear them down
ocean of past crimes now fill our hearts to tear them down
Lyrics submitted by gueroson
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I wish people were commenting on this, it's such an amazing album. I am currently writing a review on it! Not looked deeply enough at the lyrics, I shall be back on here when I have...
What a great song. I wouldn't call this an album, however. I think it's an EP. Regardless, all 5 songs are something worth listening to for sure. Maybe not as good as Rage, but it definitely comes close. Zach and Jon make a great team.
Reading these lyrics as I listen to the song makes me think of Martial Law or at least the "police state" in the U.S. nowadays.