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Dear friends of this academy
Romeo is bleeding to death
To see a friend bleed to death, what for
Some kind of metaphor that I can't see?
So I'll drink until I see it.
This sky will make me sick
So I'll give up on you
I'll give up on this
This sky will make me sick
So I'll give up on this
I'll give up on you
Archers in your arches
Raise your fingers for the last salute
And bleed this skyline dry
Your history is mine
So you want to hold me up and bring me down
Yes, you want to hold me up and break me down
I don't care for your sweet scent
Or the way you want me more than I want you
I don't care for your sweet scent
Or the way you want me more than I want you
Archers in your arches
Raise your fingers for the last salute
And bleed this skyline dry
Your history is mine
Archers in your arches
Raise your fingers for the last salute
And bleed this skyline dry
Your history is mine
It's all mine
Romeo is bleeding to death
To see a friend bleed to death, what for
Some kind of metaphor that I can't see?
So I'll drink until I see it.
This sky will make me sick
So I'll give up on you
I'll give up on this
This sky will make me sick
So I'll give up on this
I'll give up on you
Archers in your arches
Raise your fingers for the last salute
And bleed this skyline dry
Your history is mine
So you want to hold me up and bring me down
Yes, you want to hold me up and break me down
I don't care for your sweet scent
Or the way you want me more than I want you
I don't care for your sweet scent
Or the way you want me more than I want you
Archers in your arches
Raise your fingers for the last salute
And bleed this skyline dry
Your history is mine
Archers in your arches
Raise your fingers for the last salute
And bleed this skyline dry
Your history is mine
It's all mine
Lyrics submitted by nEsTeLLe
Track duration: 04:10
"History" as written by Miranda Eleanor De Fonbrune Cooper, Brian Thomas Higgins, Lisa Cowling, Tim Elliot Larcombe, Shawn Lee Mahan, Jonathan Christopher Shave, Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Kimberley Walsh, Nicola Roberts, Cheryl Tweedy
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Universal Music Publishing Group, EMI Music Publishing
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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He said that it is for all the people he knew who as kids were told that they would never amount to anything, and would never be anyone, and who thought they could find the answer at the bottom of a bottle.
So yes, this song is about alcoholism.
In terms of my own opinion, I believe archers in your arches refers to sleeping homeless in doorways. Raising your fingers in the archers 'V' as one last fuck you to the world.
Your history is mine, is in reference to that they have the same history, they grew up with each other, yet you've given up on life and now your a homeless alcoholic. to put it bluntly :)
Those of you who mentioned the historical reference to the two fingers, that's true. We don't use it as often nowadays (usually using the middle finger) but giving something your middle and index finger has the same meaning. I'm not sure if that's the same in other countries, as it's relevant to how the British cut off the French archers fingers so they couldn't fight in the war.
The video is about the coal minders strike, when Margaret Thatcher (then Prime Minister) shut down all the mines and caused a huge uproar - there were riots for nearly an entire year. Thousands of working class people were left unemployed. It was a huge deal, and it's a pretty huge part in British history.
It's like their saying that swearing using the two fingers was the salute of the minors who fought for their livelihoods.
'I don't care for your sweet scent' and 'some kind of metaphor' suggests the confusion as to why the government thought it necessary to cause so much poverty and bloodshed, the 'sweet scent' being the justification that these politicians fed the public.
"Dear friends of this academy, oh Romeo is bleeding to death" - It's a history that will be remembered and studied, and it was something as tragic as Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.
Look it up - or watch Billy Elliot!
The whole song he speaks in front of a mutual aid group (e.g. Alcoholics Anonymous) and talks about his own experience and tries to convice the others to give up.
Dear friends of this academy
Romeo is bleeding to death
To see a friend bleed to death
What for
Some kind of metaphor that i can't see
So I'll drink until I see it
(Academy = mutual aid group. This, so far, is how his addiction began. I'm not an expert for Welsh history so I can't give an exact interpretation here what this might have to do with the miners)
This sky will make me sick
So I'll give up on you
I'll give up on this
This sky will make me sick
So I'll give up on this
I'll give up on you
(Personal reason why he stops drinking)
Archers in your arches
Raise your fingers for one last salute
And bleed this skyline dry
Your history is mine
(Invitation for other group members to stop drinking as well in the sense of "show the alcohol your middle finger, what you've been through is also part of my history, I know what I'm talking about")
You want to hold me up an bring me down
You want to hold me up and break me down
(Side effects of alcohol)
But I don't care for your sweet scent
Or the way you want me
more (!) than I want you
I don't care for your sweet scent
Or the way you want me
more than I want you
(The strong addiction to alcohol rules his life)
It's all mine...
(Again: Affirmation. He's also been through all that the other group members went)
"Dear friends of this academy
oooh romeo is bleeding to death
To see a friend bleed to death, what for
Some kind of metaphor that I cant see?
So I'll drink until I see it.
This sky will make me sick
So I'll give up on you
I'll give up on this
This sky will make me sick
So I'll give up on this
I'll give up on you
Archers in your arches
Raise your fingers for one last salute
And bleed this skyline dry
Your history is mine
So you want to hold me up and bring me down
Yes, you want to hold me up and break me down
I don't care for your sweet scent
Or the way you want me more than I want you
and I don't care for your sweet scent
Or the way you want me more than I want you
Archers in your arches
Raise your fingers for one last salute
And bleed this skyline dry
Your history is mine
Archers in your arches
Raise your fingers for one last salute
And bleed this skyline dry
Your history is mine..
