The Decemberists – This Is Why We Fight

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Come the war
Come the avarice
Come the war
Come hell

Come attrition
Come the reek of bones
Come attrition
Come hell

This is why
Why we fight
Why we lie awake
And this is why
This is why we fight

When we die
We will die
With our arms unbound

And this is why
This is why
Why we fight
Come hell

Bride of quiet
Bride of all unquiet things
Bride of quiet
Bride of hell

Come the archers
Come the infantry
Come the archers
Of hell

This is why
Why we fight
Why we lie awake
This is why
This is why we fight
And when we die
We will die
With our arms unbound
And this is why
This is why we fight
Come hell
Come hell

This is why
Why we fight
Why we lie awake
This is why
This is why we fight
When we die
We will die with our arms unbound
And this is why
This is why we fight

So come to me
Come to me now
Lay your arms around me
And this is why
This is why
We fight

Come hell
Come hell
Come hell
Come hell

Send "This Is Why We Fight" Ringtone to Cell


Lyrics submitted by GoochyLittlePig

Track duration: 05:30

"This Is Why We Fight" as written by Colin Meloy

Lyrics © BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC

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This Is Why We Fight song meanings
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25 Comments

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  • +1
    General Comment:HELP!

    I know this is sort of off-topic, but for whatever reason I have a version of this song that has a clip of another folk song inserted towards the end. Does anyone know who this is or what song this is? I really like it and any help would be appreciated!!
    Flag hathamon February 07, 2013   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:I think that this song can be interpreted in many contexts. When It was to be interpreted in the context of love I would say that it is about betrayal. There is a 'bride of quiet - someone who is hidden and there is also 'bride of all unquiet things' - someone who is accepted by frinds, family etc. and generally is visible. 'This is why we lie awake...' The lovers are hiding.. but one of them doesnt know about it but feels that something is wrong and starts to argue. The other person knows that they will die with the arms unbound becouse he`s got a wife already. Just my 5 cents:)
    Flag desertlarkon December 22, 2012   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:So yeah, the song is about all that stuff, you know war and politics and stuff, blah blah blah (I'm sparing you a ramble) But there's this one part that really made me think; "Bride of quiet, bride of all unquiet things, bride of quiet, bride of hell." Right there, Colin was talking about how being quiet, not standing up for things, brings hell. And so is whining about things, but whining doesn't make things better. In other words; "Don't stay silent, do something about it. Fight. This is why we fight, to make things better, so that when we die, we will die free, with our arms unbound."
    Flag Astarte24on December 14, 2012   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Great song!!! I agree with and see the ideas of war, politics, love, and death. I really like the idea of the archer's being cupid's arrow as previously mentioned by Rayderette.
    My take - pre-death (death being imminent / having death bed type remorse) looking back at one's life coming to the conclusing of, this is why I lived... To fight for acceptance, love, peace, happiness, etc to end up empty handed (arms unfolded) alone and dying.
    Struggling to fight all of lives fights to ultimately lose no matter how hard you try (come hell or high water).
    As well as, despite all of your fight - death is always lurking (Bride of Quiet).
    At the end, the acceptance of death and dying (Lay your arms around me) giving up to death, forefitting life almost like it's a choice to do so... perhaps winning the fight afterall???
    Flag guidedbystringson April 27, 2012   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:This is one of my favorite songs on this album, but I have a point of annoyance to share: Colin's enunciation. Each time he sings "Come hell," it does it a little differently. When I first heard this song, I thought he was saying "compel" at the beginning because he pulls the words together. In the final repetitions, he inexplicably adds what feels like an "m" and an "f" to the "hell"s. It's most obvious when I listen through headphones.

    I don't think it's intentional and I still love this song.
    Flag Eruwenolorienon March 22, 2012   Link
    • 1 Reply
  • 0
    General Comment:I don't know that this is about a specific war or fight or movement. It's kind of 30STM's war: it's on the verge of undefinable, but probably a war on stereotyping and defining people by molds that don't always fit. It could also be that we all love a good war song. Love the idea that we have something to unite us against something else, and that if we all band together, we have the power to defeat it. That's something that's always created a powerful feeling in me, that us-versus-them situation where we can and will win because the war is a valiant and noble one.
    Flag RoslynBlackon February 23, 2012   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:I have an interpretation that is very similar to the one by pt8218, and it hit me like a bolt out of the blue when they were playing the song at the gym the other day.

    pt8218 mentioned the "Why We Fight" films from the WWII era. Well, there was a mini-series on HBO about ten years ago called "Band of Brothers", about the 101st Airborne E Company that parachuted into France as part of the Allied invasion at Normandy. It's a good show and I have to admit that if I flip past the reruns on cable I am stuck on the couch all afternoon. Anyway, there was one episode actually titled "Why We Fight". By this time in the series, the Germans were pretty much whipped and the war was starting to wind down. As the pace of the action slowed the soldiers had time to start thinking about what is the point of war and was it all worth it. They were tired and burned out.

    Then one of the soldiers, out on patrol, stumbles across a concentration camp set up outside of the village. When they go to investigate they are met face to face with the horror, "the reek of bones". As they try to process what they are seeing, the incomprehensible evil that they have exposed, they realize why they are there and why their sacrifice was not in vain.

    There is one scene where the commanding officer walks into the camp and this ragged skeleton of a man walks up to him and hugs him. That was the first thing I thought of when I heard the lyric "Come to me now, come lay your arms around me". What a heartwrenching thing to see.

    In summary, the lyrics in the song start by describing war with terms of "avarice" or greed and "attrition" or loss. As it progresses, lyrics like "die with our arms unbound" demonstrate that sometimes there are reasons "why we fight", above and beyond the political machinations of this world.
    Flag JohnnyAppleseed2on November 15, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:maybe this song is actually about hell? haha seems a bit obvious
    Flag blakuduhon September 19, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I am almost certain this song is about fighting for gay rights. Especially since it is talking about fighting such a large war for the love.
    Flag thendon July 31, 2011   Link
  • 0
    My Opinion:I don't know what this song means, I first caught on to it when a friend sent me a link of the performing it on the Jimmy Kimmel show, because they had the Solidarity sticker on their guitar, and I'm from Madison so I thought that was pretty cool. That says to me that the allegations that this may be a song in favor of small government, are not founded. I really don't personally think it has anything to do with love, or family, or anything like that, but that's just me. I'd like to think it's almost a revolution song, but maybe that's wishful thinking?

    youtube.com/… (Sorry, there's an annoying commercial in the beginning.)
    Flag veronicaoddenon July 05, 2011   Link

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