Rise Against – This Is Letting Go

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  My Interpretation:I think this song is more broad than a lot of the stories and interpretations posted here. Honestly, I think it's just about that "moment of truth". It might be that it's a person realizing that it'll never work out with the one they're with. The first few times I heard this song I thought it was about somebody realizing that, as George Carlin once said, "it's called the American Dream because you'd have to be asleep in order to believe it". Basically, the subject of the song has realized that they've been chasing somebody else's ideals for them and not their own and they realize that they can no longer live their life by somebody else's wishes. Like I said, though, I think it's much broader. Like how Savior is just, in general, about forgiveness and being willing to forgive people, this song might just be about realizing that you are in more control of your life than the way you've been living it.

  Flag KayohTipon October 01, 2011   Link

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  General Comment:this song and these lyrics are beautiful in everyway. i love rise against. i love how they can create such beautiful music and then write lyrics that fit the song like two puzzle pieces. this song is one of my absoulte favourites of all thime.
  
  the gist of the song is there a boyfriend and a girlfriend in a fake relationship. The girl thinks that everything about them is perfect while the boyfriend feels like everything in the relationship is done by him and him alone. he has to pretend like everything is alright.
  
  "Once upon a time I could take anything, anything.
  Always stepped in time, regardless of the beat
  I moved my feet, I carried weight
  What I could not do I faked:
  
  so then he feels like everything in this relationship is on repeat. everything they've done feels like deja vu over and over again. So then he stops suddenly and without planning he breaks up with her. She asks him why and even though he can't think of a reason why he knows deep down he can't fake his life with her anymore. Though he isn't giving up, he's just letting her go.
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Flag rockandroll21on September 16, 2011   Link

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  General Comment:this is my favorite song off the whole cd. im still struggling with the meaning entirely. i think the first verse is saying he used to be sumeone who thought he cud take anything, he tried to take everything that was dealt to him by his friends or gal and even when he cudnt take it, he pretended and it lead to him getting kinda screwed over in sum way and thats when he decided it was time to let go of that person, not give up on them but just decide to go his own way. the second verse i think might be like it got to the point where it was kinda the same thing everyday and he was getting sick of it. the part where it goes the wind died, the whole world cease to move etc... is still confusing to me i dont understand the meaning, but i love it...may not be the greatest interpretation

  Flag swanemyr98on May 02, 2011   Link

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    +1

    The part about the wind dying and the whole world ceased to move is talking about the moment of truth. I interpret this song as a guy who has to break up with a girl and she's not expecting it. So he sees her, and it's like everything in the world stands still. It's nothing but him and her, his stomach is in knots, he's nervous, but he knows he has to do it. The wind died, all hope has been lost or abandoned; the whole world ceased to move, it's like time stood still, and there was nothing but them two. Continue on with the verse though, then he says:
    
    "Now so quiet, her beating heart became a boom." She now knows something is wrong. The intensity between them is nearly unbearable and her beating heart became a boom; she was so nervous you could hear her heartbeat.
    
    "We locked eyes, for just a moment or two. She asked why, I said don't know why." She knows it's over, without him even saying anything, and the worst part of it all is his response when "she asked why," and he says, "I don't know why."

    Flag hylianlegendson June 28, 2011  

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    i like that he says i dont know why i just know is like him saying i dont know why its not working its just not........off topic is your username based from something from zelda

    Flag swanemyr98on July 08, 2011  

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    yes sir :)

    Flag hylianlegendson November 08, 2011  
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  Lyric Correction:Taken from the CD Booklet:
  
  Once upon a time I could take anything, anything
  I always stepped in time, regardless of the beat
  I moved my feet, I carried weight
  What I could not do I faked
  I dug seeking treasure
  Just to wake up in an early grave
  So I stopped right there and said
  
  Go on alone
  Because I won´t follow
  But this is giving up
  No, this is letting go
  
  Out with old
  Dreams I've borrowed
  The path I carve from here on out will be my own
  The path will be my own
  
  This is the part where the needle skips
  And the chorus plays like a sink that drips
  A syllable repeating
  Like a warning we aren't heading
  Until all of a sudden we notice it
  When the wheels brace and the tires grip
  A map we've been misreading
  A defeat we're not conceding until now
  There must be some other way out
  
  Go on alone
  Because I won't follow
  But this isn't giving up
  No, this is letting go
  
  Out with the old
  Dreams I've borrowed
  The path I carve from here on out will be my own
  A path to take me home
  
  The wind died
  The whole world ceased to move
  Now so quiet
  Her beating heart became a boom
  We locked eyes
  For just a moment or two
  She asked why
  I said "I don't know why,
  I just know."
  
  The wind died
  The whole world ceased to move
  Now so quiet
  Her beating heart became a boom
  We locked eyes
  For just a moment or two
  She asked why
  I said "I don't know why,
  I just know, I just know."
  
  Go on alone
  Because I won't follow
  This isn't giving up
  No, this is letting go
  
  I made the most
  Of all this sorrow
  I tried to brave this discontent
  But now I'm through
  I'm letting go of you
  
  This is letting go
  This is letting go
  
  Once upon a time I could take anything, anything

  Flag Ariakalason March 30, 2011   Link

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• +1
  Lyric Correction:in the frist verse says ¨but could not do i fake¨
  

  Flag Beto7100on March 27, 2011   Link

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  General Comment:When I heard this song the first time it really hit home. As I understand it, it's a song basically about how he's ending a relationship, but not because he's giving up on it but because he's letting go of the situation thats out of his control. I was in a relationship where my girlfriend was basically asking me to be God for her, and make everything better. It got to a point after a year where she asked for to much and I had to let her go because the situation was beyond me, and I had reached the end of what I could do for her. The conversation wen just like the song does, a moment where the world seems to stop, the world frozen in a moment of intensity and she asked why. My answer was the same as in the song, word for word. I heard this song two days later, and I found alot of comfort in it.

  Flag CarvedKABOOSEon March 23, 2011   Link

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  General Comment:-.- talk about not putting in any effort these lyrics aren't even close to the real lyrics

  Flag Check12on March 20, 2011   Link

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    0

    Seriously? What are some lyrics that you consider to be real?

    Flag jealouszombieon May 08, 2012  
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  General Comment:This is the first song I heard on this album and the meaning hit me like a freight train.
  
  I can't wait to buy the whole thing haha.

  Flag imthemanwithdogson March 20, 2011   Link

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• +4
  General Comment:The first verse is about someone who used to go with the flow of things; someone who was on a journey with a lover. They were chasing a dream, probably the "american" dream, and after a while it became a tiresome and lonesome challenge. "just to wake up in a lonely grave" They realized that this dream wasn't their dream and it wasn't attainable.
  
  The chorus signifies this person realizing that they've moved on. They aren't going to keep chasing something that they don't believe in. It's not about giving up on life, it's about letting go of something that was never their own to begin with. They're going to blaze their own trail and make their own way.
  
  The second verse is a reaffirmation of the chorus. Reality hits when the "wheels brace and the tires grip". This person comes to peace with the fact that they weren't on the right path ("a map we've been misreading"). It's not a defeat though, it's about figuring out your own way.
  
  At the end of the song, they're explaining that it was a gut feeling that made the decision final. "I don't know why, I just know". Instinct and a natural charisma took over and forced this person to part ways and break free from expectations.
  

  Flag crimsonsageon March 10, 2011   Link

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