Song Meanings

[Harlz]

So, a lot of people have now bought/downloaded the album, and I'd like to hear your opinions on what the songs are about.

Please don't turn this into a Bush-bashing thread, theres enough of those as it is.

This doesn't have to just be what the band members were thinking when they wrote these songs, but also how do you personally connect with them on an emotional/personal level.

TLTGYA we know is about new Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and No More Sorrow is pretty clearly a Bush-basher.

Hands Held High is obviously anti-war, but I'm curious as to peoples thoughts on the line 'With hands held high into a sky so blue, the ocean opens up to swallow you."

Leave Out All The Rest, I'd say, is about Chester fearing that should his life/relationship with someone, come to an end suddenly, has he done enough to justify being remembered by the people in his life? And if so, he wants to be remembered for the right things.

So, lets hear your thoughts people...

:cloud:

[Scotty]

I don't think No More Sorrow has to be about Bush.

[Arlene]

I don't think No More Sorrow has to be about Bush.

I agree. ^_^

[lief92]

I don't think No More Sorrow has to be about Bush.

Which means that LP have kept something from their old songs, the use of you/me so that it can be relevant to any situation. Though I DO think that this song is about Bush. The lyrics are really relevant to Bush's actions, but I'll leave it at that.

[Importskyline22]

Id really like someones approach on "Shadow of the day" Me and my Ex were trying to decifer this song...but what do you folks think?

[nenemaru_18]

their songs might be personal or emotional but it have sense and listeners could relate to them...

[Nothin*2*lose]

In Pieces I think is about his relationship with his ex-wife.

[Scotty]

Which means that LP have kept something from their old songs, the use of you/me so that it can be relevant to any situation. Though I DO think that this song is about Bush. The lyrics are really relevant to Bush's actions, but I'll leave it at that.
Yeah, but they're also relevant to the actions of Saddam, Mao, Stalin... I'd say it's just about dictatorships in general.

[Harlz]

I think Leave Out All The Rest has a lot to do with him coming to terms with his break-up with his ex-wife. Amazing song that one as well.

:cloud:

[Neil]

I think Shadow Of The Day is about someone dying of something that they can't help (cancer, disease)

[Harlz]

Not arguing with you Neil, as I have no idea what its about, but how'd you come to that conclusion?

[2xPutt]

I think Shadow Of The Day is about someone dying of something that they can't help (cancer, disease)


I agree, but I've deceiphered 3 different meanings.

1. the same meaning you thought of

2. suicide. he locks the windows, closes the blind, basically so that no one can see him end everything. the cards and flowers on the window are like the makeshift memorials people create for the fallen/deceased. friends pleading for you to stay meaning that they try to help, but he's so far gone that all he can think of is leaving this place.

3. a relationship that just ran into too many problems, there was no rekindling, the only way to come to an agreement was to agree to split for good.

[CHW42]

No More Sorrow is about Bush, because he trades money for lives, his campaign is a disguise, and his time is limited. Which is true, because he's gone after 2008 and congress can pull the troops back during a given time period. So I think it's more about Bush than anything else.

[coreyrc]

Here are my thoughts on a few songs...

Wake - The lyrics are so complex I can't decypher the meaning ;)
Shadow of the Day - I'm with Neil on this one...
Valentine's Day - About someone he loved who died. I mainly think this because of the lyrics "and the ground below grew colder / as they put you down inside" Maybe the person who was dying in SOTD?
In Pieces - I think it's about a relationship that's pretty much gone to the sh!tter, but he doesn't want to be the one to break it off...

[Harlz]

Valentines Day is a confusing one... its seems to be clearly about his ex-wife leaving him, but then theres the line coreyc mentioned, which seems to be about death.

[KrwlngGirlLP]

Yeah.. Valentine's Day does seem a song of a death of someone... on that day. and he didnt know it was like to be left alone on a valentines day and it wont be the same anymore, something like that.
In Pieces i can easily relate to, due to relationship and def has a meaning about his ex wife. sucks so much about that.
Shadow of the day is tricky... when it says sometimes good-byes the only way... is it talking about leaving or actual suicide?

[Nothin*2*lose]

I took the song up more as someone leaving then suicide, but when you think about it, it can go either way.

