There's blood in the sink and he's plunging his wrists in
A hangover halo is washing away
Mechanic-school dropout stares into the mirror
Stands up in his derelict daydreams
Always too tall, always walked around wearing
A smile that was never quite sure of itself
Planning a future of failures inflicted
In phone calls from strip clubs and bail bonds

There's a light left on
There's a pace to our direction
There's a movie still
Of a heart I'd like to mention

Don't give me that look, I looked harder than most did
Let details like sharp nails punch holes in my shoes
Soft-traced to frown as I put the receiver down
Where do I go for a pardon?

There's a light left on
There's a pace to our direction
There's a movie still
Of a heart I'd like to mention

We're listing what's left
A signed Slayer t-shirt
A car up on blocks in his mother's backyard


Lyrics submitted by sockmonkey

History to the Defeated Lyrics as written by Stephen Carroll John K Samson

Lyrics © MOTHERSHIP MUSIC PUBLISHING

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History To The Defeated song meanings
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9 Comments

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  • +1
    General Comment

    "The stars are dead. The animals will not look. We are left alone with our day, and the time is short, and History to the defeated May say Alas but cannot help nor pardon." -W.H.Auden March 1937

    laurelinwyntreon October 25, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    This is a terribly depressing song!

    BeatJunkie08on March 09, 2003   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    lol, i love depressing songs. :P so ja, this is one of my favorites of the weakerthans. such a droopy sad song -- the title says it all. "Don't give me that look, I looked harder than most did, let details like sharp nails punch holes in my shoes."

    shrugon May 02, 2003   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    i have a huge mp3 collection... and every week i still put on an all weakerthans shuffle, then just listen to the lyrics and sing along in a bad falsetto. they're like old friends.

    neuralstaticon April 03, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    This is a really great song lyrically and I understand their reasoning for making it slow.. but it gets a bit repetitive & boring by the end. Still, a good song and an even greater album overall.

    whatchamacallmeon February 13, 2008   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning

    John played this solo in Germany in 2009.

    "This one I wrote a long time ago. I was in a border town in Texas. I was walking around the streets of this border town, El Paso. I was walking around and I saw a man weeping in a phone booth and I thought that was strange. And then I noticed almost everywhere all the storefronts around the center of this town were Bail Bonds. And you don't have those here, and we don't have them in Canada. But it's where people go when their loved ones are in prison and they give over anything they own in collateral to get their loved one out of jail. This song is about that man who was weeping the phone booth. "

    HellionChildon January 31, 2012   Link
  • -1
    General Comment

    i can't believe no one's commented..the weakerthans are awesome.

    nonpunkon July 19, 2002   Link
  • -1
    General Comment

    i am absolutely in love with the weakerthans

    emptyeyedfearlesson March 18, 2003   Link
  • -1
    General Comment

    This song is slow and sad, but I really love it.

    Sepulchraveon May 14, 2004   Link

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