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Wake me up inside, tell me there's a reason, to take another step
To get up off my knees and follow this path of most resistance
Whatever it takes us, whatever it faces and where ever it leads
So wake me when it's through
I don't want to feel the things that you do
Don't worry I'll be fine, I just don't want this dream
Wake me up inside
Something for the pain, just to kill this feeling
Though we look awake, inside we're all still sleeping
And I spend my time here alive but barely there
Do you believe we'll ever make it, do you think we'll ever really see
So wake me when it's through
I don't want to feel the things that you do
Don't worry I'll be fine, I just don't want this dream
Wake me up inside
Wake me up inside, these dreams all die if we let them
Wake me up inside, today won't start if we just give in
Don't show me anything
Just wake me when it's through
I don't want to feel the things that you do
Don't worry I'll be fine
I just don't want this dream
Wake me up inside
To get up off my knees and follow this path of most resistance
Whatever it takes us, whatever it faces and where ever it leads
So wake me when it's through
I don't want to feel the things that you do
Don't worry I'll be fine, I just don't want this dream
Wake me up inside
Something for the pain, just to kill this feeling
Though we look awake, inside we're all still sleeping
And I spend my time here alive but barely there
Do you believe we'll ever make it, do you think we'll ever really see
So wake me when it's through
I don't want to feel the things that you do
Don't worry I'll be fine, I just don't want this dream
Wake me up inside
Wake me up inside, these dreams all die if we let them
Wake me up inside, today won't start if we just give in
Don't show me anything
Just wake me when it's through
I don't want to feel the things that you do
Don't worry I'll be fine
I just don't want this dream
Wake me up inside
Lyrics submitted by ThisismyUsername
Track duration: 02:45
"Under the Knife" as written by Joseph Principe, Timothy Mcilrath, Brandon Barnes, Christopher Chasse
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Everyone interprets songs differently, and this is how I hear it.
I think you, like a few other people here, are taking this too literally. Like most of Rise Against's music, this song is extremely metaphorical. Wanting to be "woken up inside" and the references to sleeping/dreaming don't necessarily represent actually being asleep or (in reference to an earlier post) being anesthetized for surgery. Music's extremely personal, so this song can technically mean whatever you want it to, but i don't think it's meant to be taken literally.
In my opinion, this song is about rape. As morbid and awful as that sounds, that's the theme i, personally, see reflected in the song the most.
Undeniably, he's talking about not wanting to feel whatever's going on in the song. The issues of the narrator's life are too much for him to handle, so he shuts them out. He can't deal with what's being done to him, so he hides away inside himself and starts simply going through the motions. He acts like he's "awake" and tells everyone that he's fine, but he's not even really alive anymore. However, he's found someone who's willing to listen to him, and he depends on them to save him now.
"Wake me up inside
and tell me there's a reason
to take another step
to get up off my knees and
face this path of most resistance
Wherever it takes us
whatever it faces
and wherever it leads..."
After feeling so dead inside for so long, the narrator wants whoever he's talking to to pull him out of his haze. In a way he's challenging whoever he's speaking to to give him a reason to go on- to show him one reason why he should just end all the pain he's been feeling then and there. It's almost cynical except there's an underlying vulnerability, a surety that he can't go on alone anymore and he needs this person to get him through.
"So wake me when it's through
I don't wanna feel the things that you do..."
This would be the narrator talking to his rapist as he closes himself off. He wants no part in what's being done to him, and the only way he can deal with it is to shut down completely until it's over.
"...Don't worry I'll be fine
I just don't want this dream
wake me up inside..."
This moment switches back to the narrator talking to his friend or whoever, trying to reassure this person that he's okay because he's trying to convince himself of the same thing. However, he's done dealing with the situation and is asking this person to help get him out of this situation and pull him out of the closed off half-alive state he's put himself in to deal.
"Something for the pain
just to kill this feeling..."
He's trying to find a way to deal with everything he's feeling- all the guilt and disgust that comes with his traumatic experience(s). He wants something, anything (drugs, alcohol, someone to talk to) to numb his emotions and his thoughts.
"And though we look alive
inside we're all still sleeping..."