[esaul17]

In Pieces for me has a touch of an antireligious theme. My ex girlfriend was a hardcore Christian, and put it far before me. Lines like "There's truth in your lies, doubt in your faith, all I've got's what you didn't take..." makes me think of her, because my being an atheist made her insecure about her faith so she had to get rid of me.

Shadow of the Day is definitely about someone dying of a disease as Neil said. Cards and flowers on the window, friends begging for you to stay. It just reminds me of the setting on the hospital bed of a terminally ill stranger.

The Little Things Give You Away, while it has been said to be about New Orleans, I have my own feelings. I take it more metaphorically. Like it is about trying to reach someone you love, and them not caring. You really love them, and they say they love you, but you can tell by their actions that they don't. "Don't want to reach for me do you, I mean nothing to you...The little things give you away".

Given Up is simply about trying really hard, thing not working out (or downright failing) and wanting to die "Put me out of my fucking misery!" because of this. Reminds me of how I felt after my last relationship.

Leave Out All the Rest is about leaving someone (possibly dying) and hoping they remember the good things about you, not the bad. I even saw it slightly as an ode to the fans they lost with Minutes to Midnight...just saying remember them for the music they loved, and ignore all the rest.

Bleed it Out is kind of tough. Mike's verses are about being tied down it seems. Then Chester seems to pretty much be referring to throwing away all that is holding you back (using the phrase Bleed it Out to show it will be hard to move past it). This again could be referring to critics and fans who will sting them up for their change of sound, but the band has to evolve anyway. It could also be about leaving a painful relationship or anything.

[Importskyline22]

I think Shadow Of The Day is about someone dying of something that they can't help (cancer, disease)

I think i will agree with that one.

Although i would like to put out another take on it.

I think ti could be about a person going off to war

"I close both locks....blinds and turn away"

He's leaving home to be shipped out to war.

'Solutions arnt simple...goodbyes the only way"

The solution to the war isnt a peice of cake, someone has to do something, and me leaving <the persons pleading to stay> is the only way to solve it.

"THe sun will set for you, and the shadow of the day, will embrace the world in grey"

Meaning, the shadow of the day being the war thats going on, embracing the world in grey. But since we are going off to fight this war, the sun will set for you.

What ya think?

[Harlz]

The Little Things Give You Away, while it has been said to be about New Orleans, I have my own feelings. I take it more metaphorically. Like it is about trying to reach someone you love, and them not caring. You really love them, and they say they love you, but you can tell by their actions that they don't. "Don't want to reach for me do you, I mean nothing to you...The little things give you away".


Leave Out All the Rest is about leaving someone (possibly dying) and hoping they remember the good things about you, not the bad. I even saw it slightly as an ode to the fans they lost with Minutes to Midnight...just saying remember them for the music they loved, and ignore all the rest.



I definately agree with both of those.
I like the way you thought of the change in their sound as the meaning behind Leave Out All The Rest, I hadn't thought of that at all.

[Colonel Sanders]

i think given up is about that girl, i can't remember her name, that had her feeding tube removed.

[Top2Bottom]

I think shadow of the day is a perfect example of LP's way of writing. They don't write specific things, and leave it up to the individual's own interpretation. They have never written a song that contains names, or any personally detailed words.

[lparks41]

[QUOTE=esaul17;653739]In Pieces for me has a touch of an antireligious theme. My ex girlfriend was a hardcore Christian, and put it far before me. Lines like "There's truth in your lies, doubt in your faith, all I've got's what you didn't take..." makes me think of her, because my being an atheist made her insecure about her faith so she had to get rid of me.



YEEEESSSSS!!!! This is exactly what 'In Pieces' makes me think of. I'm stuned that someone else in the world felt the exact same way. Only I'm coming from the oposite perspective. I was the Christian and my last ex-girl friend was agnostic so we use to fight over this issue a little bit. It really never bothered me much, but her friends were really anti-creationism and pushed their beliefs about evolution and darwinism down my throat 3 meals a day. I just couldn't live with it, happily anyway. After I left her it basically toatlly fucked my life up for quite a while and I'm just now starting to heal again. I really regreted the decision that I made. But whenever I play this song it makes me really sad I think back to that.

I was in 2 major relationships last year and the one before the last kind of makes me think of the line "You promise me the sky, then toss me like a stone" Because I felt like I was trully happy with her, my ex-ex, but then she moved to Switzerland like a week later and easily forgot about me. I was like her rebound, endless emotional trauma from that relationship. I relate it all to In pieces...

