Burning down Neverland, scatter the ashes
White lines, black tar, the matches
Is this another dead by misadventure?
Tell me what you got, what you really got, hey, hey

We'll rest in our graves
Lexington, course your veins
Sleepers can't just wake the dead
When needles and lovers collapse on guilty beds

Fall asleep
Don't fall asleep
Don't fall asleep

They lied when they said that the good die young
They lied when they said the good die young, whoa, oh, oh, oh
They lied when they said the good die young
Stay with me, stay with me tonight

Burning down bridges now, scatter the ashes
Godspeed to all you're after
Is this a life left just to remember?
Tell them who you were, who you really were, hey, hey

Kill yourself slowly over time
Fashion statement suicide
She's still asleep in the Chelsea hotel
Bad turns to worse and the worse turns into hell

Fall asleep
Don't fall asleep
Don't fall asleep

God saved the eyes that are dim tonight
They lied when they said the good die young, whoa, oh, oh, oh
They lied when they said the good die young
Stay with me, stay with me tonight

Whoa, oh, oh, oh

They lied when they said the good die young, whoa, oh, oh, oh
They lied when they said the good die young
Stay with me, stay with me tonight
They lied when they said the good die young, whoa, oh, oh, oh
They lied when they said the good die young
Stay with me, stay with me tonight



Lyrics submitted by eltroyo11

Track duration: 03:03

"Godspeed" as written by Joseph Milligan (16580) Steven Arnold (16579)

Lyrics © EMI Music Publishing

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


Godspeed song meanings
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83 Comments

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  • +1
    General Comment:Anberlin does lots of charity work for victims of human trafficking and people suffering from suicidal thoughts, addiction, self injury and depression. This song feels like an homeage to the lost souls they're trying to help through their music and outreach. "The good die young" is a blanket statement that only speaks to one side of the age/death correlation. Yes, bad things happen to good people, but self destructive deeds compounded early in one's life can end it pretty quick also. I esp like the line "Fall asleep, don't fall asleep. Stay with me tonight." I imagine one person drugged-out on the verge of overdosing, and another person trying to take care of them/save their life. By falling asleep/not falling asleep, he wants this person to get some rest and sleep it off, but is afraid if they fall asleep they may never wake up again.
    Flag Dannydcon June 17, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Hello,I love reading through your blog, I wanted to leave a little comment to support you and wish you a good continuation. Wishing you the best of luck for all your blogging efforts youpkonline.com/index.php/nts-analytical-reasoning-book/…">Analytical Reasoning Book
    Flag kiranmark42on October 01, 2011   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:To me the meaning of this song is really straight forward. He has a friend who is really into the drugs/party/fashion/fame scene (neverland) in NY. He/she has gotten into cocaine and heroine (white lines, black tar, the matches... needles). He is worried about this person dying early from an overdose or the strain on their health, particularly from heroine which gives you "the nods" before it kills you (why he doesn't want this person falling asleep). The Billy Joel song "Only the Good Die Young" talks about how very talented rich and famous people end up dying before their time. He is trying to convince his friend that he/she does not have to live dangerously to prove he/she is worth fame.(Is this a life left just to remember)
    Flag gillaonfireon March 12, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:To those who don't know what Lexington refers to... the next line refers to waking sleepers, right? I think it is a reference to Paul Revere waking the minutemen and calling them to defend against the British during the American Revolution. But nothing can wake the dead, so it just backs up that point.
    Flag auroraknighton November 18, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i saw in a interview with stephen christian that this song is about drug users
    Flag runecapeson February 26, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:this was the first song i ever heard by anberlin.
    an friend of mine stuck an earbud in my ear while this was playing and i was immediately hooked.

    great song with a lot of energy
    wondering what the significance of Lexington is though
    Flag iwnbts17on November 14, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:The song is about overdosing on drugs.


    'don't fall asleep' - & it speeds up the process
    'stay with me' - stay conscious
    'God save the eyes that are dim tonight' - don't let them die
    'Is this another dead by misadventure' - drugs for recreational purposes & accidnetly taking too much
    'Tell me what you got, what you really got' - what did you take?

    'Sleepers can't just wake the dead, When needles and lovers, Collapse on guilty beds' - you can't really help someone who constinuously to their addiction

    'Is this a life left just to remember' - they are dead/dying. A life to remember instead of a life being lived

    'They lied when they said that the good die young' - drugs are often considered bad/evil. The 'bad' ones die prematurely to drugs

    'She's still asleep in the Chelsea hotel, Bad turns to worse, And the worse turns into hell' - they are falling into a coma & starting to OD.
    Flag midnightparadeon June 27, 2009   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:this is all just my interpretation.

