Midnight Hands

So this song sounds to me like hes telling a story of him and his girl acting against the government. possibly going to sabotage a government building which it is my beliefe the two of them work at. He understands they could get in a lot of trouble and most likely will but he believes theyre fighting for the right cause. "Whatever path you take wherever you might go I will follow I will follow" He's decided hes sticking with her no matter what all the way until the end. He's nervous and scared but has already made up his mind. "I feel my temperature rising my body explode. I feel like somebody's watching like im not alone." The whole midnight hands thing is him referring to his hands as well as his girls. saying that come midnight they become different people. theyre hands act to take out the government. the midnghit hands also has a double meaning. It also referrs to the hands of the night. he feels safe and secure in the night but is still concerned with his actions.

In a sense its a love story which leads me to believe that the album is a concept album because alot of the songs tell a story that seem to mesh together in my opinion, even though they said it wasnt.

'Like a new day rising, like a calm before the storm'

This lyric, implies that there is going to be a change in society, that is gradually gaining recognition

'like fog lifting from valleys, on a sleeping forest floor'

the valleys are the vast towns and cities that we inhabit on a daily bases, the forest, being a place of life and beauty, is the type of society we can and will become when the fog (lies, deceit, corruption) lifts. This could also be a reference to environmental destruction.

'eyes open slowly, as the dust is shaken off'

people are waking up, and seeing what is wrong with society.

'to gaze upon the wreckage that the midnight hands have bought'

the word 'midnight hands' is meant to imply that we don't usually see corruption, and environmental destruction going on. gazing upon the wreckage shows that people are finally seeing the destruction that brutal systems such as capitalism, bring to society.

'I feel my temperature rising, my body explode'

Anger/fear

'I feel like somebody's watching like I'm not alone'.

wants to do something to change society but is scared of the consequences.

'whatever path you take, Wherever you might go, whenever you decide to leave I will follow'

Has sworn his allegiance to someone/a group of people trying to change society.

'we face a crossroad never knowing what's in store'

we face a moral duty to do what's right, but the lines are extremely blurred. etc. what a protester defines as right is not the same as what a government defines as right.

'there's an angel on my shoulder, there's a devil at my door'

there are two conflicting viewpoints, telling him to take different paths.

'she proclaimed tonight will be the greatest of our lives'

this sounds a lot like a revolutionary slogan, preaching protest or direct action.

'I said don't be so sure, lets just wait until the morning light'

our narrator isn't sure whether this other characters attempts at change will be successful

(second chorus)

'there in the clearing we gathered close'

this is another nature reference, a few people on this comments section has suggested that this line could be a reference to eco-terrorism. I also think, that this could be a 1984 reference, In which two characters rebelling against big brother, meet in, the only secret place they can find, a clearing in the woods.

'Under the moons pale light we laid out the tools'

while the government/capitalists are usually playing the 'midnight hands' by hiding their corruption, our protagonists now have to hide things from the government, hence the reference to night. the tools, are the instruments our protagonists are going to use to change society.

'now you don't have to do this, and I'd forgive you if you don't'

Role reversal. our narrator has now become the person trying to lead the change in society.

'she just looked away and said, I know'

other character no longer wants to be a part of the change in society. has adopted the same scared attitude, that our narrator had at the begging of song. our narrator now faces a dilemma between continuing to 'follow' the other characters decision, or asserting independence. to put it another way they have been

'gripped by the midnight hands'

the antagonists have achieved their aim of making someone think that they cant achieve change

'we cradle futures they would prevent'

while change is precious to some people, the midnight hands would prevent change.

'the lines crossed over'

the midnight hands have done to much to worsen society, the line has been crossed.

'the dawn grows closer'

change is growing closer

'lets bite off to much, lets jump with a blind trust, in water over our heads'

while it may seem impossible to achieve change, it can be done

the song ends with more cries of I will follow, showing that our central character has given in to the same sort of conformism, that he was against, the dark sound of the song could be warning the listener not to be like this.

Another song on the same album says 'go on alone cause I wont follow, but this isn't giving up' showing that not conforming, is not a weak or bad thing to do.

Uhhh, this song is totally NOT about sex. It is a love song of sorts, but FistECuffs has it a lot closer than anyone else on here. The members of Rise Against are anarchists, and this sounds like an ELF action more than anything else. If you don't know who the Earth Liberation Front is, you should google that (or watch "If A Tree Falls" on netflix).

The story in this song begins at dawn after a night of monkeywrenching (probably sabotaging logging trucks and the like) with the woman he loves. He looks around at all the damage they've done and suddenly is full of fear that they will get caught. I think that we can infer from the lines where he offers her a chance to opt out of the action that she was scared all along, even though she went through with it. Anyway, dawn is coming and he sees all the damage. In that moment he realizes what a serious thing the two of them have done- that they've crossed a line, and he makes a commitment to stick by her (perhaps reassuring her of his commitment and love, but likely accompanied by a dedication to not turn on her like other ELF members have in the past cough Jake Ferguson cough). Either way, his message to her is that he's all in, no matter what.

The other lines in the song refer back to the action of the night and how he felt while they went about their business. How he was motivated by anger (I feel my temperature rising), the exhilarating feeling of doing direct action (my body explode) and the fear of being caught (I feel like somebody's watching, like I'm not alone). The angel/devil line is his way of expressing that he only has good intentions, but the devils he is fighting against will try to hunt him down.

I don't see any evidence of their target being a government building, because they are in a clearing according to one line, the part about laying out the tools just sounds like a monkeywrenching expedition. And in addition to being anarchists, Rise Against are also vegans and avid environmentalists... and all of these ideologies together spawned the ELF movement.

This is a great song, but I have to admit that (assuming my interpretation is correct) I'm surprised to hear them singing about it. If any of them have taken part in an ELF action, it's really stupid to own up to it in public. Then again it could be a song inspired by their friends, or just creativity run happily amok. :-)

If you listen to the rest of the is CD, Rise against are the tear-down-the-establishment, looking-for-an-excuse-for-violence kind of anarchists you're describing. Probably not anarchists at all. More like activists/revolutionaries.

Besides:

Gripped by the midnight hands We cradle futures they would prevent

...the midnight hands are the antagonists of this story. So:

Eyes open slowly as the dust is shaken off To gaze upon the wreckage that the midnight hands have wrought

...doesn't refer to some attack or act of vandalism perpetrated by the protagonists over the course of the night. I think it's a little bit more metaphorical than that. My best guess is that the midnight hands are some organization (government or corporate) committing crimes, hurting people, damaging society, the environment, or something, but which people are generally unaware of. At the start of the song the protagonist "wakes up" realizing the existence of the "midnight hands" and the damage they've caused.

As to exactly what it is the protagonists are doing in retaliation, I'm not sure.

This song makes me think of Ape Canyon and Jim Carter, I know that isnt what the song is about, but it makes me think of that. Kinda funny but the whole Ape Canyon thing is creepy as fuck

I think this song is about how, when someone wakes up every morning to find their world destroyed around them, that all that it takes to revolutionize people to the point of being willing to follow them to the ends of the earth is a leader willing to lead the charge.

I'm pretty sure the end of the chorus is...

WHENever you decide to leave, I'll follow,

not wherever.

Sounds like that and it just makes more sense

I think that its "theres an angel on my shoulder, theres an angel on my tongue" i may be wrong but this is what it sounds like to me.

I think this song is about a couple and how they much they love each other and how they had sex in the woods one night, the narrator explains his love by vowing to follow her wherever she'll go

It is an anti-abortion song. Nothing extremely radical like the other comments.