Lyrics for Paris in Flames as interpreted by himxbillxcky

Paris in Flames Lyrics
Now its time to wrap our fears in the night
And on the first day we'll dress this city in flames
After all the things you say
You hate me for being this way

Still you won't let go of old ideals
There is no headline to read at night
When the record slips and you're not holding the needle

We all sing the songs of separation
And we watch our lives bleed out through our hands
Thats how it was on the first day
We saw Paris in Flames

I think it's going to rain, rain down

Here in this collapsed lung of a borough
There is no sunlight
The sunlight is manufactured in a windowless room
Distant and incoherent
Businessmen hang themselves

The lower cast side is a jukebox playing the deadman's crescendo
The needle is a vector
An intersection that well all must cross
A dimly lit hallway where shadows of moths decorate the walls
Discard this message
Burn this city down

Discard this message
Throw this bottle back in the ocean
Rip this page from the history books
Smash all the street signs
Erase all the maps
Forget my name
Forget my face
Because it's going to rain
And it never ends

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backupdork
01-18-2002

Rated 0 
i think this is my favorite song on Full Collapse. i wish i knew what was being screamed toward the end between "burn this city down" and the last "discard this message." i hope they do this live.

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sentimentalf0ol
01-22-2002

Rated 0 
I know that this song was named for the drag queens in NYC. Is it saying that the end of the world will be homophobia? Is that what we must get over? They don't think that we will ever except this though. Frankly I don't agree with them-- there's a lot more stuff that will end the world before a lack of tollerence. If anything sometimes we are too tollerant if you ask me.

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moonsoon3
01-31-2002

Rated 0 
this song was inspired by a movie that was based on the Stonewall Inn Riots that occured in 1969. A drag bar in Greenwich Village (in the lower east side) in Manhattan, New York City was raided by cops and the customers of the club defended themselves, and a riot occurred. The rain imagery, and the whole "discard this message" part is about the event being erased from the consciousness of many.

the song is about standing up, about refusing to be oppressed, it's about forcing your existence on the people who supress it.

to respond to "sentimentalf0ol"....the world is too tollerant? people die because of their religion, color of their skin, sexual orientation, and the world is too tollerant? you're an idiot. until i feel like i can express myself without being self conscious or fearing for my safety, i will continue to call you an idiot.

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Hwrdmyns
02-03-2002

Rated 0 
First of all..this is an absolutely amazing song..the first time I heard it, I fell in love w/ it...the melody, the lyrics, everything..even if u dont know what it's about, you have to appreciate it...

Second, agreeing w/ moonsoon, yes sentimental, you are an idiot, actually more so, and F&*KING Idiot, a retard, i dont know, i wanna hit you, i have friends that have been discriminated against you homophobe, get a life, appreciate this song for what it is, and it's a disgrace to know that you are a Thursday fan, go jump off a cliff...

Thursday is a great band and i cant wait to hear their new stuff...Keep rockin' it boys

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CursiveHearts
02-04-2002

Rated 0 
Right on you guys....But we all know songs were written so that every person can interprit it in his or her own way. Not all are as openminded as you two and I. Lets not call him names, he will get it one day. Rock on Thursday, Cursive and At the Drive-in.

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Hwrdmyns
02-06-2002

Rated 0 
HAHA, hell ya...One-armed scissor is the shit....

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rainydayboy
02-08-2002

Rated 0 
fuck yeah moonsoon3, good call. "the world is too tolerant" wow that sounds exactly like the illogical bullshit that president bush would say. it just doesnt make any sense.

Also I what I thought the song was about (and after reading the comments apperantly it is) is that Paris in Flames symbolizes destroying somehting ideal and beautiful. I guess it really was about destroying some gay people's lives. The story behind these lyrics alone, make this my new favorite song.

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Hwrdmyns
02-09-2002

Rated 0 
Since the first time i heard this song, it's been my new favorite song, it's an unbelievable song..and raindyday, i agree w/ you, monsoon is a fuckingretard, but whatever, ignorant people will be among us, we just have to ignore them...took a hell of a lot of them to vote bush into presidency...whatever, the song is great, no one is saying it's not...

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legaldub33
03-14-2002

Rated 0 
This world doesn't have enough tolerance. Americans are that have middle eastern background are harrased and beaten everyday in this country. THIS SONGS RULES! Since the first time I heard this song its been my favorite. Thursday is such a good band. MONSOOONFOOOL! Think about what you're saying before you ever say it again.

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antiheroxp
03-21-2002

Rated 0 
why is everyone calling moonsoon a fool. sentamental is the real jackass here.

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miguelito
04-04-2002

Rated 0 
tight ass song!!!!
AND WE WATCH OUR LIVES BLEED OUT THROUGH OUR HANDS!!!!!!!!!!!THATS HOW IT WAS ON THE FIRST DAY WHEN WE SAW PARIS IN FLAMES...................dam i dont know what he says after burn this city down, ill just make a good guess.....