    "burning down neverland, scatter the ashes" means destroying your perfect world and then forgetting about it.

    "white lines black ties the mansions" symbolizes doing white lines of crack cocaine with rich people or "the popular crowd"

    "is this another death by misadventures? tell me what you got what you really got." I think this means that someone could have accidentally stumbled upon this party where people are doing drugs and the like and they ended up dying from using said drugs.

    "sleepers can't just wake the dead, when needles and lovers collapse on guilty beds" I think this means that when somebody ends up dying from these drugs that even their druggie friends can bring them back (sleepers meaning druggies). and I think the needles and lovers part symbolizes the needles from shooting up drugs and then having sex but when its all over the people involved are struck with guilt.

    "fall asleep (dont fall asleep) fall asleep. they lied when they said that the good die young" this is when one of the druggies realizes whats going on and that theyve killed a friend with these drugs and that its too late to bring them back now. and the "they lied when they said that the good die young" part means that innocent people are all ages but that also means that everyone can come into contact or be affected by drugs.

    the chorus, especially the "stay with me, stay with me tonight" means that the one singing wants to protect his friends from all these drugs and alcohol and is trying to convince them that they stay "with me" tonight to make sure theyre not out doing that stuff.

    "Burning down bridges now, scatter the ashes
    Godspeed to all you're after
    Is this a life left just to remember?" I think the burning bridges part is to say that they are cutting off ties with their friends because of the monsters they are becoming or because the drugs/alcohol made them forget who their friends are and they don't care anymore. "godspeed to all you're after" means that the friend is now lost to the drugs and he is telling his friends to keep pursuing what they want to achieve in life because there is no hope for him now. "is this a life just to remember" is the drugged friend questioning what hes doing and if his life is even worth remembering when hes dead.

    "Tell them who you were, who you really were
    (Hey, Hey)" means that the friends want to help the drugged friend out but he has to admit who he really was and how these drugs ruined his life.

    "Kill yourself slowly over time, fashion statement suicide
    She's still asleep in a Chelsea hotel
    Bad turn to worse, and the worst turns into hell" means that the person is slowly giving up their life and that theyre not even dressing themselves up because they dont see the point anymore. "shes still asleep in a chelsea hotel bad turns to worse, and the worst turns into hell" is the friends worrying that their friend hasn't even left her hotel room yet and they think shes busy getting high and killing herself.

    "Fall asleep, don't fall asleep
    Don't fall asleep
    (God save the eyes that dim tonight)" the friend finally decided that it was too much and they killed themselves or died and the friends are begging that person not to die but they know that they will still be saved. and im not religious or anything but thats pretty cool haha.


    good way to spend 30 minutes in the morning in my book haha. I hope you all enjoy what my thoughts are and please comment



    Flag TyTenoon May 16, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i might be totally wrong here but i feel like this song is about suicide.
    "the worse turns to hell" you commit suicide and your automatically sent to hell, so is it any better than living a bad life on earth just for a while or spending an eternity in hell?

    also its about the fact that you could be killing yourself by not being yourself, by following what everyone else is doing.
    Flag sgwildcaton May 06, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I'm gonna have to agree with the good people on here who know what they're talking about.
    The obvious: It's about drugs.
    "White lines, black tar, the matches"
    Chelsea hotel is not this thing in London, it's the one famous for Sid & Nancy. There was a book written by a guy that went around researching where famous "rockstars" either died or killed themselves. I can't remember what it is called but I have it somewhere.
    "Bad turns to worse and the worst turns into hell" Kinda like Sid & Nancy in the hotel. Kinda like Kurt Cobain. Kinda like Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Hendrix, and every other musician that died because of wonderful drugs =]
    "Kill yourself slowly over time" "They lied when they said that the good die young"
    Those phrases go hand in hand. Drugs may not kill you right away and you might not die young. Or it could be turned into, since drugs are stereotypically bad, that if you're doing drugs you're bad so the bad die young. Ish.
    I don't know why people brought anorexia into this since drugs make you skinny which is where "Fashion statement suicide" comes in. Because face it, if you're too anorexic or too hardcore into drugs, you're not gonna look good.
    "Burning down neverland" "Burning down bridges" Neverland is supposed to be this fantasy land that you don't have to grow up. With drugs you tend to lose your sense of responsibility, the growing up part. Burning down bridges is like losing connections, losing friends or family that are sick of you and your choices.
    I think Stephen Christian knows a lot about rock history and made a song so incredible it's like a puzzle to figure it out. Some points are obvious, others not so much. Hence this site to get all different aspects. [Wow I do sound hypocritical don't I]
    Flag lotusladyon April 23, 2009   Link

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