Quarantined

Whats so amazing about Cedric is his ability to write lyrics that could mean anything to anyone at anytime... there is no wrong and no right way to interpret them. What these lyrics meant to HIM at the moment of him writing them was -

'On the new record we have a song about it called “Quarantine.” A couple high schools next to the Rio Grande - one called Bowie High - close to the border, the kids who go there get hassled by the Border Patrol left and right who don’t realize that (the kids) are just going to high school and not crossing illegally. The reason why the song’s called “Quarantine” is because I see these maids working for nothing, risking their lives to come over. They’re treated like nothing; like germs and diseases. Going over to Guatas to drink and shit when you’re younger, you see a lot of fucked up shit. I come from this nice suburb, but I get on the roof of my house and I can see the shantytowns with cardboard houses. It’s black and white. ' (taken from http://www.lollipop.com/archive_temp.php3?content=issue53/53-02-02.html)

In many interviews, Cedric says that his lyrics are whatever the listener gets from it more than anything else. That being said, I like to think of a zombie apocalypse :)

I think it's about someone who left his family and is in the army and he's fighting a war and he's just describing the ugliness of it.

Sorry for asking such a stupid question but what does the phrase "have trigger, will travel" mean? (I'm not a native english speaker..)

I think its about stopping a war because it getting them nowhere.

Have trigger will travel is restating a sinle spark will start a spectral fire. One hateful deed causes more, and then it just spreads into war.

The rain and the bass riff right at the beginning give this song away. The bass is dark and low, reminding me of "Rooster", by Alice in Chains, and numerous Rage Against the Machine songs. Then when the bass stops the guitar does a high solo riff, and it immediately gets louder, like the calm before the storm. "Push becomes shove, days become months, I seem to have forgotten the warmth of the sun", is just describing how terrible the environment is, and how one hostile action leads to a reciprocated action by the other side, and he is becoming numb to it. and the second verse, from "Shackled the grapple and the sentinels found", to "Sanction this outbreak; a virus conspires", is describing how everyone is turning on everyone else, a net is flung over the civilians in the auditorium, binoculars see cardboard refugee camps, and discipline is falling apart, thus "no call to arms". This could be describing Vietnam, or just as easily, any other conflict.

"Have trigger, will travel", is a play on words. When something is (supposedly)beneficial, one could say "Have [nameless thing], will travel." I think it used to be an advertising slogan.

-tom

I'm back for more, but I just thought of some new stuff.

The first 2 lines were what really caught my attention in this song. They set up the whole scene. "Autonomous machete for hands" is describing how he feels that he no longer controls his actions, he just kills and feels numb. "Warren and judge hide behind mask" is a reference to their commanding officer, and God, respectively. The CO keeps there there, thus the warren, hiding from the soldiers behind a mask. God is the judge, he also hides from the soldiers, watching their actions ready to judge them. The title, "Quarantined" appears to have no pertinance (sp?) to the actual song, but when you think of the virus in the 7th line of the verse, the virus could represent the men fighting, who are quarantined, kept apart from their families. However, the outbreak, the war, is sanctioned by a higher authority.

The last word of line 8 of my previous post should be 'warden' not 'warren'. A rabbit hole doesn't fit this song very well, unless someone wants to do some interpertation.

thanks a lot, aircataract & tom!