This has two meanings, the way i see it-- on one side he could be referencing the there-but-not-there theme he's held throughout the song. On the other, he could be pointing out the way everyone else has over-looked the problem, the fact that no one has offered to help him before hand.
"I spend my time here alive
but barely there.
Do you believe we'll ever make it?
Do you believe we'll ever really see?"
Again the idea that he's been going through the motions of his life day after day, but hasn't really been *living* his life. So he looks for reassurance in this person he's talking to, wanting them to tell him that he'll be okay and will make it out of this hell he's living alive and stronger.
"Wake me up inside
these dreams all die if we let them
Wake me up inside
today wont start if we just give in
Don't show me anything..."
This is basically his "call to action" moment where he finally realizes that he'll never get out if he doesn't do something and do it now. He's explaining to whoever he's speaking to that his life, his dreams, everything he every was and ever could be will end, deflate, and die if they don't stop it. This is the moment he realizes that he can, will, and has to fight.
Read more at songmeanings.net/songs/view/3530822107858598609/
Okay rant over. For what I think the song is about:
I think being under the knife is a metaphor of living life. Life being like a painful surgery. It's just about life beating down on you, and finding a reason to keep going through it all even though sometimes it's just a mess. It is not about: literally being in surgery, the war in Iraq, wanting to metaphorically wake up from a dream, an avid activist's view of the state of the world.. Rise Against fans tend to be such fan boys and girls who are the most pseudo punk I can think of.
In my opinion, this song is about rape. As morbid and awful as that sounds, that's the theme i, personally, see reflected in the song the most.
Undeniably, he's talking about not wanting to feel whatever's going on in the song. The issues of the narrator's life are too much for him to handle, so he shuts them out. He can't deal with what's being done to him, so he hides away inside himself and starts simply going through the motions. He acts like he's "awake" and tells everyone that he's fine, but he's not even really alive anymore. However, he's found someone who's willing to listen to him, and he depends on them to save him now.
"Wake me up inside
and tell me there's a reason
to take another step
to get up off my knees and
face this path of most resistance
Wherever it takes us
whatever it faces
and wherever it leads..."
After feeling so dead inside for so long, the narrator wants whoever he's talking to to pull him out of his haze. In a way he's challenging whoever he's speaking to to give him a reason to go on- to show him one reason why he should just end all the pain he's been feeling then and there. It's almost cynical except there's an underlying vulnerability, a surety that he can't go on alone anymore and he needs this person to get him through.
"So wake me when it's through
I don't wanna feel the things that you do..."
This would be the narrator talking to his rapist as he closes himself off. He wants no part in what's being done to him, and the only way he can deal with it is to shut down completely until it's over.
"...Don't worry I'll be fine
I just don't want this dream
wake me up inside..."
This moment switches back to the narrator talking to his friend or whoever, trying to reassure this person that he's okay because he's trying to convince himself of the same thing. However, he's done dealing with the situation and is asking this person to help get him out of this situation and pull him out of the closed off half-alive state he's put himself in to deal.
"Something for the pain
just to kill this feeling..."
He's trying to find a way to deal with everything he's feeling- all the guilt and disgust that comes with his traumatic experience(s). He wants something, anything (drugs, alcohol, someone to talk to) to numb his emotions and his thoughts.
"And though we look alive
inside we're all still sleeping..."
This has two meanings, the way i see it-- on one side he could be referencing the there-but-not-there theme he's held throughout the song. On the other, he could be pointing out the way everyone else has over-looked the problem, the fact that no one has offered to help him before hand.
"I spend my time here alive
but barely there.
Do you believe we'll ever make it?
Do you believe we'll ever really see?"
Again the idea that he's been going through the motions of his life day after day, but hasn't really been *living* his life. So he looks for reassurance in this person he's talking to, wanting them to tell him that he'll be okay and will make it out of this hell he's living alive and stronger.
"Wake me up inside
these dreams all die if we let them
Wake me up inside
today wont start if we just give in
Don't show me anything..."
This is basically his "call to action" moment where he finally realizes that he'll never get out if he doesn't do something and do it now. He's explaining to whoever he's speaking to that his life, his dreams, everything he every was and ever could be will end, deflate, and die if they don't stop it. This is the moment he realizes that he can, will, and has to fight.