When you were standing in the wake of devastation
When you were waiting on the edge of the unknown
And with the cataclysm raining down, insides crying save me now
You were there impossibly alone

Do you feel cold and lost in desperation
You build up hope but failure's all you've known
Remember all the sadness and frustration
And let it go, let it go

And in the burst of light that blinded every angel
As if the sky had blown the heavens into stars
You felt the gravity of temper grace falling into empty space
No one there to catch you in their arms

Do you feel cold and lost in desperation
You build up hope but failure's all you've known
Remember all the sadness and frustration
And let it go, let it go

Do you feel cold and lost in desperation
You build up hope but failure's all you've known
Remember all the sadness and frustration
And let it go

Let it go
Let it go
Let it go
Let it go

Do you feel cold and lost in desperation
You build up hope but failure's all you've known
Remember all the sadness and frustration
And let it go, let it go


Lyrics submitted by MusicFREAK20

Iridescent Lyrics as written by Chester Charles Bennington Brad Delson

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Royalty Network

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Iridescent song meanings
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32 Comments

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  • +10
    Song Meaning

    It's about letting go and moving on. It's pretty straight forward if you ask me.

    pmahoneson January 10, 2013   Link
  • +8
    My Interpretation

    According to one interpretation, the entire A Thousand Suns album is about nuclear warfare. Take, for example, The Radiance, which outright quotes J. Robert Oppenheimer, who is often called the "father of the atomic bomb" due to being the head scientist of the Manhattan Project.

    Also, Burning in the Skies could refer to the aftermath of a nuclear war, while The Catalyst is a plea for help and a warning against what could happen. (God save us everyone, when we burn inside the fires of a thousand suns...)

    Lastly, Fallout could easily refer to the radioactive fallout or psychological fallout of a nuclear strike.

    I think that this all strongly suggests that Iridescent is about a survivor of the nuclear war feeling remorse, sorrow, and remembering the moment the bomb exploded.

    "And in the burst of light that blinded every angel/ As if the sky had blown the heavens into stars"

    That stanza refers to the detonation of the bomb. The entire song is remembering life before the war, and the nuclear strike.

    It almost seems like the song reflects what is going through the singer's mind as he dies. He remembers the war that resulted in his death, and going to a place where there is no war, no death, no pain.

    His dying words are "let it go" it being the life of suffering he endures after the nuclear war. It's a powerful, sad and yet uplifting song.

    TheWriter4on June 26, 2013   Link
  • +4
    General Comment

    Seems like it'd play out very well live.

    jp240hion September 12, 2010   Link
  • +4
    General Comment

    To me this song is about a person or people going through a really bad time and building up hope then falling again then the band just telling them to forget it and get through it,,, please correct me if I'm wrong or if you have anything to add

    SarahBear143on November 29, 2010   Link
  • +4
    My Interpretation

    I'm going to write this as if I was explaining it about me or about you.

    I(You) wish or hope for something in life(hoping or planning) for a certain thing to happen in my(your) future. Sort of like achieving a destiny. I(You) plan for this destiny of mine(yours) and I(you) hope or wish for, I(you) fail at it and then I(you) just turn to my(your) sorrowness or mistakes for help. This song is trying to make me(you) remember the mistakes I(you) made, but to let go of it, move on from it and learn from it.

    Bottom line: Don't let the negative things in life bring me(you) down, let go of it. I(you) will just keep hurting myself(yourself) over and over again, sort of like holding onto pain. Let the pain go away and move onto whats pleasing.

    gurton November 02, 2012   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    Basically, this song is about the aftermath, or the course of, a nuclear war. The first line sways toward the aftermath while the 11-15 sways toward the middle. The entire song is about nuclear warfare that was a looming threat not so long ago. I know some people who doubted that they would live to 50 because of the looming nuclear threat. Anyway, almost every song has SOMETHING to do with it. "The Requiem" for the world. "The Radiance" of "A Thousand Suns" "Burning in the Skies" (A nuke going off). "Empty Spaces" (what's left). "Waiting for the End" (what people do before). "Wretches and Kings" (revolt against those who are responsible BEFORE they do it). "Wisdom, Justice, and Love" (what could solve it) and "Iridescent" (glow of either wisdom, justice, and love, or the glow of the nuke going off). "Fallout" (obvious). "The Messenger" (God saving us from our fate, maybe?).

    Speeches:

    Oppenheimer's speech (The Radiance) Mario Savio's speech (Wretches and Kings) Martin Luther KIng Jr.'s speech (Wisdom, Justice, and Love/ Iridescent)

    Lines:

    Falling into empty space God save us every one, will we burn inside the fires of a thousand suns Lift me up, let me go The blood of innocence burning in the skies We the animals take control I'm holding on to what I haven't got There ain't shit we don't run when the guns unload You were standing in the wake of devastation Love keeps us kind

    Overall: Nukes are bad so Destroy those who will destroy us but Love must live

    oorah101on December 07, 2010   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    I was listenin to this song the other day,I love wen it builds up and Rob really lets loose on the drums,its gonna go off wen i see them in 2 days :) but it sorta made me think after payin attention to martin luther king jrs speech that it could kinda be about someone feeling really sad and lost or wateva,maybe someones perspective from WWII and then everything gets nuked,coz i bet that the burst of light from a nuke goin off would prob blind an angel if their real and looking at it,also the word iridescent means wen u look at somethin from different angles the colour changes,i reckon the light from a massive explosion prob would change at different angles,Chesters part i found inspiring all the stuff bout letting go and watnot,coz i just went through a shithouse break up,and i was like u know wateva fuck u bitch we could get nuked anytime,im not gonna waste anymore time worryin about u

    travtravon December 09, 2010   Link
  • +3
    My Interpretation

    I've got it!

    I've been studying the holy hindu text, 'The Bhagavad Gita'. This song is about the Bhagavad Gita! The words 'In a burst of light that blinded all angels, as if the sky had blown the heavens into stars' is actually in the translation I own. And Mike Shinoda himself said in an interview that some elements of 'A Thousand Suns' are based on the Bhagavad Gita.

    soloman56on July 13, 2011   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    ahhh this song is so beautiful :) but there's a slight mistake in these lyrics xP instead of: "As if the sky had blown the heavens into stone" it's suppose to be: "As if the sky had blown the heavens into stars"

    musikfreak202on September 17, 2010   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    so powerful!!! I can really relate to this in my life right now

    iwnbts17on September 17, 2010   Link

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