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.
What we are witnessing is the decline of western civilization
Crushing our potential and piling it on, how will history portray us?
Attack the family, attack their faith and dreams
Attack the body and the head will fall
A lasting legacy or ruin brought in haste?
The enemy of truth is lying there in state
Another day, another manufactured crisis keeping the people distracted
There's no one playing by the rules anymore, how will history portray us?
A broken backbone with nothing left to lose?
That hate the sight of all the ones that do?
A lasting legacy or ruin brought in haste?
The enemy of truth is lying there in state
A shiny new agenda, birthed from a depraved mind
Of failing us on purpose, to culturally sanitize
Its opiates for the masses under cloak as hope and change
The new normal or just more of the same?
The perfect plan
Must have an alibi
And the perfect pawn
To spew the party line
Of the perfect falsehood
Spoke a thousand times
The perfect words
Cover the greatest crime
Hell is turning itself inside out
To lead its path up to meet us
And we deliberately take
A step, one foot closer to the grace
Crushing our potential and piling it on, how will history portray us?
Attack the family, attack their faith and dreams
Attack the body and the head will fall
A lasting legacy or ruin brought in haste?
The enemy of truth is lying there in state
Another day, another manufactured crisis keeping the people distracted
There's no one playing by the rules anymore, how will history portray us?
A broken backbone with nothing left to lose?
That hate the sight of all the ones that do?
A lasting legacy or ruin brought in haste?
The enemy of truth is lying there in state
A shiny new agenda, birthed from a depraved mind
Of failing us on purpose, to culturally sanitize
Its opiates for the masses under cloak as hope and change
The new normal or just more of the same?
The perfect plan
Must have an alibi
And the perfect pawn
To spew the party line
Of the perfect falsehood
Spoke a thousand times
The perfect words
Cover the greatest crime
Hell is turning itself inside out
To lead its path up to meet us
And we deliberately take
A step, one foot closer to the grace
Lyrics submitted by Mellow_Harsher, edited by Sweep \\m//
Lying in State Lyrics as written by Dave Mustaine
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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
Standing On The Edge Of Summer
Thursday
Thursday
Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Magical
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
How would you describe the feeling of being in love? For Ed Sheeran, the word is “Magical.” in HIS three-minute album opener, he makes an attempt to capture the beauty and delicacy of true love with words. He describes the magic of it all over a bright Pop song produced by Aaron Dessner.
Blue
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
“Blue” is a song about a love that is persisting in the discomfort of the person experiencing the emotion. Ed Sheeran reflects on love lost, and although he wishes his former partner find happiness, he cannot but admit his feelings are still very much there. He expresses the realization that he might never find another on this stringed instrumental by Aaron Dessner.
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
Prescient lyrics based on the play on words of a state official's corpse being placed on display so the public can mourn. We are witnessing the decline of western civilization because politicians are lying or deceiving "in state." Mustaine the riffmaster is also a poignant wordsmith and both shine in this song, e.g. the last stanza, or "like a shiny new agenda, birthed from a depraved mind." So the perfect words like "hope and change" are in fact cloaks for pernicious plans spoke a thousand times in thousands of ways but they all come from the same source, exposed in the last stanza: hell. And our world is now deliberately taking one step closer to the grave. Masterpiece of word and song.