Obviously this song is political, well Rise Against is political...
My guess is it's about the immorality of sweatshops and how no one is willing to do anything about it.
The lines "Each breath we take makes us thieves
Like causes without rebels
Just talk but promise nothing else" show us this.
"each breath" means every day we go on living and "thieves" shows how we do nothing to help those in the seatshops. Essentially every breath we take without caring is stealing from those who could have freedom.
"Like causes without rebels" (who will stand up and fight?)
"Just talk but promise nothing else" (politcians who allow this to continue)
The chorus "We crawl on our knees for you
Under a sky no longer blue
We sweat all day long for you
But we sow seeds to see us through
The sometimes dreams just don't come true"
is from the point of view of the laborer and their mistreatment.
Also "White needles buried in the red
The engine roars and then it gives
But never dies
Cause we don't live
We just survive
On the scraps that you throw away"
These lines support what I said earlier about the laborer's point of view. But now the laborer is trying to appeal to our ethos; stating how they only "survive."
Turning Point:
"I won't crawl on my knees for you
I won't believe the lies that hide the truth
I won't sweat one more drop for you
Cause we are the rust upon your gears
We are the insects in your ears
We crawl
We crawl
We crawl... all over you"
I think this point of view is not so much the laborer as it is Rise Against saying 'fuck the government, I won't fall victim to you're ignorance.'
Additionally it can be looked at from the point of view of the laborer finally rebelling; (ex "we are the insects in your ears.")
INTERPRETATION COMMENT firstly, these lyrics aren't right, better lyrics can be found here:
http://www.elyrics.net/read/r/rise-against-lyrics/re,,Education-(Through-labor)-lyrics.html
Obviously this song is political, well Rise Against is political...
My guess is it's about the immorality of sweatshops and how no one is willing to do anything about it.
The lines "Each breath we take makes us thieves Like causes without rebels Just talk but promise nothing else" show us this. "each breath" means every day we go on living and "thieves" shows how we do nothing to help those in the seatshops. Essentially every breath we take without caring is stealing from those who could have freedom.
"Like causes without rebels" (who will stand up and fight?) "Just talk but promise nothing else" (politcians who allow this to continue)
The chorus "We crawl on our knees for you Under a sky no longer blue We sweat all day long for you But we sow seeds to see us through The sometimes dreams just don't come true" is from the point of view of the laborer and their mistreatment.
Also "White needles buried in the red The engine roars and then it gives But never dies Cause we don't live We just survive On the scraps that you throw away" These lines support what I said earlier about the laborer's point of view. But now the laborer is trying to appeal to our ethos; stating how they only "survive."
Turning Point: "I won't crawl on my knees for you I won't believe the lies that hide the truth I won't sweat one more drop for you Cause we are the rust upon your gears We are the insects in your ears We crawl We crawl We crawl... all over you" I think this point of view is not so much the laborer as it is Rise Against saying 'fuck the government, I won't fall victim to you're ignorance.' Additionally it can be looked at from the point of view of the laborer finally rebelling; (ex "we are the insects in your ears.")
I can't wait for the new album