In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
When Bradley moved back from western Wales
His Okie accent still wouldn’t fail
Sleeping in his pickup truck, his Soul wouldn’t calm
He wrote to his mother, “I’m nobody now, Mom”
It’s hard to imaging why bullies dig
But Bradley understood it came with the gig
He wanted an education with all his will
So he walked in and signed up to get that GI bill
“I want…”
Today, those who got up in Bradley’s face
Wish to remain anonymous, in their disgrace
They spread rumors around he wet himself scared
Even if that’s true, I don’t really care
“Recycled” from Iraq and stationed at Fort Drum
His boyfriend introduced him to Triskelion
He met the hacktivists at MIT
“Randomly hung out with some pikans”; “At last, people like me”
“I want…”
Deployed to Base Hammer, near Iran
Built from freight containers and sheer boredom
The bullies on the base went in for the kill
They said, “We have a saying here: Shit rolls downhill”
On leave in Boston, but his boyfriend had flown
Bradley wrote him on Facebook: “I have no real home”
And before the Builds launch party, he went on to vent:
“Bradley Manning is not a piece of equipment”
“I want…”
While passwords are written on sticky notes
And stuck to laptop screens, Bradley explodes
Found in a storeroom stabbing a chair
Bradley carved, “I want…” with a passion that’s all-too rare
Now he’s due to be court-martialed this December
To prove bullying is better than a wild temper
Now, when we say “I want”, we invoke his chair
Bradley, know you have friends, though you’re locked in there
“I want…”
His Okie accent still wouldn’t fail
Sleeping in his pickup truck, his Soul wouldn’t calm
He wrote to his mother, “I’m nobody now, Mom”
It’s hard to imaging why bullies dig
But Bradley understood it came with the gig
He wanted an education with all his will
So he walked in and signed up to get that GI bill
“I want…”
Today, those who got up in Bradley’s face
Wish to remain anonymous, in their disgrace
They spread rumors around he wet himself scared
Even if that’s true, I don’t really care
“Recycled” from Iraq and stationed at Fort Drum
His boyfriend introduced him to Triskelion
He met the hacktivists at MIT
“Randomly hung out with some pikans”; “At last, people like me”
“I want…”
Deployed to Base Hammer, near Iran
Built from freight containers and sheer boredom
The bullies on the base went in for the kill
They said, “We have a saying here: Shit rolls downhill”
On leave in Boston, but his boyfriend had flown
Bradley wrote him on Facebook: “I have no real home”
And before the Builds launch party, he went on to vent:
“Bradley Manning is not a piece of equipment”
“I want…”
While passwords are written on sticky notes
And stuck to laptop screens, Bradley explodes
Found in a storeroom stabbing a chair
Bradley carved, “I want…” with a passion that’s all-too rare
Now he’s due to be court-martialed this December
To prove bullying is better than a wild temper
Now, when we say “I want”, we invoke his chair
Bradley, know you have friends, though you’re locked in there
“I want…”
Lyrics submitted by gnippiks
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