In the belly of the cloud
I was released
You were released
Was it deafeningly loud?
Or was it peace?
Sweet peace

All the streets
All filled with sound
Because it's right
It's for the best
Still I sense
Their judgment now
As we ask for rest
Just rest

I can't sleep until I see you sleeping
Curse my mind and its all-seeing eye
Watch the rise
And wonder if you're breathing
Against your will
You are alive

I don't recognize the world
That you have made
That we have made
Still you fool yourself to ask
If you had stayed
If we had stayed

At the ringing of a bell
Or at the falling of a tree
If you think of it at all
Remember me
Just me

I can't breathe until I see you waking
Watching as the scars fall from your eyes
Into a world that you may not remember
I hope you die
I hope you die
I hope you die
I hope you die


Lyrics submitted by SunnySideDown

I Hope You Die Lyrics as written by Jennifer Lynn Wasner

Lyrics © ROUGH TRADE PUBLISHING, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.

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I Hope You Die song meanings
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11 Comments

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  • +2
    Song Meaning

    I have loved this song for years, and always thought the initial verses pertained to the aftermath of an explosion - when it's so loud, you cant hear anything.

    I don't know any other Wye Oak songs, so I cannot speak for the rest of the album. But given how it was released in 2011, 10 years post 9/11, and while reading an account of someone who was on the streets of New York that day...

    It could very well be about 9/11.

    I'm new to this website, am I allowed to tag in articles from elsewhere?

    theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/09/glenn-vogt-september-11/620030/

    The survivor interviewed in that article said "“I’m floating through Lower Manhattan like a ghost, It was so loud, it was actually quiet.” when I remembered this song.

    "Still I sense Their judgment now As we ask for rest Just rest" Judgement from the rest of the world? The perpetrators?

    And the rest of the song, witnessing a loved one who either died that day, or from sickness years later due to the dust and toxins in the air. Many people are still suffering to this day.

    I always thought of this song to be about a bomb or plane crash, as well as euthanasia, but it could have been 9/11 related.

    Valaon September 14, 2021   Link

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