Woke before the morning sun
I found it tucked beneath the hills
I sat and watched it rise
It hit the sky and burst to flames
The lotus flower's
Got me thinking bout the way we live
I've got this feeling
It's gonna stop

Driven by religion
Running backwards down a one way road
A course collision, split decision
Tryin' to save your soul
Manifest Destiny
Is just a fancy word for murder
I've got this feeling
It's gonna stop

[Chorus]
A billion faces running round my head
All got opinions but the don't mean shit
Keep droppin' bombs until the whole world's dead
They said it's all been done and it's all been said
They'll turn this message into a pop movement
A fascist statement, call it politics
You can't mark my words they'll put a spin on it
They say it's all been done

Look outside the box my friend
You heart's been dead since who knows when
It seems we've missed the mark
Lost all hope and given in
Pack up the suitcase
Take that handkerchief and wipe off your chin
The fear that drives you
Needs to be stopped

[Chorus]

Fell into a daze
And found my mind was gone and laid to waste
A battle ground indeed
Where holy wars have taken place
I saw the sun set watched it travel down
And tear you through the ground
The hate the drives us
Needs to be stopped



Lyrics submitted by ThatHillKid

Track duration: 03:17

"Lotus" as written by Matt Shultz, Brad Shultz, Jared Champion, Daniel Tichenor, Lincoln Parish

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


Lotus song meanings
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15 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:The Buddha's direct inspiration for developing a philosophy on life / god / evolution was seeing a lotus flower.
    "The Lotus flower's got me thinking about the way that we live."

    In which the Buddha said after he picked up the lotus' inspiration:
    "Like the lotus, you experience three primary stages of evolution. The first is marked by ignorance and darkness, when you lie below the dense mud - a closed chysalis - which, by nature of existence, will eventually be pulled upwards by the warmth of the Sun. The second is exemplified by the climb through the clouded waters of your emotional experience, yet still the flower reaches to the Sun, knowing no other destiny ... no other purpose. The third brings full illumination in the splendour of the light. The Lotus flower blossoms, baring its exquisite beauty to all those who are aware, enough to recognise God unfolding."

    So, basically, I would say that the song is about how we have evolved and changed, religiously since then.
    Flag Venusauron March 18, 2013   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:As I see it, this song is referring to the way of our culture (yes at its core our now global civilization has one dominant root culture) as it has been since it began in the Middle East ten thousand years ago. It has grown to consume the world through its inherent views of manifest destiny. War exists because our culture says to us that we are always right, and that there is a right way for people to live, through religion historically, but through politics more recently. All of this thinking that we are right leads us to war, to destroying ourselves by all trying to live the same way.

    Its gonna stop refers to the new revolution going on, people rejecting the root views of our culture, its gotta stop explains itself at this point.


    Join the revolution. And remember, Its gonna stop, either in catastrophe, or with a revolution in the thousands of different ways we can live successfully if we stopped trying to make everyone live successfully, and give up our claims of global ownership.
    Flag manhunter098on May 13, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:lotus is a hallucinogen. In case you haven't noticed, this world is a huge mess. Humanity has gone in the wrong direction for ages now. He took a psychoactive substance and watched the sunrise and started thinking that it's all going to change. pretty simple.
    Flag icymoreon April 29, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:First off... I believe there is a lyric change needed. It should be "they'll said it's all been done" instead of "because it's all been done". But otherwise, good job!

    "Driven by religion, running backwards down a one-way road
    I've caused collisions, big decisions trying to save your soul.
    Manifest destiny is just a fancy word for murder.
    I got this feeling, its gonna stop..."

