What are you changing?
Who do you think you're changing?
You can't change things
We're all stuck in our ways
It's like trying to clean the ocean
What do you think, you can drain it?
Well, it was poison and dry
Long before you came

But you can wake up younger under the knife
You can wake up sounder if you get analyzed
And I'd better wake up
There but for the grace of God go I

It's hard to believe your prophets
When they're asking you to change things
With their suspect lives, we look the other way
Are you really that pure, sir?
Thought I saw you in Vegas
It was not pretty, but she was (not your wife)

But she will wake up wealthy
And you will wake up forty-five
And she will wake up with baby
There but for the grace of God go I

What am I fighting for?
The cops are at my front door
I can't escape that way
The windows are in flames
And what's that on your ankle?
You say they're not coming for you
But house arrest is really just the same (just the same)

Like when you wake up behind the bar
Trying to remember where you are
Having crushed all the pretty things
There but for the grace of God go I

But I still believe
And I will rise up with fists
And I will take what's mine
There but for the grace of God go I
There but for the grace of God go I
There but for the grace of God go I
There but for the grace of God go I


Lyrics submitted by y plus white girl

Rise Up with Fists Lyrics as written by Jenny Lewis

Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.

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Rise Up with Fists!!! song meanings
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    General Comment

    In addition to the above, I think there might be some underlying references to a lot of the sex scandals that happened with various religious leaders. Many of these occurred in the late 1980's (at a time when Jenny was in her early teens.) "But you can wake up younger under the knife" also seems to hint at our obsession with youth and how someone who looks young can be considered to be truthful even when they are one big lie. The last stanza really seems to be mocking those who idolize those who do wrong and stand by them even when they go down (like Trump supporters.)

    quampon February 03, 2019   Link

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