Well death may come invisible
Or in a holy wall of fire
In the breath between the markers
On a black I-80 mile

from the madness of the governments
To the vengeance of the sea
Yeah everything is eclipsed
By the shape of destiny

so love me now, hell is coming
Yeah kiss my mouth, hell is here

little soldier, little insect
You know war it has no heart
It will kill you in the sunshine
Or happily in the dark

where kindness is a card game
And a bent up cigarette
In the trenches, in the hard rain
With a bullet and a bet

he says help me out, yeah, hell is coming
Could you do it now? hell is here

see the sterile soil pours in the sky
Dirty water final scraps of light
Bring a new tear

so wake, baby, wake
But leave that blanket round you
There's nothing as safe
I'm leaving this place
There is nothing I'm planning to take
Just you, just you



Lyrics submitted by sarabroc

Track duration: 05:12

"No One Would Riot for Less" as written by Conor Oberst

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

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No One Would Riot for Less song meanings
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81 Comments

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  • 0
    My Interpretation:This song is just beautiful to listen too....Just wondering, does anyone else feel utterly sad listening to this? When i hear this song...I cry....not full blown bawling, but kinda a lump in my throat, and then as the song progresses my eyes become wetter and wetter, and i have a kinda pit in my stomach...It's weird...This is the only song that does this to me the way I'm describing :))

    As for the songs meaning...IMO - i think it's describing the destruction of mankind and the end of the world and how when it all falls apart....The only thing left that's worth hanging on to is Love....and you can lose everything or it can be taken from you by War/disaster/death, but Love never will be....It will be there right till the end and maybe beyond...Very spiritual and poetic :))


    "Death may come, invisible
    Or in a holy wall of fire
    In the breath between the markers
    On some black I-80 mile

    From the madness of the governments
    To the vengeance of the sea
    Everything is eclipsed
    By the shape of destiny"

    Basically talking about how Death can come outta nowhere for us....whether it's a fire...a car accident or simply just our time's up....How religion causes wars, and governments strike at each other, and we're expected to follow along....Basically, anything that could destroy us as a species is implied in the above lyrics....We have fire...car accidents...Wars...Natural disasters(flooding/Tsunamis) and how in a spiritual way....It's our final destination....We kill each other, or something kills us....Our inevitable destiny.


    "So love me now
    Hell is coming
    Just kiss my mouth
    Hell is here"

    Basically what is says...He wants to be loved...His only comfort/need when it all ends.


    "Little soldier, little insect
    You know war, it has no heart
    It will kill you in the sunshine
    Or just as happily in the dark

    Well, kindness is a card game
    Or a bent-up cigarette
    In the trenches, in the hard rain
    With the bullet and a bet"

    Talking about the cruelty/violence of War and how it doesn't show you any mercy...Rain or shine...sunlight or darkness...It will get you in the end, regardless of who you are....also, talking about how Life is a game of chance....We don't know what's waiting for us, so he's comparing life to a card game or Russian Roulette ( "Bullet and a bet" )...I think by " bent up cigarette" he means broken..not perfect like life and humanity.....and " in the trenches, in the hard rain" is symbolic...it shows a bleak picture of life.


    "He says help me out
    Hell is coming
    Could you do it now?
    Hell is here"

    again...just like before...when it all ends all he needs is the support of his loved one...to feel not alone...they're in hell together...makes hell less hellish.



    "Do you see the sterile soil
    Poisoned sky, yellow water
    The final scraps of life
    Bringing new tears"

    how the dying world looks and the sadness/pain/guilt looking upon it and knowing we could of prevented it.


    "Wake, baby, wake
    Leave that blanket around you
    There's no where we're safe

    I'm leaving this place
    But there's nothing
    I'm planning to take

    Just you"

    Sounds like surviving 'post apocalyptic' style and they have each other in the end.



