Far from home on a road unknown
Where the vultures circle on winds that blow
From northern skies that haunt these waking moments
Our shadows cast by the mountain range
Our calloused souls, we find a way
Through desperate eyes, we long for the horizon
While this sun is rising, yeah

We are the long forgotten sons
And daughters that don't belong to anyone
And we are alone under this sun
And we work to fix the work that you've undone

When cries for help go unanswered
And signal fires just burn and burn
We wonder if we're waiting here for nothing
'Cause our lips are sewn our ears are filled
With the constant drone of the unfulfilled
But we'll never fall if we stand for something
We stand for something, yeah

Yeah, we are the long forgotten sons
And daughters that don't belong to anyone
And we are alone under this sun
And we work to fix the work that you've undone

Don't fall, I see lights in the distance
They're not far away
Stand up cause the sky is turning gray
There's hope in these footsteps of persistence
So don't go astray
These lights get closer every day

'Cause we are the long forgotten sons
Yeah we are the long forgotten sons
We are the long forgotten sons
And daughters that don't belong to anyone
And we are alone under this sun
We work to fix the work that you've undone
What you've undone



Lyrics submitted by Yoshü

Track duration: 04:02

"Long Forgotten Sons" as written by Zach Blair, Joseph Principe, Timothy Mcilrath, Brandon Barnes

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


Long Forgotten Sons song meanings
Add your thoughts

15 Comments

sort form View by:
  • 0
    General Comment:This song pretty much epitomizes a topic that is used so often in Rise Against's lyrics. They are somewhere between personal and political, almost like the story of a small group of refugees after a political-induced apocalypse, trying to survive.
    Flag Tig45on January 10, 2013   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Tell me I am not the only one making connections to this song and the book "Lord of the Flies."
    I swear I cannot be the only one. The resemblance is uncanny.
    Flag SaleenS57on May 21, 2012   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:This is about the soldiers in war who have been away from society and feel forgotten. The lyrics we stand for something are the soldiers telling themselves they believe in this war because thats what they have been trained; its as if they are trying to convince themsleves. under the sun means that they are in the dessert and they are referring to the war we are in now. the soldiers want to be rescued
    Flag brittni88on April 27, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Awsome song. Def about the war. "far away from home","long forgotten son" -soldiers not present in the media anymore, "work to fix the work youve undone" -restoring a place you destroyed.

    If not, it could be about the children of the most politically corrupt generation of all time. Like because of all our parents greed or party politics, they elected a bunch of morons that robbed us every given opportunity. Hard to fit this with the first verse though.
    Flag bigslick83on November 05, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This song sounds a LOT like something Winston Smith would say in George Orwell's 1984. The first verse are Winston's thoughts after his first affair with Julia in the woods away from the city. He realizes that there is a lot more than Big Brother can promise and he wants more.

    The line: "We work to fix the work that you've undone" is also something Winston would say, as his job is to correct the mistakes that the Government has made. He erases the past and changes it to fit what the Party tells him to.


    "Our lips are sewn our ears are filled
    With the constant drone of the unfulfilled"
    -----
    If anyone speaks out (or even thinks out, for that matter) against the Party, they will be eliminated. That's why their lips are sewn. Plus, "our ears are filled" refers to the massive amounts of propaganda that the Party forces upon the people (Hate Week, Junior Anti-Sex League, etc.)


    "But we'll never fall if we stand for something
    We stand for something"
    -----
    Winston always felt that even if he was killed, the Party couldn't win because he would never truly betray Julia. That's what he stands for: his love for Julia.


    "We are the long forgotten sons
    And daughters that don't belong to anyone"
    -----
    This could literally mean forgotten son in the sense that Winston hasn't known his mother in years, or it could be a metaphor for the fact that the Party is no longer concerned with the well-being of the individuals (sons and daughters), who now feel that they don't belong to anyone, because no one cares for them.


    "There's hope in these footsteps of persistence"
    -----
    Winston repeatedly says that the only hope for humanity is in the mass of the population, the Proles, who the government doesn't really regulate at all. He believes that the Proles have the power to overcome the Party, if they could only ever find a reason to.
    Flag 4t0utl3m0nd3on June 25, 2010   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:Hmm, to me sounds like it could be about the general population and people devastated by war in Afghanistan (just my 2 cents).