    This verse in particular shows me that this song is about the Iraq war.
    "Driven by religion"- shows that we were supposedly in it for good intentions.
    "Running backwards down a one-way road" - When the war started, we hurt rather than helped. We caused innocents to die everywhere.
    "I've caused collisions, big decisions trying to save your soul" - We've fought trying to save the middle east
    "Manifest destingy is just a fancy word for murder" - We invaded, hurt, and we thought it was for good, like the people who believed in manifest destiny
    "I got this feeling it's gonna stop..." - The war eventually lost a lot of its support

    The chorus for the song is honestly well explained by RaShock though. The rest of the song can be explained in the context of the war pretty easily, though.
    Flag Uberryanson August 28, 2010   Link
  • 0
    My Opinion:I'm just throwing it out there, but does anyone think that Lotus Flower may be referring to the Lotus-Eaters in Greek mythology, where the Lotus flowers were narcotic and addictive, causing the people to sleep in peaceful apathy (possibly referencing to pot) that made him think about the way we live? (and explains the trippy description of the sun coming up) I know it's kind of demeaning in a way, but I'm just throwing it out there...
    Flag ApathyVsFlowon July 29, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Manifest Destiny was when America was trying to actually get just that America from "Sea to shining sea" so when they were getting the land that America though was there's or rightfully their's. Idk if some people know this or not, its what I learned about in 7th grade last year so yeah. But anyways Americas Manifest Destiny involved extensive amounts of killing. Natives, Mexicans, and other races. So it is just a fancy way to say murder.
    Flag GibsonGoldTopon June 27, 2010   Link
  • +3
    General Comment:"Driven by religion, running backwards down a one-way road
    I've caused collisions, big decisions trying to save your soul.
    Manifest destiny is just a fancy word for murder.
    I got this feeling, its gonna stop..."

    This is referring to the way religion has caused us only to regress further. "Running backwards down a one-way road" where progress is forward, and regressing would be backwards down said road.!
    Religion has caused collisions (War), big decisions (could be referring to politics, and the way religion snakes it's way into the lives of everyone, via laws on abortion, gay marriage, etc.)
    Manifest Destiny, if you don't know what that is, look it up.

    "Turn this message into a pop movement. A fashion statement, call it politics. "
    Here he's referring to how whenever someone brings up a valid point, it's shrugged off as some movement or statement, but it's never really considered. Call it politics (where nothing progressive ever gets done).
    "You can mark my words they'll put a spin on it because its all been done."
    Attempt to bring about some kind of progress and they'll put a spin on it.. even if you're a law-abiding citizen with something legitimate to say, those in charge don't want their perfect hierarchy to change for anybody. They'll make you look like a radical, change what you're saying and then nobody will support you. They'll spin what you said into something else. Look at Karl Marx.. he had legitimate ideas on how to better run a country, and when people started applying his ideas in real life there was unprecedented tension between countries, and wars resulting from an IDEA!

    How do I know this is true????? Cause it's allllll beeeeen doneeeeeeeee. :)

    Flag RaShockon May 30, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:'Cage the Elephant' and 'Flobots' are very similar bands, in my opinion.

    They both portray political thoughts and views in their songs, but they hide them behind cleverly placed words and beats, making it fun to listen to, partially informative, and they really make you think when you get into the lyrics.

    If you don't listen to Flobots, you should really check them out, they're amazing.
    Flag Epsonalityon February 03, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:*Sighs*

    It's sad, really. I love the song, the way it sounds, but I hate the purpose of the lyrics. It's like a few Flobots songs that I like. They sound nice, but political view of the band is preventing me from fully appreciating the song.
    Flag GreedyTrooperon January 13, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:For those who don't know, and I may be reading into this too much, the Lotus is the flower associated with the symbol of Pisces, the era of which we are currently in which is "ruled" by the teacher or "God" known as Jesus Christ. The "Lotus" could be a metaphor for Jesus which would explain the religious theme of this song.

    "The lotus flowers got me thinkin 'bout the way that we live. I got this feeling, it's gonna stop."

    --Christianity (religion) within America and the way that it affects most of its population as well as its direct influence in how we run politics, our country and/or what is deemed morally "right" or "wrong".

    Could be a coincidence, though.
    Flag Nodon October 10, 2009   Link

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