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The world is my expense
The cost of my desire
Jesus blessed me with its future
And I protect it with fire
So raise your fists
And march around
Just dont take what you need
I'll jail and bury those committed
And smother the rest in greed
Crawl with me into tomorrow
Or I'll drag you to your grave
Im deep inside your children
They'll betray you in my name
Sleep now in the fire
The lie is my expense
The scope of my desire
The party blessed me with its future
And I protect it with fire
I am the Nina The Pinta The Santa Maria
The noose and the rapist
The fields overseer
The agents of orange
The priests of Hiroshima
The cost of my desire
Sleep now in the fire
Sleep now in the fire
For it's the end of history
Its caged and frozen still
There is no other pill to take
So swallow the one
That made you ill
The Nina The Pinta The Santa Maria
The noose and the rapist
The fields overseer
The agents of orange
The priests of Hiroshima
The cost of my desire
Sleep now in the fire
The cost of my desire
Jesus blessed me with its future
And I protect it with fire
So raise your fists
And march around
Just dont take what you need
I'll jail and bury those committed
And smother the rest in greed
Crawl with me into tomorrow
Or I'll drag you to your grave
Im deep inside your children
They'll betray you in my name
Sleep now in the fire
The lie is my expense
The scope of my desire
The party blessed me with its future
And I protect it with fire
I am the Nina The Pinta The Santa Maria
The noose and the rapist
The fields overseer
The agents of orange
The priests of Hiroshima
The cost of my desire
Sleep now in the fire
Sleep now in the fire
For it's the end of history
Its caged and frozen still
There is no other pill to take
So swallow the one
That made you ill
The Nina The Pinta The Santa Maria
The noose and the rapist
The fields overseer
The agents of orange
The priests of Hiroshima
The cost of my desire
Sleep now in the fire
Lyrics submitted by piesupreme
Track duration: 03:26
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The first question isn't 'what is this song about?' but 'who am I?'. The piece is riddled by the literal identity of the narrator. For starters, this individual is paying for the entire world. He is optimistic about the future of the world. Furthermore, he is covering the world with warmth & light, life & death. Imploring the listener to stand his or her ground wherever it may be, the narrator instructs the followers to purge their selves of inconveniences which will slow them down, lead to their demise & ultimately facilitate an overwhelming desire for more. We will all claw our way toward the future together & if you disagree... don't! To name the narrator would be disloyal the full scope of who the narrator really is... remember, it is paying for the entire world...
I'll come back to the chorus later.
The narrator is also paying for deceit. It comes with the territory. Those who have entrusted the narrator with their fate also incur the properties of fire (light, warmth, life & perhaps death/destruction). The Narrator is The Child (grace), The Pint (measure of water/fluid), The Mother of Jesus/God Sister of Moses etc. The Narrator is The Knot, The Abductor (though, this could be a play on the word therapist, which would make the Narrator 'The Doctor'), The Lord (loaf warden hence 'fields overseer' could also point toward the Eye of Providence). The narrator is the creator (see sacral chakra in reference to the color orange). The Elders of Spacious Island... This is all as the narrator wishes.
The narrator expresses that the beast of mans conquest, which he (man) calls 'history' is a dead end. There is no other world (the word pill literally means 'little ball') & you should eat the one (fyi, 'world' is synonymous with 'system') that made you bad (ill, whatever)...
okay, chorus... sleep now... in the fire... you are asleep now... in the fire... this world is in the fire... quite literally. So next time you hear some crazy preacher ranting about fire & brimstone.. tell him whats up, which is to say point at the sun & slowly (but with some aggression) say "FY-ER" (make sure you separate the syllables & talk real slow to create the impression that you are unsure if he is mentally ill).
The allusions are scattered throughout the entire song. The overarching theme of the song is greed, which can be found in the quote “I’m deep inside your children; they’ll betray you in my name”. The word “children” is ambiguous, but for a reason. It shows that greed is timeless, every child is a glutton. Their greed will take over their conscience, and they will ultimately become dishonest and corrupt. This theme encompasses the rest of the lyrics, as the artist continues to give specific examples of greed. The lyrics include a wide “scope” of “desires”, showing that people can be greedy in different shapes and forms.
For example, Rocha alludes to slavery when he talks about “the field’s overseer”. The field could be a cotton plantation, and the overseer could be the landowner. Landowners were commonly cruel and brutal towards their slaves who worked in the fields. They would beat them and sometimes even kill them all because of one thing: greed. They wanted to make the most profit possible, so they often resorted to physical cruelty. The landowners became increasingly corrupt, and slaves suffered greatly from mistreatment. This was the “expense”, or consequence, of their desire.
Furthermore, the “agents of orange” in the song refer to the herbicide, Agent Orange, which was used in the Vietnam War. It was a chemical that wiped out most of the trees and vegetation in Vietnam in order to win the war. The toxic chemical did not only wipe out trees, but people as well. Americas government could be viewed as greedy for victory here, as the use of this chemical did not how any concern for innocent people. They were willing to go to such lengths in order to achieve victory; it was simply the “cost” of their desire to win the war.
