This Is Letting Go

The first verse is about someone who used to go with the flow of things; someone who was on a journey with a lover. They were chasing a dream, probably the "american" dream, and after a while it became a tiresome and lonesome challenge. "just to wake up in a lonely grave" They realized that this dream wasn't their dream and it wasn't attainable.

The chorus signifies this person realizing that they've moved on. They aren't going to keep chasing something that they don't believe in. It's not about giving up on life, it's about letting go of something that was never their own to begin with. They're going to blaze their own trail and make their own way.

The second verse is a reaffirmation of the chorus. Reality hits when the "wheels brace and the tires grip". This person comes to peace with the fact that they weren't on the right path ("a map we've been misreading"). It's not a defeat though, it's about figuring out your own way.

At the end of the song, they're explaining that it was a gut feeling that made the decision final. "I don't know why, I just know". Instinct and a natural charisma took over and forced this person to part ways and break free from expectations.

Taken from the CD Booklet:

Once upon a time I could take anything, anything I always stepped in time, regardless of the beat I moved my feet, I carried weight What I could not do I faked I dug seeking treasure Just to wake up in an early grave So I stopped right there and said

Go on alone Because I won´t follow But this is giving up No, this is letting go

Out with old Dreams I've borrowed The path I carve from here on out will be my own The path will be my own

This is the part where the needle skips And the chorus plays like a sink that drips A syllable repeating Like a warning we aren't heading Until all of a sudden we notice it When the wheels brace and the tires grip A map we've been misreading A defeat we're not conceding until now There must be some other way out

Go on alone Because I won't follow But this isn't giving up No, this is letting go

Out with the old Dreams I've borrowed The path I carve from here on out will be my own A path to take me home

The wind died The whole world ceased to move Now so quiet Her beating heart became a boom We locked eyes For just a moment or two She asked why I said "I don't know why, I just know."

The wind died The whole world ceased to move Now so quiet Her beating heart became a boom We locked eyes For just a moment or two She asked why I said "I don't know why, I just know, I just know."

Go on alone Because I won't follow This isn't giving up No, this is letting go

I made the most Of all this sorrow I tried to brave this discontent But now I'm through I'm letting go of you

This is letting go This is letting go

Once upon a time I could take anything, anything

This is the first song I heard on this album and the meaning hit me like a freight train.

I can't wait to buy the whole thing haha.

-.- talk about not putting in any effort these lyrics aren't even close to the real lyrics

When I heard this song the first time it really hit home. As I understand it, it's a song basically about how he's ending a relationship, but not because he's giving up on it but because he's letting go of the situation thats out of his control. I was in a relationship where my girlfriend was basically asking me to be God for her, and make everything better. It got to a point after a year where she asked for to much and I had to let her go because the situation was beyond me, and I had reached the end of what I could do for her. The conversation wen just like the song does, a moment where the world seems to stop, the world frozen in a moment of intensity and she asked why. My answer was the same as in the song, word for word. I heard this song two days later, and I found alot of comfort in it.

in the frist verse says ¨but could not do i fake¨

this is my favorite song off the whole cd. im still struggling with the meaning entirely. i think the first verse is saying he used to be sumeone who thought he cud take anything, he tried to take everything that was dealt to him by his friends or gal and even when he cudnt take it, he pretended and it lead to him getting kinda screwed over in sum way and thats when he decided it was time to let go of that person, not give up on them but just decide to go his own way. the second verse i think might be like it got to the point where it was kinda the same thing everyday and he was getting sick of it. the part where it goes the wind died, the whole world cease to move etc... is still confusing to me i dont understand the meaning, but i love it...may not be the greatest interpretation

this song and these lyrics are beautiful in everyway. i love rise against. i love how they can create such beautiful music and then write lyrics that fit the song like two puzzle pieces. this song is one of my absoulte favourites of all thime.

the gist of the song is there a boyfriend and a girlfriend in a fake relationship. The girl thinks that everything about them is perfect while the boyfriend feels like everything in the relationship is done by him and him alone. he has to pretend like everything is alright.

"Once upon a time I could take anything, anything. Always stepped in time, regardless of the beat I moved my feet, I carried weight What I could not do I faked:

so then he feels like everything in this relationship is on repeat. everything they've done feels like deja vu over and over again. So then he stops suddenly and without planning he breaks up with her. She asks him why and even though he can't think of a reason why he knows deep down he can't fake his life with her anymore. Though he isn't giving up, he's just letting her go.

I think this song is more broad than a lot of the stories and interpretations posted here. Honestly, I think it's just about that "moment of truth". It might be that it's a person realizing that it'll never work out with the one they're with. The first few times I heard this song I thought it was about somebody realizing that, as George Carlin once said, "it's called the American Dream because you'd have to be asleep in order to believe it". Basically, the subject of the song has realized that they've been chasing somebody else's ideals for them and not their own and they realize that they can no longer live their life by somebody else's wishes. Like I said, though, I think it's much broader. Like how Savior is just, in general, about forgiveness and being willing to forgive people, this song might just be about realizing that you are in more control of your life than the way you've been living it.