Lyrics for Act of Contrition as interpreted by PLANES

Act of Contrition Lyrics
The air was all dust and not so untamed
The ground opened up and swallowed all of the rain
And it swallowed you too, into distance unknown
As they sat down for dinner they waited for you to get home
Yeah, they set a place for you

So don't believe everything you read in that diary of yours
And this nervousness, it isn't all your fault
It's just these shaking hands won't do what I want them to
And I've tried to guess what it is that you thought about
That act of contrition that rolled off our tongues as you wept
What are you crying for?

Just dust my heart and you will find
There are no fingers printed there
Just the untouched place that lies inside
Of every lonely boy tonight

And all of this open air has caused me to choke
On your new found hope for me

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  • 21 Comments
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bright eyes burn me
01-26-2002

Rated 0 
This lyrics so amazing it hurts to read them...to me there is not one bright eyes song that surpasses another in value. They are all so perfect. Whether it be on an album, vinyl, live. Its not so much the music even but the words the emotions. "choke" anything he can not handel

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skies are gray
05-24-2002

Rated 0 
I know exactly how he feels. I've thought about this subject before i even heard of Bright Eyes...

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mrtrout
05-27-2002

Rated 0 
Seems a little self-pitying and egotistical to me.

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shortgirl_05
08-23-2002

Rated 0 
That is just because you do not appreciate his great lyrics. But that sucks for you, not the rest of us, we know good music.

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I can do the Frug
03-08-2003

Rated 0 
"just dust my heart and you will find
there are no fingers printed there
just the untouched place that lies inside
of every lonely boy tonight.
and all of this open air has caused me to choke
on your new found hope for me."

gets me everytime

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Claysavestheday
04-02-2003

Rated 0 
does anyone else think its about suicide? on her part...

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XnightingaleX
04-23-2004

Rated 0 
i swear to god, this song was written to make me cry. personal connections to my take on this song just makes it top the charts.

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Remy
11-12-2004

Rated 0 
Its a very emotional song makes me cry

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starsgocold
12-04-2004

Rated 0 
this is so moving.. it makes me sad... he's so beautiful


south jersey is for lovers

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deadpeoplerhot
01-12-2006

Rated 0 
this song makes my cry so much. especially when he says the part about the lonely boys. *tears*

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Emoomin
02-18-2006

Rated 0 
I love the way he says "rolled", it really..erm.. rolls.

The idea of the dust and then the line:
"and all of this open air has caused me to choke "
Beautiful.

Every second of this song is beautiful.

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i.was.young.enough
10-13-2006

Rated 0 
i can see how it would be about suicide, with the whole:
"the ground opened up and swallowed all of the rain
And it swallowed you too, into distance unknown" part
and maybe:
"As they sat down for dinner they waited for you to get home
Yeah, they set a place for you" could be her family or someone waiting up for, not knowing she had killed herself

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daystoforget
11-06-2006

Rated 0 
i think it's about a girl that he is involved with. when she's depressed, he's like, "so don't believe everything you read in that diary of yours" - the things she says to put herself down, he says they're not true. he reassures her hey look, you have your family. he's telling her that he doesn't have experience with this, and in the last line it seems like she really likes him and he's not used to it.

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maybexmaybe
01-19-2007

Rated 0 
suicide? come on, are we even talking about the same song?

i think conor is talking about feeling affection from someone else, for the first time ever. also, maybe he is talking to someone who cared a lot for people and felt like they didn't return it at all.

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wordpollution
01-24-2007

Rated 0 
It feels to me like he is talking to a girl
Who clearly feels as though she is alone in the world and who is often second-guessing herself and her relationships
"So don't believe everything you read in that diary of yours"
And he is trying to reassure her that not only does she have a family behind her but she has him 100%

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Wentworth_Akeley
02-11-2007

Rated 0 
Does anyone else think he's talking about his own inability to accept love from others:
"Just dust my heart and you will find
There are no fingers printed there"
Perhaps the girl he's speaking to took this the wrong way, so she ran away, commited suicide, etc.

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endlesstaticsea
02-18-2007

Rated 0 
does anyone know what album this is from?

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shut up hannah.
03-08-2007

Rated 0 
My immediate thoughts were similar to those of Wentworth_Akeley...that he's talking about his inability to love. or that perhaps the girl is in love with him, & he's not sure how to return it, which hurts & depresses her...& part of this song is reassuring her that it's nothing to do with the way that she acts.

But then, i thought about the title, & i wasn't really sure what it was about, so i looked it up on google & only just discovered that it's a catholic prayer...which is as follows:
O my God, I am heartily sorry
for having offended Thee,
and I detest all my sins,
because I dread the loss of Heaven
and the pains of Hell,
but most of all because they
offend Thee, my God,
Who art all-good and deserving
of all my love.
I firmly resolve, with the help
of Thy grace to confess my sins,
to do penance
and to amend my life. Amen.

so i guess it's about apologising for your sins.
i'm not sure if that adds anything?

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ki6i
06-06-2007

Rated 0 
this song is obviously about suicide.

an act of contrition is to apologise, and ask for forgiveness for your sins; it is a religious thing and the ultimate sin in catholocism, christianity and other religions is suicide. ultimately anyone who is successful in taking their own lives is instantly condemned to hell.

he doesn't understand why she is the way she is, but he knows thats she's too absorbed in her own problems and what's going on in her head to have anything left to give him.

i think it's about actually reading her diary to try and understand what was going on in her head, why she killed herself, and he finds
"Just dust my heart and you will find
There are no fingers printed there
Just the untouched place that lies inside
Of every lonely boy tonight

And all of this open air has caused me to choke
On your new found hope for me "
written there and that's what makes him realise, she was in a compelte other world to him and he was just making her worse.

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clippy.hanger
09-18-2007

Rated 0 
isn't the first line
"the air was all dust on a night so untamed"?

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hendrixrox
01-18-2009

Rated 0 
"So don't believe
everything that you read
in that diary of yours"

Beautiful.

Also, when was the last time you heard a modern band write in 3/4?

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