Some Kind Of Monster

I think that the monster is hateful people in society. The first two stanzas seem to show the monster as hating and hurting someone, "These are the boots that kick you around," "These are the ears that ring with hate," "This is the fist that grinds you down," etc, etc... Also, the "you" that is being hurt by the monster is probably an outcast (or an ethnic or religious minority) who society is constantly beating. He tries to run and hide from the hate, "These are the legs in circles run," but he feels trapped and fearful because of the constant torment, "These are the lips that taste no freedom," "This is the feel that's not so safe," "This is the pain that never leaves," etc... The persecuted person is trying to rebel against the hateful society around him, hence the "voice of silence no more". By saying that, "this monster lives," it is implied that this hate lives in modern day society. The question, "Are we the people?" has two meanings: First, it is meant to imply that our society is full of monsters as opposed to people; and Second, it is meant to reflect the Declaration of Independence's "We the People," and is therefore asking whether or not these hateful people in America are deserving of the rights they have that our forefathers fought for, and how this hate goes against everything the Declaration stands for. The ending part has a different tone, and it is lyrically much darker that the rest of the song. The, "black that uncolors us" is the darkness that lives inside every person ( "I'm in us") , and how we are all capable of hate and violence despite trying to hide it ( "This is the face that you hide from / This is the mask that comes undone"). Evil exists inside all of us, and this means that we cannot trust each other, ( "This is the cloud that swallows trust").