Far from home on a road unknown
Where the vultures circle on winds that blow
From northern skies that haunt these waking moments
Our shadows cast by the mountain range
Our calloused souls, we find a way
Through desperate eyes, we long for the horizon
While this sun is rising, yeah

We are the long forgotten sons
And daughters that don't belong to anyone
And we are alone under this sun
And we work to fix the work that you've undone

When cries for help go unanswered
And signal fires just burn and burn
We wonder if we're waiting here for nothing
'Cause our lips are sewn our ears are filled
With the constant drone of the unfulfilled
But we'll never fall if we stand for something
We stand for something, yeah

Yeah, we are the long forgotten sons
And daughters that don't belong to anyone
And we are alone under this sun
And we work to fix the work that you've undone

Don't fall, I see lights in the distance
They're not far away
Stand up cause the sky is turning gray
There's hope in these footsteps of persistence
So don't go astray
These lights get closer every day

'Cause we are the long forgotten sons
Yeah we are the long forgotten sons
We are the long forgotten sons
And daughters that don't belong to anyone
And we are alone under this sun
We work to fix the work that you've undone
What you've undone


Lyrics submitted by Yoshü

Long Forgotten Sons Lyrics as written by Joseph Principe Brandon Barnes

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

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Long Forgotten Sons song meanings
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16 Comments

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  • +2
    General Comment

    I think its about the little people in society that are always ignored but keep going and fix every thing thats wrong, hold it all together, help us keep going, but are never given help when they need it back.

    I think its bridge is explaining how if they just keep going and stand for something real and important eventually their time will come, if they never give up and keep doing whats right, it will one day all go in there favour.

    So yer, people ignored, but hold it all together, but there time will come.

    sound right??

    (great song, great album)

    k1i2t3t4on November 17, 2008   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    I view this song as being more politicaly bassed. this is Rise Against after all. I beleive that this song is bassed off our crashing econimy and how the president is too worried about his war to do anything to fix the problem. i beleive that the vultures symbolize the polititions in office who have been "feeding" on the money of the citizens by giving themselves raises while the public falls further into economic loss. i beleive that the second verse is refuering to the crashing stockmarket and the outrages rise in oil cost which were "red flags" to our government that our econamy is crashing. the red flags that were ignored. the thid verse (

    "Don’t fall, I see lights in the distance They’re not far away Stand up because the sky is turning gray

    There’s hope in these footsteps of persistence So don’t go astray These lights get closer everyday" )symbolizes the 08 election and the hope that our econimy will thrive under new leadership.

    kitesageon February 01, 2009   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    ~just a rough break down of what it means to me i dont have much time to go into detail but here is a nutshell~

    Far from home on a road unknown Where the vultures circle on winds that blow From northern skies that haunt these waking moments (sent over seas in unknown terrain where people are just waiting to hurt you at all hours)

    On shadows cast by the mountain range On calloused soles we find our way Through desperate eyes, we long for the horizon While this sun is rising (through night and pain they travel farther into the war wishing that when the sun rises they will be home)

    We are the long forgotten sons And daughters that don� belong to anyone We are alone under this sun We work to fix the work that you�ve undone (all of your children feel alone in this new area while trying to fight and fix the problems our elders made for us)

    When cries for help go unanswered And signal fires just burn and burn We wonder if we�re waiting here for nothing (after we ask for help many times and try and show you exactly where we are you still choose not to see or come help us)

    Our lips are sewn our ears are filled With the constant drone of the unfulfilled But we�ll never fall if we stand for something We stand for something (threw the military we were tought to not speak out of line and only to listen to waht we are told but if we break the chain and stand up to what we are told we will live)

    We are the long forgotten sons And daughters that don� belong to anyone We are alone under this sun We work to fix the work that you�ve undone (same as last chorus)

    Don�t fall, I see lights in the distance They�re not far away Stand up because the sky is turning gray (our end is finaly comeing soon so stand up dont give up we have to be fast to make it)

    There�s hope in these footsteps of persistence So don�t go astray These lights get closer everyday (as long as we stay together and dont give up our cause of right we will find our home and light)

    We are the long forgotten sons And daughters that don� belong to anyone We are alone under this sun We work to fix the work that you�ve undone What you�ve undone (same chorus)

    (what happens now, we don�t know, just hold on tight now here we go�) ((the future is unknown but. but hold your hats cause its coming)

    HopeInANewDayon May 01, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    my absolute favorite song from appeal to reason, just fantastic.

    FlagshipInfernoon October 04, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I think this has a reference to their old song called "The First Drop".Awesome.

    SilZealon October 14, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    hey! correct lyrics! thats a first. well I think this song is about a group of people who have been unwillingly separated from society and civilization, and thus, long forgotten, but struggle and "cries for help go unanswered"

    best new song. even if it is mid-tempo chorus guitar riff hits me more than anything else

    x_no_poison_xon October 16, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Awsome song. Def about the war. "far away from home","long forgotten son" -soldiers not present in the media anymore, "work to fix the work youve undone" -restoring a place you destroyed.

    If not, it could be about the children of the most politically corrupt generation of all time. Like because of all our parents greed or party politics, they elected a bunch of morons that robbed us every given opportunity. Hard to fit this with the first verse though.

    bigslick83on November 05, 2010   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation

    This is about the soldiers in war who have been away from society and feel forgotten. The lyrics we stand for something are the soldiers telling themselves they believe in this war because thats what they have been trained; its as if they are trying to convince themsleves. under the sun means that they are in the dessert and they are referring to the war we are in now. the soldiers want to be rescued

    brittni88on April 27, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Tell me I am not the only one making connections to this song and the book "Lord of the Flies." I swear I cannot be the only one. The resemblance is uncanny.

    SaleenS57on May 21, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    This song pretty much epitomizes a topic that is used so often in Rise Against's lyrics. They are somewhere between personal and political, almost like the story of a small group of refugees after a political-induced apocalypse, trying to survive.

    Tig45on January 10, 2013   Link

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