Our love is dead but without limit
Like the surface of the moon
Or the land between here and the mountains
It is not these hiding places that have kept us innocent
But the way you taught me to just let it all go back

So we learn to be as faithless
Stand behind bulletproof glass
Exchanging our affections through a drawer
It was always horribly convenient and happening too fast
You should count your change before you're even out the door

Well, yes you should, but please return, return
To the person that you were, and I will do the same
Because it's too hard to belong to someone who is gone
My compass spins, but wilderness remains

Once too often I've retreated into the depths of my despair
I built a barricade to block you on the road
But standing there with all of my possessions piled higher than a house
I felt closer to you than you ever would have known

So let's let all these tiny acts of charity become ground on which to build
A monument to commemorate our time
And though you say you've found another who will surely speed you on your way
Don't let the forest grow over that path you came there by

But you will, so, so hurry up and run to the one that you love
And blind him with your kindness
And he'll make war, oh, war, on who you were before
And claim all that has spoiled in your heart

But now I tell myself I've mended under these patches of blue sky
There's still a few holes that let in a little rain
And so it's crying on my shingles, my floorboards moan under my feet
The refrigerator's whining so I've got reason to complain

But I'm not gonna bless you with such compliments, some degrading song of praise
Like the kind that converted you to me so long ago
Because the truth is that gossip's as good as gospel in this town
You can save face but you won't ever save your soul

And that's a fact so, so hurry up and run to the one that you love
And tie him up in your likeness
And he'll become, become, oh, the prisoner I was
And know all that has spoiled in your heart
Yeah, he'll know it all
He'll know all that has spoiled in your heart

So hurry up and run to the one that you love
And blind him with your kindness
And he'll make war, oh, war, on who you were before
And claim all that has spoiled in your heart



Lyrics submitted by PLANES

Track duration: 06:16


Make War song meanings
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54 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:This has to be in my top five favorite Bright Eues songs.

    I swear I've heard a version in which he says "You should count your blessings before you're even out the door", but I haven't been able to find it anywhere. If you see if around, hit me up...

    And though you say you've found another who will surely speed you on your way, don't let the forest grow over that path you came there by!
    Flag manicdepressivestoneron October 13, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This has to be in my top five favorite Bright Eues songs.

    I swear I've heard a version in which he says "You should count your blessings before you're even out the door", but I haven't been able to find it anywhere. If you see if around, hit me up...

    And though you say you've found another who will surely speed you on your way, don't let the forest grow over that path you came there by!
    Flag manicdepressivestoneron October 13, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:"And though you say you've found another who will surely speed you on your way
    Don't let the forest grow over that path you came there by"

    Definitely the most important line of the song.
    I don't see how some people see thing song as a "f-you" to an ex-lover. It's definitely not the tone. It's an appreciation of a great love that's over. I think this song is all respect and love for whichever ex he is talking about.
    Flag DrSon May 08, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I can relate to this way too well. One of my favorites by them.
    Flag ohhellloon June 09, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i think it means like a couple just grown to use to eachother and now hate eachother for reasons not really known. and now hes realised they both became deluded and want to go back to who they were when they first met. who they fell in love with when they were there own persons.
    Flag poneeon June 08, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i am mesmerized at how well he writes these feelings of love, deceit, sadness and confusion.... all of which come with breakups. Relationships become so complicated once they end. I am going through the hardest breakup I've ever had, and the person I was with is now with someone else. So the bulletproof glass that conor talks about, well I have that up every time I talk to my ex. And the faithlessness he has is ever present in me, as well as a spinning compass which leads me more lost every day. Most of all though I have this love that is inside of me and it is vast and lifeless and refuses to go away. oh bright eyes....
    Flag jeb42on December 03, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:"the truth is gossip's as good as gospel in this town you can save face, but you wont ever save your soul"
    = poetry in its purest form!
    Flag oscarkev190on October 17, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:People jokingly call my ex boyfriend "poison" because of his ability to make any girl fall for him. This song seems so perfect, haha.
    Flag caylabirdon September 21, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:"So hurry up and run to the one that you love
    And blind him with your kindness
    And he'll make war, oh, war, on who you were before
    And claim all that has spoiled in your heart"

    I think He's sort of being sarcastic, saying "go ahead and run to your new lover. He's saying that this person will "make war" on the person she was, meaning that he will try to explain to her how much she was flawed when she was with Conor, or the person represented in the song. Then, he says he will "claim all that has spoiled in your heart," meaning that he will take her heart, which he feels has been spoiled and try to "fix" it, which actually means that he will take it and make it into the way he wants it to be.
    Flag DustinMeier22on September 11, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Their love is dead because they both became different people. and he's desperately grasping to it, saying "return to the person you were, and I will do the same" because then their love could be new again.

    His attitude changes completely when he speaks of her new lover... it's like "you don't need me anymore so fuck you." Up until that part I considered it to be hopeful.
    Flag mnemonicrhymeon June 26, 2008   Link

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