Drivers out on the bridge
Slowing down as they go through a lane shift
Wires snap
Concrete gives
Metal twisting and
Everything tumbling

At the end of the work day
Stuck in traffic don't feel when the road sways
Underneath
Concrete gives
Metal twisting and
Everything tumbling

To their partners and kids
Don't suspect anything till the bridge splits
Wires snap
Concrete gives
Metal twisting and
Everything tumbling down

Where I sat I saw brake lights flash
And I pictured them: all the people, their faces in free fall, the water beneath
I pushed my palms against the table hard to see if it hurt
Were it glass would I have shattered it?
Could I battle every impulse to panic and then win
Swim out through the metal twisting upward like a sculpture
Or some terrible beast?

People trapped in their cars
Put both feet on the glass and then kick hard
Water pours in
Seat belts twist
River flowing and
Everything going down

People under the water line
Workers sift through the wreckage of it find
Seat belts stuck
Water fills up
River flowing and
Everything going downstream

On the dining room wall I watched it
Play in the reflection of the television
The reversal in the mirror hung I could see it all
How the dust clouds gather color as they billow out
Shades change shifting in the night
From the lights atop an ambulance
Like a firework's flash then that otherworldly glow
In the smoke thrown in the aftermath blows
Almost frozen for a moment there
I could see it all

Every
Dust cloud
Shattered glass
Billow out
On the TV
Wires snap and the
Concrete gives
Metal twists up and onward
I can see it all
Every
Dust cloud
Shattered glass
Billow out
On the TV
Wires snap and the
Concrete gives in
Metal twists up and onward I watch
And I can see it all

All the wreckage
All the cars piled
In the river and
The rail yard
Metal twists
Wires snap
Concrete blocks split
Dangle from tie rods
And metal twists up
Wires sway
When a breeze blows
In the distant
Sirens glow
I can see it all
Where they look for survivors
Searchlights float
Change the color of smoke clouds
And shadows still fall
People under the water
People trapped in their cars kick and try to get out
People still with their seat belts on
Pets they had in the back and
Car seats

And I watch it on TV lying down here
On the floor in the dining room reversed in the mirror
Where I know I'm not dreaming now
But I know I've been sleeping
I just don't know since when
I only know that it's light outside
I only know that the rent is still late
When did they find out the concrete gave?
When did they learn that the wires snapped?


Lyrics submitted by frseraphimrose

35 Lyrics as written by Bradley Ryen Vander Lugt Adam David Vass

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Songtrust Ave

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

35 song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

4 Comments

sort form View by:
  • 0
    My Interpretation

    Seems to me like the narrator of the song is maybe somebody who was somehow involved in the design or creation of the bridge. Lines like "I pushed my palms against the table hard to see if it hurt" and how he talks about viewing it on the TV from the floor through a mirror. Clearly he is having an extreme reaction to the news of the bridge collapsing, but he doesn't make any mention of concern for a particular person either. Then the song ends with "When did they find out the concrete gave? When did they learn that the wires snapped?" which makes me wonder if maybe he knew that he messed up and it was his fault. Maybe I'm wrong, but looking at the some this way gave it a lot of new meaning.

    halfaspideron November 07, 2014   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

More Featured Meanings

Album art
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Led Zeppelin
This is about bronies. They communicate by stomping.
Album art
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988. "'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it." "There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Album art
No Surprises
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Album art
Punchline
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran sings about missing his former partner and learning important life lessons in the process on “Punchline.” This track tells a story of battling to get rid of emotions for a former lover, whom he now realized might not have loved him the same way. He’s now caught between accepting that fact and learning life lessons from it and going back to beg her for another chance.
Album art
Head > Heels
Ed Sheeran
“Head > Heels” is a track that aims to capture what it feels like to experience romance that exceeds expectations. Ed Sheeran dedicates his album outro to a lover who has blessed him with a unique experience that he seeks to describe through the song’s nuanced lyrics.