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Tragedy + Time Lyrics

On the edges of the sharpest knives
In the middle of the darkest nights
Always knew that I would find you here
In a puddle of the bravest tears

I've seen enough to know it's lonely where you are
Above the crowd
Feet dangling from a rooftop (a rooftop)
She waits from ledges for a voice to talk her down

Nothing matters but the pain when you're alone
Never-ending nights when you're awake
When you're praying that tomorrow it's okay
There will be a time to crack another smile
Maybe not today or for a while
But we're holding on to laugh again some day
To laugh again some day

All that matters is the time we had
Doesn't matter how it all went bad
Never wonder what it might be like
Shut the door, say goodbye

When faced with tragedy
We come alive or come undone
So don't hold back, let it shape you like an ocean
Even the deepest scars in time will fade

Nothing matters but the pain when you're alone
Never-ending nights when you're awake
When you're praying that tomorrow it's okay
There will be a time to crack another smile
Maybe not today or for a while
But we're holding on to laugh again some day
Yeah, we're holding on to laugh again some day

And sometimes you have to go back
To know just where you have been
But we're old enough to know that
What has been, will be again and again

And the bravest of faces are the ones where we fake it
And the roles that we play

Nothing matters when the pain is all but gone
When you are finally awake
Despite the overwhelming odds, tomorrow came

And when they see you crack a smile
And you decide to stay a while
You'll be ready then, to laugh again

Nothing matters but the pain
(We are tragedy, yeah, we are sympathy)
Nothing matters but the pain
You see what you want to see

Nothing matters but the pain
(We are misery, a distant memory)
Nothing matters but the pain
We all learned to laugh again
Yeah, we all learned to laugh again
We all learned to laugh again
11 Meanings

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Cover art for Tragedy + Time lyrics by Rise Against

Tim was talking about how this album is really about looking inward and seeing how all these things in your life have "carved" you into the person you are now. Even with the title, the song seems to set straight what the album is really about.

You are never as strong or brave as you could possibly be, without going through some of the darkest places and coming out of them and with time, you get to look back and see it from another perspective and that is where you find yourself.

Song Meaning

Couldn't have said it better myself

@Tse7en5 I agree with your interpretation, I could also see how it could be about a relationship ending or maybe some phase in your life ending.

Cover art for Tragedy + Time lyrics by Rise Against

For me personally I relate this song to a relationship ending.

All that matters is the time we had Doesn't matter how it all went bad Never wonder what it might be like Shut the door, say goodbye

This I take as just remembering the good times with the person, it doesn't matter what caused the relationship to end and it doesn't matter what might of been had it not ended, just walk away and move on.

Honestly it can be applied to many things that happen in life, but I had the best relationship of my life end, so a lot of lyrics I see in songs I can relate to it. Sometimes it's hard to listen to this song because it really makes me think of what I lost.

I dunno, that's just my thought on the song.

@Coheed2113 well said, I know that feel bro ! stay strong when things fall apart, and keep listening to Rise Against :)

@Coheed2113 i can't fix your incorrect lyrics

Cover art for Tragedy + Time lyrics by Rise Against

In the book Starting from Scratch (1989) by Rita Mae Brown there is line:Comedy is tragedy plus time.

That explains the lines about laughing again.

When I purchased the album, I had honestly not expected to discover such a masterpiece. This song really sticks to their newer sound but is so incredibly personal that it just resonates what they are and have always been about. All these years I have been listening to Rise Against and I am blown away by this song and I fully expect it to hit a lot of fans in a profound way.

Cover art for Tragedy + Time lyrics by Rise Against

Sounds a lot like after you lose someone very close to you and life turns to shit, this is the process most go through to get better. You can fake happiness, but your life won't be better for a time. Whether that time be long or short, life improves afterwards.

My Interpretation
Cover art for Tragedy + Time lyrics by Rise Against

FYI, I think it's "dangling feet off a roof top" not tangling.

@atemu1234 the whole song is pretty much wrong

@atemu1234 I tried to correct it using the lyric video available from RA on youtube, we'll see if they fix it :)

Cover art for Tragedy + Time lyrics by Rise Against

The lyrics for this song are completely wrong, check out Rise Against's own lyrics video for this song, it's not even close

Cover art for Tragedy + Time lyrics by Rise Against

To me this song is all about personal strengh. No matter what tragedy in life hits you it's important that you keep on fighting. All the bad things you've experienced shape you and truely make you who you are now. And that's why "nothing matters but the pain" because the pain is what defines us.

Sure, the song could be about a break up... but to me personally it is more about how the end of any friendship can hurt you so badly that you lose yourself and start to disbelieve in good times. So this song's intention is to remind you that those good times will come for sure and that your wounds will heal within time, as the title already tells. A very hopeful song that helped me through many dark phases.

My Interpretation
Cover art for Tragedy + Time lyrics by Rise Against

This song to me is about being strong when life has gotten you down. I personally am not suicidal but it is definitely talking about suicide. The lyrics are also way off.

My Interpretation
Cover art for Tragedy + Time lyrics by Rise Against

I can see how this song can be about a relationship ending or maybe even just a phase in your life ending. For me, it reminds me of a phase in my life where I was not making good decisions at all, I stopped going to school and took up drugs and drinking instead and crumbled important relationships. Now I have rebuilt those relationships and got my act together, finished school and have a wonderful boyfriend. I can look back on that era and that dark place I sat in for a while and now that it is firmly in the past and it gets better.

My Interpretation
Cover art for Tragedy + Time lyrics by Rise Against

I can see how this song can be about a relationship ending or maybe even just a phase in your life ending. For me, it reminds me of a phase in my life where I was not making good decisions at all, I stopped going to school and took up drugs and drinking instead and crumbled important relationships. Now I have rebuilt those relationships and got my act together, finished school and have a wonderful boyfriend. I can look back on that era and that dark place I sat in for a while and now that it is firmly in the past and it gets better.

My Interpretation
 
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