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Woah, woah.
Bang bang go the coffin nails,
Like a breath exhaled,
Then gone forever.
It seems like just yesterday,
How did I miss the red flags raise?
Think back to the days we laughed
We braved these bitter storms together.
Brought to his knees he cried,
But on his feet he died.
What God would damn a heart?
And what God drove us apart?
What God could
Make it stop
Let this end
Eighteen years pushed to the ledge.
It's come to this,
A weightless step.
On the way down singing,
Woah, woah.
Bang bang from the closet walls,
The schoolhouse halls,
The shotgun's loaded.
Push me and I'll push back.
I'm done asking, I demand.
From a nation under God,
I feel it's love like a cattle prod.
Born free, but still they hate.
Born me, no I can't change.
It's always darkest just before the dawn.
So stay awake with me, let's prove them wrong.
Make it stop.
Let this end,
Eighteen years pushed to the ledge.
It's come to this,
A weightless step.
On the way down singing,
Woah, woah.
The cold river washed him away,
But how could we forget.
The gatherings hold candles
But not their tongues.
And too much blood has flown from the wrists,
Of the children shamed for those they chose to kiss.
Who will rise to stop the blood.
We're calling for
Insisting on
A different beat, yeah
A brand new song
Woah, woah.
(Tyler Clementi age 18)
A brand new song
Woah, woah.
(Billy Lucas age 15)
Woah, woah.
(Harrison Chase Brown age 15)
Woah, woah.
(Cody J. Barker age 17)
(Seth Walsh age 13)
Make it stop.
Let this end,
This life chose me, I'm not lost in sin
But proud I stand
Of who I am
I plan to go on living
Make it stop.
Let this end,
All these years pushed to the ledge.
But proud I stand
Of who I am
I plan to go on living
Bang bang go the coffin nails,
Like a breath exhaled,
Then gone forever.
It seems like just yesterday,
How did I miss the red flags raise?
Think back to the days we laughed
We braved these bitter storms together.
Brought to his knees he cried,
But on his feet he died.
What God would damn a heart?
And what God drove us apart?
What God could
Make it stop
Let this end
Eighteen years pushed to the ledge.
It's come to this,
A weightless step.
On the way down singing,
Woah, woah.
Bang bang from the closet walls,
The schoolhouse halls,
The shotgun's loaded.
Push me and I'll push back.
I'm done asking, I demand.
From a nation under God,
I feel it's love like a cattle prod.
Born free, but still they hate.
Born me, no I can't change.
It's always darkest just before the dawn.
So stay awake with me, let's prove them wrong.
Make it stop.
Let this end,
Eighteen years pushed to the ledge.
It's come to this,
A weightless step.
On the way down singing,
Woah, woah.
The cold river washed him away,
But how could we forget.
The gatherings hold candles
But not their tongues.
And too much blood has flown from the wrists,
Of the children shamed for those they chose to kiss.
Who will rise to stop the blood.
We're calling for
Insisting on
A different beat, yeah
A brand new song
Woah, woah.
(Tyler Clementi age 18)
A brand new song
Woah, woah.
(Billy Lucas age 15)
Woah, woah.
(Harrison Chase Brown age 15)
Woah, woah.
(Cody J. Barker age 17)
(Seth Walsh age 13)
Make it stop.
Let this end,
This life chose me, I'm not lost in sin
But proud I stand
Of who I am
I plan to go on living
Make it stop.
Let this end,
All these years pushed to the ledge.
But proud I stand
Of who I am
I plan to go on living
Lyrics submitted by WillCreary, edited by Robey0t
Track duration: 03:55
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Being bullied for being gay, I can relate to this song:
here is what I thinnk the meaning is:
Woah, woah.
“Bang bang go the coffin nails, Like a breath exhaled, Then gone forever.”
“It seems like just yesterday, How did I miss the red flags raise?”
“Think back to the days we laughed, We braved these bitter storms together.”
Refers to the death, and how some where friends when they were younger….
“Brought to his knees he cried,” “But on his feet he died.”
The torment and constant bullying brought him to his knees crying (cause all of us want to be liked and accepted), but on his feet he died is referring to the attitude like “I’ll get back at them…” choosing the ultimate end…
What God would damn a heart?
And what God drove us apart?
What God could
Refers to what God would cause this… No God would want this for his people….
Make it stop
Let this end
Eighteen years pushed to the ledge.
It's come to this,
A weightless step.
On the way down singing,
Woah, woah.
This is mostly referring to how Tyler died when he was 18, however if you take out the references to Tyler, it can be basically many years of being pushed to the ledge of ending it all… it’s come to this, the end….
Bang bang from the closet walls,
The schoolhouse halls,
The shotgun's loaded.
Push me and I'll push back.
I'm done asking, I demand.
Refers to having to be closeted about your orientation (having to hide) and being bullied in school… The shotgun’s loaded, push me and I’ll push back” is referring to the person being bullied, about the rage of being tormented, etc. and how they just want it to end (not really about a school shooting, but some do take that route).
“From a nation under God,
I feel it's love like a cattle prod.
Born free, but still they hate.
Born me, no I can't change.”
Refers to how people say they love the person but not the so-called sin (mostly religious), when they actually hate the person. Born free, but still they hate. Born me, no I can’t change. Refers to being born this way and can’t change who they are, however people still hate them.
It's always darkest just before the dawn.
So stay awake with me, let's prove them wrong.
Make it stop.
Let this end,
Eighteen years pushed to the ledge.
It's come to this,
A weightless step.
On the way down singing,
Woah, woah.
“The cold river washed him away,
But how could we forget.
The gatherings hold candles
But not their tongues.”
Refers to the memorial for the person’s death, how they hold candles, but still can’t stop the verbal abuse, comments, etc.
“And too much blood has flown from the wrists,
Of the children shamed for those they chose to kiss.
Who will rise to stop the blood.”
For those they chose to kiss, isn’t meaning that being gay is a choice, it just means you chose who you chose to kiss or even to kiss anyone for that matter, but not about who you are attracted to, that isn’t a choice. Although, all of us want someone to be with.
We're calling for
Insisting on
A different beat, yeah
A brand new song
Woah, woah.
(Tyler Clementi age 18)
A brand new song
Woah, woah.
(Billy Lucas age 15)
Woah, woah.
(Harrison Chase Brown age 15)
Woah, woah.
(Cody J. Barker age 17)
(Seth Walsh age 13)
Make it stop.
Let this end,
This life chose me, I'm not lost in sin
But proud I stand
Of who I am
I plan to go on living
Make it stop.
Let this end,
All these years pushed to the ledge.
But proud I stand
Of who I am
I plan to go on living
"What God would damn a heart?
And what God drove us apart?"
I think this really points to religion and how it tends to be heavily against people being gay. Also "Of the children shamed for those they chose to kiss." is pointing towards gay people.
One of my favorite Rise Against songs by far!
--Think back to the days we laughed
--We braved these bitter storms together.
--Brought to his knees he cried,
--But on his feet he died.
----- The last line probably implies the preventable and self-inflicted nature of suicides. When somenoe bedridden and dying from a disease, no one says they died on their feet- their life is clearly being taken by forces outside of their control. In a suicide, however, the person has full control over the situation but makes the choice to kill themselves.
Nah, the last line just says he was standing up on the GW bridge when he jumped. The more interesting question is about the first two lines: is RA just referring to what they supposed were Tyler's earlier good times with friends, or did they have some personal knowledge of that? Probably just questioning his friends not coming to his assistance? Or maybe he had few friends there at Rutgers?