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Can't see nothin' in front of me
Can't see nothin' coming up behind
Make my way through this darkness
I can't feel nothing but this chain that binds me
Lost track of how far I've gone
How far I've gone, how high I've climbed
On my back's a sixty pound stone
On my shoulder a half mile of line
Come on up for the rising
Come on up, lay your hands in mine
Come on up for the rising
Come on up for the rising tonight
Left the house this morning
Bells ringing filled the air
I was wearin' the cross of my calling
On wheels of fire I come rollin' down here
Come on up for the rising
Come on up, lay your hands in mine
Come on up for the rising
Come on up for the rising tonight
Li,li, li,li,li,li, li,li,li - li,li, li,li,li,li, li,li,li - li,li, li,li,li,li, li,li,li
There's spirits above and behind me
Faces gone black, eyes burnin' bright
May their precious blood bind me
Lord, as I stand before your fiery light
Li,li, li,li,li,li, li,li,li - li,li, li,li,li,li, li,li,li - li,li, li,li,li,li, li,li,li
I see you Mary in the garden
In the garden of a thousand sighs
There's holy pictures of our children
Dancin' in a sky filled with light
May I feel your arms around me
May I feel your blood mix with mine
A dream of life comes to me
Like a catfish dancin' on the end of my line
Sky of blackness and sorrow (a dream of life)
Sky of love, sky of tears (a dream of life)
Sky of glory and sadness (a dream of life)
Sky of mercy, sky of fear (a dream of life)
Sky of memory and shadow (a dream of life)
Your burnin' wind fills my arms tonight
Sky of longing and emptiness (a dream of life)
Sky of fullness, sky of blessed life
Come on up for the rising
Come on up, lay your hands in mine
Come on up for the rising
Come on up for the rising tonight
Li,li, li,li,li,li, li,li,li - li,li, li,li,li,li, li,li,li - li,li, li,li,li,li, li,li,li...
Can't see nothin' coming up behind
Make my way through this darkness
I can't feel nothing but this chain that binds me
Lost track of how far I've gone
How far I've gone, how high I've climbed
On my back's a sixty pound stone
On my shoulder a half mile of line
Come on up for the rising
Come on up, lay your hands in mine
Come on up for the rising
Come on up for the rising tonight
Left the house this morning
Bells ringing filled the air
I was wearin' the cross of my calling
On wheels of fire I come rollin' down here
Come on up for the rising
Come on up, lay your hands in mine
Come on up for the rising
Come on up for the rising tonight
Li,li, li,li,li,li, li,li,li - li,li, li,li,li,li, li,li,li - li,li, li,li,li,li, li,li,li
There's spirits above and behind me
Faces gone black, eyes burnin' bright
May their precious blood bind me
Lord, as I stand before your fiery light
Li,li, li,li,li,li, li,li,li - li,li, li,li,li,li, li,li,li - li,li, li,li,li,li, li,li,li
I see you Mary in the garden
In the garden of a thousand sighs
There's holy pictures of our children
Dancin' in a sky filled with light
May I feel your arms around me
May I feel your blood mix with mine
A dream of life comes to me
Like a catfish dancin' on the end of my line
Sky of blackness and sorrow (a dream of life)
Sky of love, sky of tears (a dream of life)
Sky of glory and sadness (a dream of life)
Sky of mercy, sky of fear (a dream of life)
Sky of memory and shadow (a dream of life)
Your burnin' wind fills my arms tonight
Sky of longing and emptiness (a dream of life)
Sky of fullness, sky of blessed life
Come on up for the rising
Come on up, lay your hands in mine
Come on up for the rising
Come on up for the rising tonight
Li,li, li,li,li,li, li,li,li - li,li, li,li,li,li, li,li,li - li,li, li,li,li,li, li,li,li...
Lyrics submitted by metallifreak
Track duration: 04:47
"The Rising" as written by Sean Chapman, Andre Davis, Moises Juarez, Matthew Ryan Mcewan, Patrick Salmon
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Like a catfish dancin' on the end of my line."
Obviously, The Boss's word on this is final, but for those who are having trouble understanding what he means, think of the way a fish wriggles and slips off the end of a fishing line. The fisherman grasps at it, tries to hold it, but it shimmies away and is gone. In the song, life is compared to that fish. The fireman, who is the voice of the song, feels the life he hoped for slip away from him like a fish slips away from a fisherman. This works beautifully in a literal sense, too, because we know the fireman has been climbing up the stairs with "this chain that binds me" tied around him. It is his literal lifeline, and he struggles to hold onto it as it slips away. Then, just as a fish rejoins the ocean, the fireman's spirit rejoins the endless ocean of eternity.