[the_chemist]

i see "shadow of the day" as being someone who's simply moving away from their friends and starting a new life somewhere else. ;)

and i reckon i'd like "in pieces" more if i didn't already know the story behind its lyrics.

"what i've done", i think, is LP reflecting on what they used to be. as with a lot of their lyrics, they twist the wording to broaden the idea behind the lyrics and, in doing so, allow other people in completely different situations to relate.

"leave out all the rest" is about coming to a realisation and a question; "what am i leaving when i'm done here? ..." and hoping you'll be [sorely] missed when you're gone.

"hands held high", "no more sorrow" and "the little things give you away" all make attacks on the bush administration, albeit "hands held high" isn't so direct on that. all three of the songs put out different emotions and different ideas. "hands held high" is reflecting on the situation in iraq, i think; "the little things give you away" is, as mentioned, about the government's response to katrina. the chorus is haunting, i have to say.

reading through this thread, "valentine's day" is very likely about missing someone recently deceased, it makes sense.

"in between" is something of an apology letter. that's all i really can say about that.

[Fear]

I think Given Up is about screwing up just in general and not caring anymore.

[Cartman]

I think In Between is about a guy apologizing to his wife after cheating on her, which I find really interesting.

Shadow of the Day, imo, is a song about death. It's about a person dying while his friends pray for him to live.

[Fleur de Lys]

In Pieces I think is about his relationship with his ex-wife.

Yeah I think so too. But there's something I don't get. How does these lines fit together:

"i / i WON'T be the one
be the one to leave this
in pieces (and now the wierd part)

and you / YOU WILL BE ALONE..."

First he is saying that he won't be the one to leave this and then he is saying the she will be alone. What. The. Fuck.

;653611']Valentines Day is a confusing one... its seems to be clearly about his ex-wife leaving him, but then theres the line coreyc mentioned, which seems to be about death.

I realized today that it might be a little bit about his kids. "a black wind took you away". Suddenly there is no life around Chester. No kids. And he is feeling alone on the Valentine's Day.

[Fear]

Yeah I think so too. But there's something I don't get. How does these lines fit together:

"i / i WON'T be the one
be the one to leave this
in pieces (and now the wierd part)

and you / YOU WILL BE ALONE..."

First he is saying that he won't be the one to leave this and then he is saying the she will be alone. What. The. Fuck.



I realized today that it might be a little bit about his kids. "a black wind took you away". Suddenly there is no life around Chester. No kids. And he is feeling alone on the Valentine's Day.

Whoa...I never thought of Valentine's Day like that! :blink:You're right!!!!

[The Modfather]

Yeah I think so too. But there's something I don't get. How does these lines fit together:

"i / i WON'T be the one
be the one to leave this
in pieces (and now the wierd part)

and you / YOU WILL BE ALONE..."

First he is saying that he won't be the one to leave this and then he is saying the she will be alone. What. The. Fuck.

I'm shocked you can't get this, because I do. While it might not be correct, here's my explanation or interpretation of the chorus.

It's basically him saying that he's not going to be the one who's going to come out of the relationship feeling scathed and in pieces, but that she will be the one who will be alone wallowing in her own regret and self pity.

Simplified it means: "I'm not going to allow this to bother me but I know/hope you'll feel like shit."

[Harlz]

This is what it means, in my opinion at least:
Hes saying that hes not the one who's stopped putting effort into the relationship, that hes not the one whos leaving it 'In Pieces.'
She, on the other hand, doesn't care about it anymore, and he believes this will come back around and basically bite her on the ass. and thats where Dereks intepretation fits into mine: ""I'm not going to allow this to bother me but I know/hope you'll feel like shit."

[McLovin]

i think the entire album has undertones of the methods of their writing process, which is no surprise. m2m has a "out with the old, in with the new" feel. "given up", "bleed it out", "what i've done" all have to do with doing away with the past and moving on to better things. "leave out all the rest" and "shadow of the day" both look forward to life's end and explores how chester/mike will be remembered. "hands held high", "no more sorrow" and "the little things give you away" seem to be trying to invoke change as well, but in a more direct, political manner. so basically LP changed drastically, and their lyrics highlight this and provoke more change.