Kotov Syndrome

It's about US foreign policy. The US is a nation that lives by the sword, they're heavily focused on defence spending and have a notoriously aggressive foreign policy. And when you live by the sword, you die by the sword, and when you go to war all the time, people will start waging war against you. They see the world through crosshairs, from behind rifles, and through TV:s, from their drones. They build 10 foot walls to protect the people and keep them safe, but what they do is cut them off from reality, to the point where the war they started is nothing more than a concept to them. And they have no stake in it.

When a nation goes to war, the entire nation goes to war. And every single American has the blood of the innocent people who die in war on their hands. And then they raise flags on top of the corpses and call it a victory. But what have they really won? And the focus on defence spending has impoverished the social safety net rendering it virtually ineffective. So when people need help, there is no one there to catch them, and pick them back up again.

And all of this is causing the US to spin out of control. And whenever someone tries to get the country back on track, political pressures and partisan bullshit keeps things fucked up, they collide with each other. And all you need to do is sit back and watch it happen, because it isn't caused by any outside influence, it's all caused from inside the system itself.

The bridge is basically saying the things happening in Afghanistan and Iraq, the over a million civilians killed, is not something you can simply forget, or forgive. And bearing the responsibility for such a thing is worse than death. The country has gone in the completely wrong direction and is heading towards ruin. And the only way to be set free of that burden, and to correct the course of the nation, is to cut the anchor weighing you down, ie. the military and the corrupt government.

kotov syndrome is a term used in chess when a player thinks on what to do and loses many time and then he does a stupid play because time was almost over, so i think lyrics are pretty much the same, but in terms of politics

My fave on Appeal to Reason. I think that is about how the war on terrorism is fought for peace, but we only succeed in destroying more. "Spin out of control, trying to recover, no chance to recover, we spin and crash one after the other, spin out of control." that is saying that even though we try to keep peace, we only help destroy ourselves. The war doesn't allow anyone to recover, so we'll spin out of control and then crash. The gov't will crash, if society doesn't first

I think this song is pretty good. It's definitely better than a lot of tracks on this fairly mediocre album. It's a song that a band named "Rise Against" should be singing.

Maybe one of the better on the mediocre album. I see it as being about how our nation (US) is seeing a decline and sacrafice in personal freedoms and privacy all the name of "security". Which, many see as the biggining phases of a police-state or dictatorship. The referrences to walls being built and watchtowers point to this. The sword is a referrece to living by predetermined tradition, and being given no obvious chance of change. The narrorator has faith that the "children" - the youth, can and will find independence and fight "these hands" the ones who hold the sword, afterwards honoring those who have died unjustly. The bridge is basically saying that we've seen and are continuing to see where things are heading, the people aren't going to forgive or forget, and they are perhaps ready to cut free their attachment to a system that doesn't care about them. Just my take.

Notice how he pronounces flag like flayg. Haha.

Favorite song off the new album!

"Kotov Syndrome" is the problem in chess where a player runs out of time and makes a hasty decision.

deff a really good song that everyone can relate to. Its kind of like karma. i think you have to take the kotov syndrom into perspective when listening to this song. yes it is a problem in chess when your running out of time so you make a move that is not well thought out and is a bad move. then you lose the game. ok so now apply that simple thought to your life. You make a hasty judgement that turns out bad and comes back to bite you on your ass. ok now apply the thought to the world, as in current events. so now you were born into this cruel unforgiving world, with no say or freedoms. the mistakes were all ready made and you have nothing to do but watch the world change around you. and you do have to admit that things are "spinning out of control." "Somethings you don’t forgive somethings you don’t forget Sometimes the fate you suffer is so much worse than death We’re way off course now and we’re drifting out to sea So cut the anchor on your heart to be set free." sometimes you think it would be easier to just die than to deal with all of the pain you will suffer on your long way down. then he basically says after all of this, after your through dealing with it, you need to step up grow some balls and sever the ties to be free.

My favorite from Appeal to Reason

I think it is about the war in Iraq, "There, high on the watchtower Keeping the peace" the war was in the fight for peace, some means for sure, but that is an onother discussion. Try to recover but collide with each other, he sings. Many countries inclusiv Denmark (my nation) tried to rebuild the buildings and to rise a democracy. And we all know (except the people bound by the chinese firewall) that the recover of iraq's wounds didn't work as hoped. We all know who is powerful enough to start a war (maybe not now with the financial problem in the western world) but i think that we can say that US "spinned out of control" when they fired up the Iraq war, a so desperate choise to gain the world's respect? But the leader of my country has in the past years licked the ass of Bush so we all seak to climp up the hierarchy

i would definately agree with ihatehatehaters that a band named Rise Against have to sing such song, because no one else could do it that well ;)

HAIL RISE AGAINST

oh i almost forgot to apologize my language and composition, but as i mentioned; i am Danish Viking so i don't care that much... but i hope you'll understand