This is such a powerful song because it works on so many levels. It's the story of one fireman climbing the tower and thus ascending from earth to heaven. As a chorus of other voices join in, it's the story of all the other souls rising along with his. It's the story of the survivors rising metaphorically from the blow of the attack and physically raising the remains and erecting a new structure in their wake. Springsteen is so brilliant because he takes a tragic event that resulted in thousands of untimely deaths and transforms it into a triumph of death overcome as all those innocent souls rise to life everlasting. All these years later, I still want to cry every time I hear it.
"Can't see nothing in front of me, can't see nothing comin' up behind" - firefighters going into a building filled with thick smoke can barely see an inch in front of their face, there is obviously a TON of fear and faith involved in this - sort of like life, you can't always see what's coming up on you and you don't always have time to reflect and get good perspective on where you've been and what you've done either
"Make my way through this darkness, can't feel nothing but this chain that binds me" - firefighters are chained together so that they can follow one another in and out of the building with no sight but the chain is heavy and binding to duty - sort of like in life, whatever your duty may be (maybe your job, maybe your family responsbilities, maybe caring for a loved one, maybe just the weight of your own faith), can seem to bind you and keep you from other things
"Lost track of how far I've gone, how far I've gone, how high I've climbed" - again, no perspective on anything, just going and going without a rest
"On my back's a 60 pound stone, on my shoulder half mile of line" - 60 pound stone is a clear reference to the Oxygen tank that these firefighters wore on their back - and it's interesting because the very thing that gives the firefighters life in this awful circumstance is also a huge burden to carry - just like being a Christian - the blood of Jesus is the very thing that gives you life, but carrying that cross can be a significant burden as well.
Beautiful song.
And for what it's worth I don't think the catfih on the end of a line fits either.
Someone here was correct when they said Bruce takes a personal relatable story and fuses it with a situation that is indicative of a much broader issue. He does this ALL the time and it usually works 99% of the time because he is such a great writer. My appreciation of this song continues to grow every time I hear it now with this interpretation in mind. The sadness of why it happened, the courage of those who were there, the devastating loss of those they left behind, the nobility we all can feel from their actions on our behalf are beautifully portayed in this song. Bruce is very spiritual, using religious symbolism and references because we all get them and they are so powerful. When I figured out this interpretation I cried like a baby. It is a great, great song. I'm not some born again zealot either - in fact far from it. But the raw emotion of accepting your own death so perfectly portayed makes it impossible for me to remain unaffected when I hear it.
"A dream of life comes to me
Like a catfish dancin' on the end of the line"
I agree about the everyday stories but surely this isn't an everyday story? the firefighters that went into the WTC were pretty unique in what they did and when i say corny i mean i think it would be corny to try and talk from the point of view of these people because of the uniqueness of their experience.
This thread really nails it. It's about that morning - the firefighter headed downtown on "wheels of fire", climbing the tower, and "rising" to heaven. And looking back at his life and his family and what they'll both miss. And it's also metaphorically about NYC and the US and the world "rising" from that attack.
And hats off to Bruce, 11 years on. It sounds strange to say it now, but *everyone* was looking to Bruce to write THE 9/11 song. And he called his shot and he exceeded all of the expectations that anyone ever placed on him. Wow.
I'd say you're overthinking this. "The Rising" is pretty clearly a literal story of a firefighter making a sacrifice in the face of great danger and evil. There's nothing "corny" or "embarrassing" about that. He CERTAINLY isn't singing about what the towers 'represented,' at least as far as American capitalism is concerned.
He's using the story of the firefighter to tell the story of what he hopes for the country. He does this sort of thing repeatedly throughout the Rising and, in fact, throughout his career. He'll take a power story, give it a literal meaning, and make it a statement about something much more broad. Here he's talking about faith, redemption, sacrifice, hope, and forgiveness. On a song like "Born in the USA," for example, he tells the story of a Vietnam vet rather than stand on a soapbox and say "hey some of these policies are unfair and un-American."
The real corniness would have come if he'd spent the album grandstanding. Instead, he tells powerful stories for every day people. It's rock and roll, it's brilliant, and it's not about just about the imagery and characters he uses, whether it be the story of a firefighter or Biblical allusions.
As for what you're saying are references to the story about pushing the stone up the hill....well, maybe you're right. But if that was a conscious thing, it was because he wanted to illustrate the idea that people will do things that are required of them even when they can't say for sure it's going to be worth it. The firefighter goes into the building not knowing what lies ahead, unable to see. America unites and rebuilds in the face of adversity. People heal.