Desert of Song

Maybe it's me, but this song is totally about themselves, making this INSANELY diverse music, and not fitting into the standards of modern popular music. Seems like it comes from a VERY personal place, trying to convey a sense of the bravery they have to muster to take the chances they've become known for. I mean this song itself is taking a chance, though maybe not for this crowd. Everyone I've read posting here seems to get it. I have yet to see more than two lamers on this site that just don't "get" this band. But I introduce BTBAM to people I work with, even metalheads, who just can't tolerate the softer side of this group. Like it makes them sissies for diggin' some falseto vocals, or a song like this. Just like Backwards Marathon, or Aspirations, totally an introspective song to me.

on a side note, dunno if anyone notices, but on the Colors: Live dvd, Tommy says, "seems the high horse is taking -you- all home..." instead of "them" on Ants of the Sky, I lol'd.

Does anyone else get the feeling that this could be a continuation of Fossil Genera? maybe im talking outta my ass here, but Fossil Genera basically talks about a society overthrown and left in ruin (correct?), and this song, to me at least, talks about resisting the powers that be.

idk, just a thought...

This song is one of my favorite songs of all time, and when I listen to it I like to think that it is not the government that is pushing the artists out, but the people. The arts in general, including music, has become degraded to such a state that truly good art and music is turned away from in favor of a lyrically dry shitty song with a steady beat. People do not listen to music anymore it seems. Those who still make good music are forced to perform in the most barren environment imagineable, the Desert. The desert is a place where nothing can grow, which implies to me that BTBAM knows that they will probably become no bigger than they are, but they know that those who are dedicated to true music will continue making the long trip out to them to hear what they have to say.

This is what I got out of it, at least.

Metaphors, people, double entendres, surely nobody thinks this song is ONLY about some imaginary group of people in Tommy's head, with no ties whatsoever to their personal experience in the music industry. It can be both. It can be a concept album and be more than one concept. It's their experiences anthropomorphized into characters and settings. I mean this group defies labels and blanket summaries for a living. Sorry, I just know a few "metal snobs" who won't listen to things that aren't "black metal" or "death metal". No deviations, no explorations. They make me sad. Everyone's interpretation on this whole album are correct.

• It's a must these days, colors are fading... fucking amen.

dammit someone beat me to it haha

great song, a lot different than any of their previous work, but i still like it more and more with every listen

but the song is supposedly about a group of musicians that were forced to go to a desert to make music after it had been outlawed across the world. pretty wild haha

Haha ya I wanted to be the first. I got a lot of Obfuscation, but I can't make out some words here and there.

Some of the lines in these lyrics aren't correct. Here are the ones from the booklet:

"Fear: The control tower. The new sun comes by the hour. Ghosts slowly disappear in the fog... Silence: The suffering. We've built back the age old sound of song."

Amazing song. Amazing album.

I recently had a moment with this song..... I have this security job on the weekends where I am by myself 8 hours at a time in this huge lumber factory that's shut down and for sale. I'm somewhat of an introvert about my voice, but I always wanted to be able to sing fairly well, just for shits and giggles. So now I've got all this spare time (and CONCERT HALL acoustics to play with), and this song has been my warm up mantra whenever I get the chance to practice. It's been so awesome. "Sing with the fear", "silence is broken...", "fear: the control tower", I mean there are so many levels of bravery and persistence in this fucking song. Dunno who wrote it, but I like to think it's from Paul's perspective, getting the nerve to be lead vocals on a track, but I could be reading way too much into it. I usually do with their stuff. Sorry to rant, but I've really FELT this song lately. I listen to this album at least 3 times a day... interupted only by another journey through Colors...

I hadn't thought of the introspective side of this... The first thing that came to my mind was that this fit the theme of Fossil Genera. After that mysterious thing took control (aliens? cult? secret society?), they wanted the people to be under their complete control. Music, being a form of expression, individualism, etc., was outlawed. Yet they have still managed to play music, to express themselves, and, in turn, rebel. Dunno, just my two cents.