Also, the lyrics refer to the “Nina, the Pinta, the Santa Maria”. At first glance, these lyrics seem out of place because they are simply the name of historical ships. The word most likely to be associated with these ships is exploration. However, underneath the exploration, there is a motive. That motive is greed. Greed drove Christopher Columbus to explore the seas with the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria. He was in search of spices, silks, and above all, wealth. His goal was to exploit the land he discovered. Through this reference, Rocha demonstrates that greed is at the heart of even the most admired people.
Overall, Rocha has made it clear through specific historical examples that the song is about greed. In addition, he states the consequences that ensue as a result. The title of the song as well as the ending says “Sleep now in the fire”, the meaning of the line can be interpreted to mean the fate of those who were greedy. When they die, Rocha states that they will pay for their greed and actions by burning in the “fire” that is hell.
In his quest to achieve his ambition, much has been invested in him. He has been blessed with the future of the world by Jesus, legendary SoG, and by the Party, an association of mutually interestd individuals, with its, or their future, as well. These he protects with fire, and by fire is he protected. This fire, perhaps the fire of his passion for his desire, is a powerful, primal force that causes fear to rise in most, but which he invites the listener, already bathed in the flames, to sleep.
He desires not the world - it is his expense, something spent to attain his goal, and this is the cost of his desire. The Lie (See: Bullet In The Head) is his expense, as well, but in the sense that it is to his detriment or chagrin, as something he must endure for the "scope" of his desire - the range of possibilities covered and explored, utililized in his thoughts and deeds, as a consequence of his pursuit. As he sought not the world, he desires not the lie that rules the world and those in it, but he must take them up and pay for them in order to get what it is he's after.
To the meek and modest, he says not to be docile and satisfied with little, but to "raise your fists and march around, don't just take what you need." He proclaims his willingness and abilility to "jail and bury" those "committed," or those who are under the authority of the Authorities, and to "smother the rest in greed," for their suppression or perhaps for their own concealment. He lays forth the choice of either following him into tomorrow, "or I'll drag you to your grave" - either way, you're going to be coming along. But for those who look only to their children as the future, he cautions, his Spirit reaches deeply into them, and they will betray their parents to heed his call.
He accepts the crimes and pains of the past. He identifies himself with, or as the symbols of conquest, subjugation, defilement, and destruction. This, too, is the cost of his desire. But he accepts this, willingly.
In this last verse, he lays forth his justification and his decree. "For it's the end of history" - It's over. It ain't going any further. The life force from the past that crosses over the present to create the possible futures "is caged and frozen still." By trapping and draining the warmth and vitality from history, by conedemning our humanity for the evils and ills of the world, by confining it into concepts fraught with indignation and inspiring only apathy and revulsion, history has come to its end not by way of its fulfillment but by means of its negation through the denial of that same Spirit into our lives. In rejecting the past because if fails to meet our Ideals, there is too little in the present to nourish our souls, and we are left stranded with a sense of nausea for all the vitriol we have swallowed from bitter, scorned, and childish minds who infuse a sense of sickening repugnance into our common humanity, polluting the well from which we all draw to refresh our aspirations for a continued existence.
There is no remedy or relief from this, save one. "There is no other pill to take - So swallow the one that made you ill." He is saying that YOU are the agents of orange, the priests of Hiroshima, the noose and the rapists, the fields overseers. YOU have now become, or must swallow and so allow into your soul, what has been condemned as evidence of our hypocracy, of our common guilt for what we call the crimes of history, of our inherent capacity to bring destruction and devastation upon each other, upon the world.... but not as the condemned and accused before a jury, but as ministers, functionaries, as sanctified and holy justified ones restored to innocence because such is the proclamation of the one to whom the future is entrusted, the one who is wiling to do what others are not willing to do for it, and all this is but the cost of an amazing desire - that may well have nothing to do with you, except incidentally.
So swallow it down - that thing, that belief, that notion that made you ill. Sometimes, the poison is actually the remedy.
And there is no need for resentment at this, or for guilt, or any negative emotion of any kind. For YOU are the COST of HIS DESIRE, the Poet. And because of his amazing desire, you are, we are all ABSOLVED from our collective sins. This isn't Jesus takin on the sins of the world for us - this is one man on a mission saying, "I am these things that wrough death, disease, destruction, and disaster into the world. And I am for the future, too, protected with fire. Now sleep in it, because you're coming along with me, anyway."
...or as I would say it, after reading these posts, put your bitching to REST. Stop complaining about how greedy people are or how bad America is and all that crap you're just recycling from some misanthropic academic... and just let all that baggage you insist on carrying around so you can sling some muck at others burn away in the fire. And be cleansed, so you can kick some ass for the future we're all fighting for. Some, anyway...
I think the video supports this view. It's RATM that has the real wealth of the world, and they're giving it away on the street in front of the symbolic home of wealth and worldy power. Meanwhile, on the game show, ordainary people reveal just how little they know about the state of the world they live in, trapped as they are in this stupid game of "Who wants to be filthy stinking rich?" But don't think we're powerless - four guys, some instruments and equipment, and fans of awesome music shut down Wall Street for a day. Imagine what we could do if we gave up this stupid cyncism and actually TRIED?
Oh well.
This obviously seems to be about greed, judging by references to the Hiroshima bombing and the taking of Native American lands.
This is my favorite song off of The Battle of Los Angeles. It's great.