    (First verse) Describes the landscape a bit an suggests the 'sun is rising' or a new hope is coming.

    (chorus) Long forgotten sons could mean the countless number of men killed when recruited to fight for or against the Taliban. There names are not recorded in history books or glorified in any way, they just die like the rest. Afghan record keeping (e.g. birth and death certs) are pretty uncommon too I hear which means there is no proof a lot of the people dying actually exist.

    Women don't fight (or have much freedom there really) and so grow up without fathers, sons and brothers who die for causes. Fixing the work that you've undone could mean cleaning up the mess the US left after funding the Taliban for weapons during soviet occupation there in the 80's.

    (Second verse) Seems about calls for help falling on deaf ears. There lips are sewn (can't speak up for themselves) and there ears are filled (constantly drilled with propaganda) but if they keep believing in what they value and they know is true then they can never be beaten.

    (Third verse) Hope on it's way I suppose in the form or western alliances

    (Fourth verse) Ditto
    Flag rcpunkon January 31, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I have conflicting views on what this is about. Namely because of the daughters that don't belong to anyone line. This to me seems like a reference to China, because of their one child limit, the daughters are the ones that always are "discarded" so to say. Then we have the, we are alone under this sun, which to me alludes to slave work. Not saying thats specifically what they meant, but the concept of it. I also like k1i2t3t4's view. It seems like its talking about the general population, if we keep it just about the US, the general laborforce is what keeps everything together, and right now most of that laborforce is being used and abused, as you can tell by this new financial fallout. These people at the top are causing all the problems with greed, and everyone else has to work to fix what they've caused.
    Flag DarrellJ88on May 19, 2009   Link
  • -2
    General Comment:this song to me is about god and how we are the "long forgotten sons" and the "daughters that dont belong to anyone" because we have no father ie god. "we are alone under this sun" eluding to the fact that there is nothing above the sun looking down on us.
    Flag iaoveron May 03, 2009   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:~just a rough break down of what it means to me i dont have much time to go into detail but here is a nutshell~

    Far from home on a road unknown
    Where the vultures circle on winds that blow
    From northern skies that haunt these waking moments
    (sent over seas in unknown terrain where people are just waiting to hurt you at all hours)

    On shadows cast by the mountain range
    On calloused soles we find our way
    Through desperate eyes, we long for the horizon
    While this sun is rising
    (through night and pain they travel farther into the war wishing that when the sun rises they will be home)

    We are the long forgotten sons
    And daughters that don� belong to anyone
    We are alone under this sun
    We work to fix the work that you�ve undone
    (all of your children feel alone in this new area while trying to fight and fix the problems our elders made for us)

    When cries for help go unanswered
    And signal fires just burn and burn
    We wonder if we�re waiting here for nothing
    (after we ask for help many times and try and show you exactly where we are you still choose not to see or come help us)

    Our lips are sewn our ears are filled
    With the constant drone of the unfulfilled
    But we�ll never fall if we stand for something
    We stand for something
    (threw the military we were tought to not speak out of line and only to listen to waht we are told but if we break the chain and stand up to what we are told we will live)

    We are the long forgotten sons
    And daughters that don� belong to anyone
    We are alone under this sun
    We work to fix the work that you�ve undone
    (same as last chorus)

    Don�t fall, I see lights in the distance
    They�re not far away
    Stand up because the sky is turning gray
    (our end is finaly comeing soon so stand up dont give up we have to be fast to make it)

    There�s hope in these footsteps of persistence
    So don�t go astray
    These lights get closer everyday
    (as long as we stay together and dont give up our cause of right we will find our home and light)

    We are the long forgotten sons
    And daughters that don� belong to anyone
    We are alone under this sun
    We work to fix the work that you�ve undone
    What you�ve undone
    (same chorus)

    (what happens now, we don�t know, just hold on tight now here we go�)
    ((the future is unknown but. but hold your hats cause its coming)

    Flag HopeInANewDayon May 01, 2009   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning:think its about children sent to bootcamps by their parents. there they get raised and educated and raise and educate themselves by doing hard work, just to learn how it is not to do whatever you want.

    those camps exist in northern europe, like norway. i dont know about alaska but there those camps might as well exist.

    but these lyrics might have a more subliminal meaning as well.
    Flag Ollo_AILDon February 03, 2009   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

Back to top
explain