Okay here is my opinion of the meaning of this song. First I have to say that I am not a nativ english speeker (like Cedric also is not) which makes it quite difficult for me to figure out MV songs. But this one, for me, is less cryptic than most of their other songs.
The first verse for me it is clearly about the Bush family and their influence in two Iraq wars.
("The dates have changed with each new phase" - Bush sen. started and his son later fulfilled his work, so they clearly breed a mess over the world and particluarly over the people in Iraq and there is blood on their family tree)
The "frames of infrared keep scrolling into focus" in verse two reminds me of those infrared pictures of bombs hitting ground targets, which were shown in the news on TV. Maybe the rest of this verse refers to the way those pictures were shown or better the way the viewer looks at those pictures, because you just see the downraining bombs but not what damage and harm they cause. (Just a very very vague interpretation, in fact I really can´t figure out)
The meaning of verse three and four I see in a similar way as ´limitlaw´ described in his above listed post. The persons in the oval office (president and his staff) are just puppets/marionettes to the ones who really pull the strings (the industry,or for conspiracy theorists the CIA,FBI...). The thoughts and interest of the ´puppetmasters´ were inplanted into their heads, which maybe kills their own opionion and thoughts softly ("draw the curtains, part their hair and pull the trigger softly"). They are all hostages to each other, because if someone tells the untruth everyone else of them knows. They are codependent! So if one of them would like to tell the truth it is easy for the others to remove or exclude him. If one of them is committed he can take the others with him by blaming them. "One driver in his motorcade is all it takes".
Unfortunately I can´t figure out the refrain. I guess that there is a ´necklacing´ reference in "let the wheels burn...", but maybe it has no real meaning and the phrase was just taken because it is a fantastic methapher in gereral and it sounds really really cool. The other part of the refrain ("What am I without the bruises...") could mean that we all are just watching or complaining, but we don´t do anything against the practics of the government/´puppetmasters´.
Just my two cents and basically what I thought about the song when I first heard it. I am open to any corrections or additional thoughts. And one of the best things in MV lyrics is that everyone has its own pictures appearing in his head whilst listening.
Okay here is my opinion of the meaning of this song. First I have to say that I am not a nativ english speeker (like Cedric also is not) which makes it quite difficult for me to figure out MV songs. But this one, for me, is less cryptic than most of their other songs.
The first verse for me it is clearly about the Bush family and their influence in two Iraq wars. ("The dates have changed with each new phase" - Bush sen. started and his son later fulfilled his work, so they clearly breed a mess over the world and particluarly over the people in Iraq and there is blood on their family tree)
The "frames of infrared keep scrolling into focus" in verse two reminds me of those infrared pictures of bombs hitting ground targets, which were shown in the news on TV. Maybe the rest of this verse refers to the way those pictures were shown or better the way the viewer looks at those pictures, because you just see the downraining bombs but not what damage and harm they cause. (Just a very very vague interpretation, in fact I really can´t figure out)
The meaning of verse three and four I see in a similar way as ´limitlaw´ described in his above listed post. The persons in the oval office (president and his staff) are just puppets/marionettes to the ones who really pull the strings (the industry,or for conspiracy theorists the CIA,FBI...). The thoughts and interest of the ´puppetmasters´ were inplanted into their heads, which maybe kills their own opionion and thoughts softly ("draw the curtains, part their hair and pull the trigger softly"). They are all hostages to each other, because if someone tells the untruth everyone else of them knows. They are codependent! So if one of them would like to tell the truth it is easy for the others to remove or exclude him. If one of them is committed he can take the others with him by blaming them. "One driver in his motorcade is all it takes".
Unfortunately I can´t figure out the refrain. I guess that there is a ´necklacing´ reference in "let the wheels burn...", but maybe it has no real meaning and the phrase was just taken because it is a fantastic methapher in gereral and it sounds really really cool. The other part of the refrain ("What am I without the bruises...") could mean that we all are just watching or complaining, but we don´t do anything against the practics of the government/´puppetmasters´.
Just my two cents and basically what I thought about the song when I first heard it. I am open to any corrections or additional thoughts. And one of the best things in MV lyrics is that everyone has its own pictures appearing in his head whilst listening.