I've felt this way before
I fell right through the floor
And I am certain I've become
Broken, bruised, and numb
Would you restate your opinion
And hold back your investigation
Do you see the sins you're making
Because I've made them all before

Chorus:
I will now rise from the ashes
Don't call me pretentious
I'm sitting here making my own rules
And if I fall from the ceiling
You'll be down there waiting
And my only hope
Is falling down

And by my own admission
You'll find that my condition
Is worse than you've imagined
You're better off if you know
That every time before that I
Have tried to measure pain inside
You can't ignore it
Right now I can't ignore it

I will now rise from the ashes
Don't call me pretentious
I'm sitting here making my own rules
And if I fall from the ceiling
You'll be down there waiting
To finish me

It's settling inside of me

I'll take my heart
And rip my feelings out
Before they make me doubt
And I'll fall down with flames burning
Alive again
As long as you know that

I will now rise from the ashes
Don't call me pretentious
I'm sitting here making my own rules
And if I fall from the ceiling
You'll be down there waiting
To finish me
Finish me



Lyrics submitted by risefromtheashes

Track duration: 02:58


Rise From the Ashes song meanings
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16 Comments

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  • 0
    My Interpretation:Okay I just heard of these guys, decided to check them out. This is a pretty great song, I love the acoustic. I'm pretty much impressed. But this song is super tricky. I've been listening to it straight half an hour, and I still don't know what I can get from this. I do think this is about mistakes and learning from them. But more in depth, I think this song is about giving advice to someone who is following the same path as you did way back when and moreover for us listeners, it is the singer recalling how something that happened in his past has affected who he is as a person now.
    As the readers may notice, there are 2 very different themes subtly set into this song. I think this is the singer's conflicting emotions about this event in his past.

    The first verse could be where he starts off his "lecture".
    And I am certain I've become
    Broken, bruised, and numb
    -Anything concerning what happened to the singer in the past, he now knows not to dwell on the situation because he knows things will eventually get better. Thus, he is "numb" to the pain any situation relating to this event could bring, and although this is the case, it still hurts remembering what happened and it has still left him affected.
    This is the lecture, as shown in the last lines of the verse. The chorus is answering a remark that the person the singer is addressing could have made. This could most likely be a remark of contradicting the singer's thoughts. But this is the answer:

    "..But I've learned from this. Don't call me pretentious or naive because even though I'm making my own rules now, I have more experience and better judgment to help me. And if I ever do fall and I don't take my own advice, I know you'll be there waiting to tell me that you told me so, you'll be happy to prove me wrong. And when I won't be able to climb my way back up to try and save myself from my wrong judgment, the only thing I can really do is to fall and accept not being able to help you."

    -Everyone knows how that is right? You try to prove someone wrong, but when you fail, it's not something so great to feel. And if for instance, you try helping a friend or someone and you're trying to give them words of hope and advice, but if they see you fail for whatever reason at something else, they won't take your advice because why would they trust someone who disregards their own advice?

    The second verse is the contradictory to the song so far. He's saying "and with my permission, I'll let you know and I'll even agree with you about how hurt and screwed up I am. This did hurt me and you can see that I'm probably more of a mess now than I was then since I have more time to think and dwell on it."
    Then when he says :
    You're better off if you know
    That every time before that I
    Have tried to measure pain inside
    You can't ignore it
    Right now I can't ignore it

    He could be saying: "And you'll be more convinced if you knew that every time (during this event) I tried to measure how much pain I was feeling to see if I could overcome it or if I would just have to wait for things to get better. But doing this doesn't help much and either way, you're still hurt and you just can't ignore the pain no matter how many times you tell yourself that things will get better. And even now at the present time, it does still hurt me to recall back on that time of my life.