    Flag rochey1on September 05, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:It is a very personal song and not close to what the title suggested. Yet I'm guessing that he calls it that because no one would riot for less than the loss of a loved one. Considering the times we live in now that may be all it takes.
    Flag PayPaulon March 08, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think this song is about war. the way it describes the hell of it all and the part where he says, "could you help me out?...could you do it now?..." i think that part is about a mercy kill and the rest i think is fairly obvious. but what's so amazing and beautiful about how Conor writes is that it can be interpreted in any way and can be related to anyone whether or not the actual subject of the song is obvious or not. amazing. Bright Eyes is by far one of the greatest bands and Conor one of the greatest writers.
    Flag davidonrion August 07, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:The death may come, invisible
    Or in the holy wall of fire
    And in the breaths between the markers
    On some black I-80 mile

    From the madness of the governments
    To the vengeance of the sea
    But everything is eclipsed
    By the shape of destiny

    So love me now
    Hell is coming
    You kiss my mouth
    Hell is here

    Little soldier, little insect
    You know war, it has no heart
    It will kill you in the sunshine
    Or happily in the dark

    Where kindness is a card game
    Or a bent-up cigarette
    In the trenches, in the hard rain
    With the bullet and a bet

    He says help me out
    Hell is coming
    But could you do it now?
    Hell is here

    See the sterile soil
    Poisoned sky, yellow water
    The final scraps of life
    Bringing new tears

    Wake, baby, wake
    Leave that blanket around you
    There's no where that's safe

    I'm leaving this place
    But there's nothing
    I'm planning to take

    Just you

    Just you
    Just you
    Just you
    Just you

    I listened to the whole song ... so i decided to help you out with what you miss ... to me this song sends out a srong message that the end of the world is coming like when he says hell is coming and than when he say's hell is here ... that means that it's already here or something like that i don't know either way this is a damn good song.
    Flag AcrossTheDarkenSkyon May 15, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Im getting "War Has No Heart" tattooed on my chest with a heart grenade below it
    Flag DamonBonoon February 06, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Cassadaga is one of my absolute favorite albums, I suppose because of the emotions I get from it. Every song blows me away. Conor Oberst is a genius.
    Flag onagravityhaloon December 29, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:My opinion - the song, like Metallica's 'One' is about WWI. In particular it seems to take the view of a soldier who has experienced the horrors of war and the ease with which life is lost. The greatest pleasure of living in a trench may be the brief respite from boredom brought on by an impromtu card game, or the relaxing of the nerves from a cigarette. The refrain seems to take on the thoughts of a soldier thinking about his wife or girlfreind, imagining kissing her one more time. Ultimately the song ends with a plea. One soldier begging another to take his life. Because, as the song says life in the trneches is hell and as cheap as life is and as common as death is, death is the only way out of this hell. The final lyrics point to the idea that when he finally dies he can't take anything with him but his thoughts of his loved one.

    NOW - that does not speak to the lyric about a black I-80 mile which as others have correctly noted is a long interstate that runs through Conors home state of Nebraska. My bet is, when he says "on some black I-80 mile" he is not referring to the actual interstate. The operative word here is SOME, which assumes there could be other I-80's besides the one in the US (not literally). The point therefore becomes that the barrenness and lonlieness of this long stretch of interstate could be compared to the barrenness or lonliness of the trenches. Or, and I like this - "some black I-80 mile" sounds newly paved, black tar etc. Imagine, no man's land; torched by flame throwers, forests cut down by machine guns, flattened and blackened by artillery... just like paving a road... In other words it's a simile - the area of fighting (in France?) is "some (like a) black I-80 mile"

    What do you think?

    Flag kmsmanon December 09, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I've read where other people have drawn parallels between this song and certain novels. This song, to me, is eerily appropriate for Ayn Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged.
    If you've read it, you'll know what I mean.

    Conor is a lyrical mastermind. Beautiful.<3
    Flag thexyellowxbirdon January 28, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This is my favorite song from the album, especially when he sings,
    "So love me now
    Hell is coming
    Just kiss my mouth
    Hell is here"
    Flag ronmascaraon November 12, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This is my absolute favouritest Bright Eyes song ever. Conor Oberst is just so incredible
    Flag stinaaahon October 23, 2008   Link

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