BURN THE CITY DOWN!!!!!!! DOWN!!!!!!!!!! BETTER HIDE!!!!!
YOU BURN IT WITH INFLAMES!!!!!
NO WAY ON THE FIRST DAY!!!

it doesnt matter if i got it right, but its a tight song!!!

mickeyboy

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fletcherjhs
04-12-2002

Rated 0 
Ok you know what, so many of you have an opinion, but are too ready to resort to insults by calling people idiots and such. You come off like a (sorry for this) a bunch of jackasses intolerant to a disagreeing opinion. Also, not that i agree with the comment about too much tolerance, but i thought i'd throw this out: Why don't we be tolerant to adults who have sex with 10 year olds? what about those who want to have sex with animals, or sex in public. ALl i'm saying is that there CAN be too much tolerance. Also, please don't respond to this post with a bunch of F-You's, i'm just stating an opinion


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emodave
04-23-2002

Rated 0 
fletcher has a point. dickheads like that make the world dumber. and dont point fingers, we've all dont it before

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emodave
04-23-2002

Rated 0 
fletcher has a point. dickheads like that make the world dumber. and dont point fingers, we've all dont it before

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emodave
04-23-2002

Rated 0 
fletcher has a point. dickheads like that make the world dumber. and dont point fingers, we've all dont it before

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castaside
04-24-2002

Rated 0 
This is a great song! Thursday has the a ton of energy when they play on stage. One of the greatest bands to see live. If you have a chance to see them, take it!

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TheLongGoodnight
04-24-2002

Rated 0 
first of all, i think this song has nothing to do with people who are gay, or dress in drag. i think this song is about currpotion in our world and then someone is gonna hit us big. This is a tragedy which no one will want to remember or be told about "Rip this page from the history book""smash all the street signs, erase all the maps".

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xforgetmynamex
04-27-2002

Rated 0 
thursday has said in many places that this song is based on the movie "paris is burning," which is about drag queens.

in response to all this stuff about the world being too tolerant or not...i don't like the word "tolerance." it implies that something must simply be "tolerated." what the world lacks is acceptance, and you can't deny that. tolerance is a form of apathy. people let a lot of bad shit happen because they don't care, and nothing has the opportunity to improve. we all sing the songs of separation as we watch our lives bleed out through our hands...we may "tolerate" each other, but that just separates us more because we don't truly accept other people. even if violent discriminatory incidents were prevented, we couldn't force a lot of people in this world to accept each other. and that's really sad.

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thursdaylvr
04-28-2002

Rated 0 
I really would overall have to agree with forgetmyname because he made a really good point about the word tolerance. I would also like to think that we're a bit more mature than reducing ourselves to mindless caustic remarks on the internet. Besides, what this site is for is to post what we feel about the songs, not the people who listen to them. also, about tolerance, isn't the whole idea that we should tolerate people who have different views than us? Yeah, most of us would agree that this song is awesome, but the sad truth is that we have to accept the people who don't feel that way.
All right, enough talk about that, more about the music. I half-listened to this song many times before I actually read the lyrics and made myself sit down and listen to the song. That's when I decided that this song is SO awesome! allright, I sound like a fourteen-year-old when I say crap like that, but it is. My favorite part of this song would have to be the spoken parts, especially the "discard this message, throw this bottle back into the ocean...." and on another subject, I agree with whoever said that this song isn't necessarily about acceptance of gays or minorities. Sometimes I wonder if the meaning of the song is even deeper than the issue of acceptance itself. hmmmm. Leaving us all with something to think about.

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thursdaylvr
04-28-2002

Rated 0 
oh yeah, and one of the things that I love about this song is the sense of urgency in his voice and in the words and music. Like he wants to get his message across so badly to save the world... I also think that this song deals with the world in general, not just acceptance.

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~CoDeSeVeN~
05-02-2002

Rated 0 
this is definitly one of their best songs.if you havnt seen them live go see them! iv'e seen them twice and both times they were amazing.

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xpictures.in.words
05-03-2002

Rated 0 
my favorite song off the album
right next to "how long is the night?"
beautiful.

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gmc
05-08-2002

Rated 0 
when i saw thursday live geoff introduced this song by saying "this one's about feeling alienated." that's all i know about that.

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PunkRawkLoser
05-08-2002

Rated 0 
this song is mad rad like pancakes. i get the part "i think its gonna rain rain down" stuck in my head.

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the-anti-pop
05-09-2002

Rated 0 
wow, i had NO idea about the drag queen thing. but now that i read all those comments it makes perfect sense! but i also think this song can be interpretted to mean more than just that incident. i see it as referring to all predjudices and intolerance. for some reason the lyirics " Discard this message
Throw this bottle back in the ocean
Rip this page from the history books
Smash all the street signs
Erase all the maps
Forget my name
Forget my face
Because it's going to rain
And it never ends" bring crystal nacht (the night of broken glass) to mind. for those of you who don't know what that is, it was the night a bunch of germans went and smashed and destroyed every jewish shop and many jewish houses, pretty much symbolizing the start of the holocaust. i know the song has nothing to do with that, but since the lyrics spark that in my mind, it just seems like this song is about ALL predjudices.

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