Tonight will be
the night that we
begin to ease
the plugs out of the dam.
And we will stand
knee deep in the flow,
the undertow
will grab our heels and won't let go.
And while we hold,
our legs quivering,
the water rises now
to our teeth
when we just let go
and sail belly up to the clouds,
the rocks scraping our backs.
To breath in the air will be
the only thing that we have
and all the wasted nights
and empty moments
in our lives flushed away
as we sway with the rhythm
of the waves bobbing us up.
Crests fall to troughs we feel our gills open up.

And sail belly up to the clouds,
the rocks scraping our backs.
To breath in the air will be
the only thing that we have
and if the hook sets in
the bottom of our lungs,
we'll rip it out and lick the blood off with our tongues.

The despair can ravage you
if you turn your head around to look down the path
that's led you here,
cause what can you change?
You're a vessel now
floating down the waterways.
You can take your rudder
and aim your ship,
just don't bother with the things left in your wake.
Just sail belly up to the clouds,
the rocks scraping your back.
To breathe in the air will be
the only thing that you have
and your love will be warm nights
with pockets of moonlight
spotlighting you as you drift,
the actor in this play.
And you walk across the stage,
take a bow, hear the applause,
and as the curtain falls,
just know you did it all
the best that you knew how
and you can hear them cheering now.
So let a smile out and show your teeth
cause you know you lived it well.



Lyrics submitted by wimplucy

Track duration: 03:56


This Is Not An Exit song meanings
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149 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:This song is about dying, not relationships. Jeez guys.

    Amazing song though.
    Flag silvermountzionon November 01, 2011   Link
  • +2
    General Comment:Tonight will be
    the night that we
    begin to ease
    the plugs out of the dam.

    - The dam is resistance to past actions, specifically the shameful ones. To ease the plugs out is to stop pretending like the past has no consequence.

    And we will stand
    knee deep in the flow,
    the undertow
    will grab our heels and won't let go.

    - The reality of the past takes hold

    And while we hold,
    our legs quivering,
    the water rises now
    to our teeth
    when we just let go

    - The past overwhelms and submission becomes a must.

    and sail belly up to the clouds,
    the rocks scraping our backs.

    - So let the past carry forward despite the fact that it hurts.

    To breath in the air will be
    the only thing that we have

    - Breathing is the constant of life in this song

    and all the wasted nights
    and empty moments in our lives

    - nights spent playing video games, watching porn, getting high, bored and lonely, ect...

    flushed away
    as we sway with the rhythm
    of the waves bobbing us up.
    Crests fall to troughs we feel our gills open up.

    - learn to live with the past, find meaning in it, and the emptiness disappears.

    And sail belly up to the clouds,
    the rocks scraping our backs.
    To breath in the air will be
    the only thing that we have

    - if you can't count on the fact that you are breathing you can't count on anything

    and if the hook sets in
    the bottom of our lungs,

    - if something disrupts you're breath...

    we'll rip it out and lick the blood off with our tongues.

    - own it!

    The despair can ravage you
    if you turn your head around to look down the path
    that's led you here,
    cause what can you change?

    - don't worry about the past because it can't be changed.

    You're a vessel now
    floating down the waterways.

    - Instead, let the past carry you forward.

    You can take your rudder
    and aim your ship,
    just don't bother with the things left in your wake.

    - Make better choices in the hear and now rather than letting the details of the past consume you.

    Just sail belly up to the clouds,
    the rocks scraping your back.

    - Submit, let go, endure.

    To breathe in the air will be
    the only thing that you have

    - no kidding, your going to die sooner or later

    and your love will be warm nights
    with pockets of moonlight
    spotlighting you as you drift,
    the actor in this play.

    - until then, you've got to find a way to enjoy your life.

    And you walk across the stage,
    take a bow, hear the applause,
    and as the curtain falls,
    just know you did it all
    the best that you knew how
    and you can hear them cheering now.

    - Despite how messed up you were, you did the best you could so move on and let the past go. Your friends, family, and everyone else want the best for you


    So let a smile out and show your teeth
    cause you know you lived it well.

    - fin

    Flag P to the Gon March 28, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i always feel like this is about graduation.

    great song.
    Flag puremorning620on April 22, 2009   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:this song is the reason why i will forever be a fan of saves the day. this song is like a god walking among mere mortals.
    Flag rural_rebellionon September 03, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:and as for what i think of the song meaning. it represents that there is beauty all around you... everywhere at every moment. even while "the rocks scraping your backs" and sometimes it might seem "to breathe in the air will be the only that we have." but it all washes away as time moves. you have to go along with it because you never know what will happen as "...we sway with the rhythm of the waves bobbing us up." there are always UP & DOWNS... so appreciate the beauty of life, because the world that makes you sad is the same one that makes you happy. and at the end of your life, be thankful... "...let a smile out and show your teeth
    cause you know you lived it well."
    Flag Sing_It_Backon July 16, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i got a tattoo inspired from this song:

    savestheday.com/photos/tattoos/gallery/tattoos/…
    Flag Sing_It_Backon July 16, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think the title is a reference to Bret Easton Ellis's book American Psycho. The last five words in the book are "THIS IS NOT AN EXIT". An I've noticed that a lot of their songs, like Total Revenge and Little Girls, mention other themes from the book as well.
    Flag xxKatetheGreaton July 03, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:butt sex this song is about butt sex
    Flag IEATFOODOKAYGUYon April 29, 2008   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:To me this is the best lyric ever written and only CC knows what his song is really about. What’s so cool about music is that it speaks to people in different ways. The listener could interpret it totally different than the writer intended it to be.

    So here is what this song means to me: I see the "Flow" as life and the "Rocks that scrape our backs" as the bad things that happen is life, the "Crests fall to troughs we feel our gills open up", there are ups and downs in life but somehow we adapt to the changes. And the best line is the song "and if the hook sets in the bottom of our lungs we’ll rip it out and lick the blood off with our tongues". No matter what happens there is always a way out, it might be painful but nothing is as bad as we make it. "If you turn your head around to look down the path
    That’s led you here,
    Cause what can you change?" don't drag your past with you into the future.

    The one thing I don’t quite get is the title of the song. Maybe CC was thinking about suicide, maybe life was giving him more than he could handle, but then these words came to him and “he ripped it out and licked the blood off with his tongue”.

    If this is not what CC mean by this song that’s ok, but this is how it speaks to me. I want this song to play at my funeral.
    Flag headphones&darkroomon February 16, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:is it a coincidence that the band is commonly called STD? yes its an acronym for thier name, Saves the Day, but its also a more common acronym for sexually transmitted diseases. any relation? idk, maybe. just thought id through that out there.
    Flag crunchyleaveson January 27, 2008   Link

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