    Then in the bridge, he says this:
    I'll take my heart
    And rip my feelings out
    Before they make me doubt
    And I'll fall down with flames burning
    Alive again
    As long as you know that

    He could be saying: "I'll block out all emotion that I feel and I'll take my heart just so you can be completely convinced in taking my advice and I'll do this before I doubt my own advice myself. And if something ever happens to me again, equal to or worse than the past, I'll be alright as long as you know how to learn from painful experiences"


    And I'll relate this to my own personal experiences. In elementary school, I broadened my music and tried adapting a new style. Because I liked this new style and decided to keep it, my friends didn't approve and they stopped talking to me, and I had no one else to hang out with. I graduated and I still talked to a few of my friends. Now I have another friend younger than me. She feels that her friends are slowly drifting away from her and she feels left out. Her experience is the same, and I feel empathetic toward her. We never talked about personal matters like this before. When she told me about this, I told her about my story and we just talked about this, and life, and other stuff. So basically, I interpreted this song through this particular experience of mine.

    Hypothetically, just think if the singer really did write about that, and instead, this experience happened to him. He loves his friend so much he would go to great lengths to convince his friend to take his advice. I know I would do anything just to get a few words of hope into my friends' heads that actually makes them think for a bit. As proved in the bridge of this song, he will even "tear out his own heart and emotions" just so he can be completely sure that there's no trace of doubt in the advice he is giving his friend.

    So sorry for the really long comment. I just hope this helps future readers :p
    Flag roarbunny23on March 13, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:this is completey awesome song.
    i agree with NathanLovesOatmeal.

    "I'll take my heart
    And rip my feelings out
    Before they make me doubt
    And I'll fall down with flames burning
    Alive again
    As long as you know that"

    that part gets me evry time. :]
    Flag ellafellaon December 06, 2009   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:I think the image of a Phoenix was intended. However, in totality the lyrics are perplexing. The lines most confusing to me are as follows: "I'm sitting here making my own rules" (I guess this coordinates with "I will now rise from the ashes," which literally would be impossible, but he is saying he can do it because he is now making his own rules and not following anyone else's), "..To finish me" (I guess he is saying that [the person he is addressing] will only "finish," or kill him (figuratively, of course) if he is to continue interaction with him/her), and finally, from the first stanza, "Because I've made them all before"... What? This rules out [the person he is addressing] not helping him and not warning based on past mistakes, because apparently Kevin (singer) made those mistakes before him. Anyways, its an enigma, but I believe the broad picture is of the Phoenix and of learning from past mistakes.
    Flag NathanLovesOatmealon June 04, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:wow dreamersdisease completely said exactly what I was thinking. This song definitely gave me that pheonix image of rebirth and sort of starting over. i think the guy in the song wants to make a change by living his life the way he wants to and not by society
    Flag serenity23on August 01, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:lol..*from*
    Flag DreamersDiseaseon October 13, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:lol..*from*
    Flag DreamersDiseaseon October 13, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Rise of the ashes....reminds me of a rebirth of phoenix. Phoenix birds are known to seek transformation & change. To me this song is about rising from a fall or a mistake & learning from it so you don't make happen twice. Reminds me of the once bitten, twice shy kinda thing.
    Flag DreamersDiseaseon September 20, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i love quietdrive!! i guess the song is basically about rising up from your uhhh... lowest point and your gonna make it work for yourself, your going to rise to the occassion.
    Flag boyslikegirls#1on August 24, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i really love this song. i heard it yesterday on the radio when they were live on 92 pro fm and i fell in love with the song. x] they are awesome and so is this song. :)
    Flag xxjessicamariexxon July 11, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I feel like this song is about someone who`s been looking up to a friend, and they let them down. Like they are both going through the same things, and whenever he messes up- it`s always like his friend is messed up before him & they just aren`t helping each other.
    So eventually he decides to take matters into his own hands, to "rise from the ashes", by "making his own rules" and "finish me".
    It`s a tricky song, but that`s what I get out of it.
    Flag makes_senseon March 18, 2007   Link

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