Before I say anything else, this is my interpretation only and I pulled this out of my ass, so this is not official by any means.
DT9832, I think you're on to something with 9/11. Rise Against is a somewhat political group (what punk band isn't?) and they've likely got something to say. After the attacks the devastation was enormous and people were confused and scared ("we can't comprehend the sad state that we're in") so they were willing to surrender to the freedom-limiting government reforms ("surrender here one by one"). The message is that the way to truly win in this is with infinite resolve ("so push us down and we get right back up again"). The title Broken English and the line "the things you're telling me aren't making any sense" would be about the reaction to the attacks (reducing rights with sweeping anti-terrorism legislation and launching bombs) and how they feel these tactics don't make sense.
The most creative line in the song is "so let the blind lead the blind, cause it's eye for an eye" which takes two well known cliched concepts and ties them together. By fighting fire with fire (eye for an eye) we become blind (Ghandi's saying, "an eye for an eye leaves everyone blind"), and those blind in turn lead the blind "in your so called life" (expressing that he does not agree).
This is the real interesting part of interpreting songs, because all these things could be metaphors for a relationship and I could be way off. But it's great when songs are this way...it can mean something different to everyone. Either way, great song, great band.
Before I say anything else, this is my interpretation only and I pulled this out of my ass, so this is not official by any means.
DT9832, I think you're on to something with 9/11. Rise Against is a somewhat political group (what punk band isn't?) and they've likely got something to say. After the attacks the devastation was enormous and people were confused and scared ("we can't comprehend the sad state that we're in") so they were willing to surrender to the freedom-limiting government reforms ("surrender here one by one"). The message is that the way to truly win in this is with infinite resolve ("so push us down and we get right back up again"). The title Broken English and the line "the things you're telling me aren't making any sense" would be about the reaction to the attacks (reducing rights with sweeping anti-terrorism legislation and launching bombs) and how they feel these tactics don't make sense.
The most creative line in the song is "so let the blind lead the blind, cause it's eye for an eye" which takes two well known cliched concepts and ties them together. By fighting fire with fire (eye for an eye) we become blind (Ghandi's saying, "an eye for an eye leaves everyone blind"), and those blind in turn lead the blind "in your so called life" (expressing that he does not agree).
This is the real interesting part of interpreting songs, because all these things could be metaphors for a relationship and I could be way off. But it's great when songs are this way...it can mean something different to everyone. Either way, great song, great band.