It's all mine..
It's all mine..
It's all mine..
Archers in your arches
Raise your fingers for one last salute
And bleed this skyline dry
Your history is mine..
Archers in your arches
Raise your fingers for one last salute
And bleed this skyline dry
Your history is mine..."
ANYWAY...
I orginally thought this was about a girl though i know understand its about drinking
"and I don't care for your sweet scent
Or the way you want me more than I want you"-
i always thought this ment how you tend to not like someone when they like you more then you like them.
Dear friends of this academy
(meaning friends that work in the pitts)
Romeo is bleeding to death
(romeo is often seen as a hero, to see him BLEED to death could suggest how they felt as though they was starving because they had no money coming in and couldn't afford to eat or cloth families. this also suggests how the hardship the miners suffered during the strikes because even the hardest leaders were breaking down)
To see a friend bleed to death
(same as above, seeing a friend starved of money and food)
What for
Some kind of metaphor that i can't see~
(the metaphor could be margaret thatchers excuse to close the mines, "that the pitts wern't making any money"", the metaphor that no miner could see)
So I'll drink until I see it
(this could suggest how the miners drank after work or on the picket lines in the working mens clubs)
This sky will make me sick
(looking up at the sky line seeing the colliery tower and buildings could suggest how he felt)
So I'll give up on you
(suggesting how tempted he is to just go find another job and quit the mines)
I'll give up on this
This sky will make me sick
So I'll give up on this
I'll give up on you
(suggests how he's tempted to give up on being on strike with his mates, and go back working as a scab and start earning money again)
Archers in your arches
(the call to for the miners to riot)
Raise your fingers for one last salute
(possibly meaning one last salute goodbye to the pitts, or could be them swearing at the scabs or police)
And bleed this skyline dry
(bleed the skyline dry, could suggest how they will starve the country of coal, and because of this the colliery and pull wheel will stop moving)
Your history is mine
(how the miners families share the same history as the miners because they also suffered)
You want to hold me up an bring me down
(how the goverment wants to hold the miners up and try to break them down so they quit striking)
You want to hold me up and break me down
But I don't care for your sweet scent
(suggests how tempting it was to go back to work, the pitts were offering double wages at the time of the strikes)
Or the way you want me
More than I want you
I don't care for your sweet scent
Or the way you want me
(how the goverment wants the miners to work)
More than I want you
(shows how resiliant the miners were and how the goverment needed them more than the workers needed the goverment)
[2x]
Archers in your arches
Raise your fingers for one last salute
I'll bleed this skyline dry
Your history is mine
It's all mine...
It's all mine...
It's all mine...
[2x]
Archers in your arches
Raise your fingers for one last salute
I'll bleed this skyline dry
Your history is mine.
The whole song he speaks in front of a mutual aid group (e.g. Alcoholics Anonymous) and talks about his own experience and tries to convice the others to give up.
Dear friends of this academy
Romeo is bleeding to death
To see a friend bleed to death
What for
Some kind of metaphor that i can't see
So I'll drink until I see it
(Academy = mutual aid group. This, so far, is how his addiction began. I'm not an expert for Welsh history so I can't give an exact interpretation here what this might have to do with the miners)
This sky will make me sick
So I'll give up on you
I'll give up on this
This sky will make me sick
So I'll give up on this
I'll give up on you
(Personal reason why he stops drinking)
Archers in your arches
Raise your fingers for one last salute
And bleed this skyline dry
Your history is mine
(Invitation for other group members to stop drinking as well in the sense of "show the alcohol your middle finger, what you've been through is also part of my history, I know what I'm talking about")
You want to hold me up an bring me down
You want to hold me up and break me down
(Side effects of alcohol)
But I don't care for your sweet scent
Or the way you want me
more (!) than I want you
I don't care for your sweet scent
Or the way you want me
more than I want you
(The strong addiction to alcohol rules his life)
It's all mine...
(Again: Affirmation. He's also been through all that the other group members went)
Those words hold true for me, coming from a former mining village. Thatcher and the tories ripped the heart out of the community. But we are still here. Maybe weaker, but the valleys communities which thatcher tried so hard to destroy are still here.
Or the way you want me
More than I want you"
I also think these lyrics here could also be about some kind of an addiction. Like alchohol for instance. He denies that he needs it or actually he "wants" it.
"you want me more than i want you" could be just an excuse for his addiction, and denial is very common among addicts.
"Archers in your arches
Raise your fingers for one last salute"
And I think this may actualy come from a historical base. The band are Welsh (duh), where the longbow was originaly created. The longbow, in the English army, was the source of the classic two finger gesture (the two finger salute), which was originaly directed towards the French as a way of showing that you still had them (they tended to cut of the fingers of bowmen who they captured) and were going to use them to kill a few people now.
Other than the Romeo lines, I can see no other links like that though.
---
I can not more agree with you.
I think these lyrics are directly connected with a historical event or something like that. I think it's a good song written a bit of nationalistic touch.
fighting for their childrens future to work father like son (your histroy is mine)