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When Rhetoric Dies Lyrics
We raise the flags and statues to our mission
We've spoken out in slogans and campaigns
Talked and talked on almost every issue
Where oppression of the masses is the constant theme
But what does this mean to a little town in Iowa
Where the jobs have gone downstream down south and out
Where their fingers used to work to the bone all day
Profits rise and fall and starvation is a game
Where is the food that used to cover their table
Where is the sense of pride at the end of the day
To the face of a thriving corporation
What could a dying family possibly say
On the face of every american worker
Is the constant fear that their job will not remain
As the CEO is planning his vacation
To kill or be killed is the nature of the beast
Where is the food that used to cover their table
Where is the sense of pride at the end of the day
To the face of a thriving corporation
What could a dying family possibly say
Stand in line take a number
You sell your soul then watch it crumble
Into a pile of rubble that used to be
Your job
Your life
Your family's daily bread
Dry and stale
Malnourished kids
The house is sold for a degrading bid
Do we continue to talk
Or do we take a hammer
To their chains
To their chains
To their chains
We've spoken out in slogans and campaigns
Talked and talked on almost every issue
Where oppression of the masses is the constant theme
Where the jobs have gone downstream down south and out
Where their fingers used to work to the bone all day
Profits rise and fall and starvation is a game
Where is the sense of pride at the end of the day
To the face of a thriving corporation
What could a dying family possibly say
Is the constant fear that their job will not remain
As the CEO is planning his vacation
To kill or be killed is the nature of the beast
Where is the sense of pride at the end of the day
To the face of a thriving corporation
What could a dying family possibly say
You sell your soul then watch it crumble
Into a pile of rubble that used to be
Your job
Your life
Your family's daily bread
Dry and stale
Malnourished kids
The house is sold for a degrading bid
Do we continue to talk
Or do we take a hammer
To their chains
To their chains
To their chains
Song Info
Submitted by
jt On Apr 13, 2001
More BoySetsFire
My Life In The Knife Trade
Rookie
After The Eulogy
Unspoken Request
Bathory's Sainthood
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awsome song
this is such a good song. and it basically speaks for its self no need for me to explain.
this song was the one that started me listening to boy sets fire. it still gives me goosebumps. why aren't we doing anything?
great song.. as sirbarty said, it's pretty self explanatory..
can't believe no ones posted anything here... I love this song.
@Mr.DevilBunny why do you love this song?? The music, the lyrics?? What does the song mean to you?
@Mr.DevilBunny why do you love this song?? The music, the lyrics?? What does the song mean to you?
Listened to "after the eulogy" again in mid 2017. This song is weirdly appropriate right now.
@JustRon Why do you think they are appropriate now??
@JustRon Why do you think they are appropriate now??
The rhetoric is the talk that politicians do over and over again in an effort to say we will bring jobs back or the like. But as can be seen (that this song is still as relevant today as when it was written) history repeats itself and rhetoric remains the ruler (workers are still in "chains").
I think this is what @JustRon is alluding to. Trump promised to bring jobs back to the American people ... yet little head way has been made on this promise (and Presidents / politicians before him have made similar promises).
The song is pretty much saying enough talk ... when need action (thus the rhetoric dies).
@sokorny I think this isn't only about politicians, but condemns the whole political left, including politicians.
@sokorny I think this isn't only about politicians, but condemns the whole political left, including politicians.
"We raise the flags and statues to our mission We've spoken out in slogans and campaigns Talked and talked on almost every issue Where oppression of the masses is the constant theme"
"We raise the flags and statues to our mission We've spoken out in slogans and campaigns Talked and talked on almost every issue Where oppression of the masses is the constant theme"
This, to me, is about how those of us on the left discuss grand ideas, critique the status quo and speak out against global injustice.
This, to me, is about how those of us on the left discuss grand ideas, critique the status quo and speak out against global injustice.
"But what does this mean to a little town in Iowa"
"But what does this mean to a little town in Iowa"
However, those grand high level discussions mean fuck all to the person...
However, those grand high level discussions mean fuck all to the person who just lost their job and cannot sustain a family anymore. Those people, who the left are supposed to champion are left behind because they still got screwed over by the "CEO planning his vacation".
"Do we continue to talk Or do we take a hammer To their chains"
I think this asks us to stop talking about grand ideas and start working to help those who get screwed each day by the system we condemn.
I think it's especially fitting to todays times since they mentioned a little town in Iowa, which is made up largely by people the left claims to fight for, yet the problems persist.
This isn't something specifically mentioned in the song, but I think the fact that Iowa voted for Trump is a result of the things boysetsfire mention in the song. The left, or in this case US Democrats are perceived as the "liberal elite" who proclaim grand things, but ignore the "little guy". Then you got somebody like Trump on the other side who positions himself as the candidate who will help out the little guy, will make jobs come back and stand up to the "elite keeping the little guy down". Obviously none of this has happened, will happen or was ever intended to happen, but the left has distanced themselves so much from these people that they only see a demagogue like Trump as somebody who will actually champion them.
Sorry for the wall of text, but I find it fascinating, that a song from 2000 is so incisive in 2017.
@JustRon I always found it ironic in the US presidential campaign that so many of the "little guys" felt that Trump understood their plight and that he wasn't one of the elites (he was born to wealth and then piggybacked off his father's networks to build his wealth more).
@JustRon I always found it ironic in the US presidential campaign that so many of the "little guys" felt that Trump understood their plight and that he wasn't one of the elites (he was born to wealth and then piggybacked off his father's networks to build his wealth more).
Hilary wasn't much better, but I suppose the "little guy" thinking that Trump was their champion was a big surprise to me.
Hilary wasn't much better, but I suppose the "little guy" thinking that Trump was their champion was a big surprise to me.
The only way I see jobs coming back to a lot of these small towns and the "little guy" is if American's put their money...
The only way I see jobs coming back to a lot of these small towns and the "little guy" is if American's put their money where their mouth is (that is buy American products, even if they cost more because you want to support American jobs first). In Australia we have an Australian Made campaign (the government regulates this), but by and large people still vote with their wallets over their hearts (that is Aussie companies have had to move off shore to compete with cheap imports because Aussies pick price over Australian made).