Young Men Dead

It's about a revolution. Now, I know some of you are going to be thinking "nah, it's gotta be a war." Well, yeah, you ARE right. Don't forget that a revolution IS a war, but it's a war from WITHIN. More specifically, the soldier's mind as he's fighting to liberate his country from a tyrant.. but gets addicted to the killing, and simply becomes a mindless machine of death.

That's my opinion, anyway. I choose to have a more complicated and personal view to the song rather than "WAR IZ BADZZZZ" like most of the other posters. (Note that I am a pacifist and dislike war, but I choose to not be a cock-hole about it. ^_^)

Regardless, this is one of my favorite songs of all time. Say I'm wrong if you'd like, as I truly could care less.

This is a truly haunting song where the lyrics, singing and melodies create a mood that really makes you feel like you're in the middle of battle. The sense of fear and heightened awareness that a soldier must feel should be coming alive in the people who are listening to this song. It's like the classic 'Run Though the Jungle" but cranked up a notch or two.

The first verse seems to come from the perspective of the person ordering the young man into combat, while the last one reflects on the lingering emotional scars from the battle that just went down. The title "Young Men Dead" could also be taken to mean that while the subject of the song has survived, his innocence is gone and he's emotionally numb to everything he's experienced.

I don't think the song refers to any battle specifically, although it easily reminds me of scenes from Vietnam movies where soldiers are sneaking through the jungles and fields in the dead of night. I first heard it in the trailer for Person of Interest Season 4, and it seems very poignant for a show with the theme of constant warfare.

This is a really good song and a great band; this song is an instant adrenaline rush. I can't believe only one comment.

"with a drop of love, trying to set you free" always made me believe the drop of love (LSD) tried to set the soldiers mind free of this madness. i kno the black angels from austin and they were well known for taking fryy on occasions

Brilliant lyrics. I also think its a narrative about the psychology behind the invasionary force of a counter-insurgent war, either Vietnam or Iraq. Just to add to what's already been said I think the most telling lyrics are.

1. "And outta black a figure forms a soldier in the sky. With a drop of love, trying to set you free."

Obviously a reference to a helicopter or fighter jet ("outta black a figure forms a soldier in the sky") dropping napalm or some form of high grade explosive ("with a drop of love") on a group of civilians under the pretext of liberation ("trying to set you free") .

2. "Run for the hills, pick up your feet and lets go. We did our jobs, pick up speed now lets move."

This is a reference to an officer telling his troops to leave a battle scene ("Run for the hills, pick up your feet and lets go") after the massacre and justifying the immorality of their act in the typical way that professional killers do ("We did our jobs...").

3. "Fire at the breeze that blows these thoughts through our mind. Hire only thieves to steal the thoughts from our heads."

This ending lyric elaborates the final battle which every surviving soldier faces -the internal, psychological trauma which violent warfare imprints upon their minds and how they must expel them from their being in order to renter civilian society. ("Fire at the at the breeze that blows these thoughts through our mind.") The final line about hiring "thieves to steal the thoughts from our heads" may refer to drug dependencies like alcohol, heroin, etc. that will dull the violent memories of what they had done in war.

The song is about young soldiers, probably drafted on their 18th birthday given a gun and told to go fight. One line seems like the country itself is talking to them.

With a drop of blood, you will take them out, for me.

Killing for your country.

I agree, about young men fighting. The whole song is full of things that a young soldier would be told by a superior, presumably an officer or maybe (metaphorically) by his country.

I love the sound of the gritty guitar, it just seems to grind and roll its way through the entire 5 minutes

I think it is about revolution as well. "Fire at the breeze that blows these thoughts through our mind" It is saying take on society for the things they are trying to make us believe.

I don't think it's about any one war in particular, but rather war in general. Sometimes it seems like old men make war, and young men die.

And for those who insist that it's about revolutions, I don't want to make presumptions but is there a chance you got that idea in your head from the Fable III commercials and their tagline, "It's a Revolution"? :P

I think this song is more specifically about the Vietnam War. The totality of the sound and lyrics is reminiscent of the 1960s. You can hear musical references to the Velvet Underground for one and the droning is very specific to psychedelic music from that era. The lyrics tell a story about a battle and coming home. Many battles were fought in Vietnam over hills and the fighting was so bitter that both sides felt like the their own respective enemies weren't human. You can hear references to this when he says, "And when you find a piece of them in your sight, fire at will don't you waste no time". These same hills were often frequently lost and won over the period of several days of fighting. References to camp fires, and creeping uphill is a reference to night time jungle operations supported by helicopter gunships or soldiers in the sky (its worth noting that Sky Soldiers was the real nickname for 173rd Brigade which saw extensive combat in the highlands of Vietnam). Drop of Love or bombs trying to set you free (kill or save you). At the end the lyrics shift to subject of the song waking up, or taking orders from a new leader. I heard this song and bought the album when they were with Light in the Attic Records in 2006 and for me back then it was still an obvious reference to the Vietnam War and its similarity to then current Iraq War. The song is very much Anti-War, along with the entire album of Passover, but this song specifically speaks to Vietnam and 65k young men who lost their lives fighting over hill against a relentless enemy for a government and population that forsake them. If you look at Passover as a story this song is the first song since its the battle that starts the the change.