You are my army and I would command
"Attack the Holy Land"
And you are that interstate
That I would roll my tanks down

So color me stunned
And wake the children when done
And put the details in a jar
And bury them underwater

I went to see these battlegrounds
With battle sounds
And drove to the outskirts
With cars on blocks
And houses run down

So color me stunned
And wake the children when done
And put the details in a jar
And bury them underwater

We'll gather up the family and
Display our diseased organs
We'll call it pride
We'll celebrate tonight
Tax free and always underpriced

So color me stunned
And wake the children when done
And put the details in a jar
And bury them underwater



Lyrics submitted by weezerific:cutlery

Track duration: 03:07


Underwater song meanings
Add your thoughts

19 Comments

sort form View by:
  • 0
    General Comment:It's about sex

    You are my army and I would command
    "Attack the Holy Land"
    -Obvious enough, what the "The Holy Land" is.

    And you are that interstate
    That I would roll my tanks down
    -Haha, again pretty obvious

    So color me stunned
    And wake the children when done
    And put the details in a jar
    And bury them underwater
    -Orgasm and condom reference

    We'll gather up the family and
    Display our diseased organs
    We'll call it pride
    We'll celebrate tonight
    Tax free and always underpriced
    -Tax free = No Children
    Underpriced = Cheap

    just a fun interpretation
    Flag chrisbcream26on April 15, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This is just a quick thought about it but,

    I believe the first stanza is just pointing out some of the hypocrisy and un-moral reasoning of war.

    I think "So color me stunned" is saying how we acted shocked or how we act like we didn’t think that these things could be going on

    The "I went to see these battlegrounds" stanza, suggests, people seem to be in denial about certain issues, so they go to see this "battleground" or place in hardship and realize that it is in hardship

    The "We'll gather up the family and
    Display our diseased organs" stanza, sort of more obviously points out the flaws in our economy and in people in general. How we take things for granite and yet we still judge others. For example, our good life that we don’t appreciate by putting our organs through hell and we call it pride and celebrate.
    Flag dgo17on November 20, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Gibbard has written about this a couple of times anyhow. Namely "We Will Become Silhouettes."
    Flag tundradesert81on June 24, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think this song has got to be about the end of the world. Associating armies and tanks and battlegrounds with Interstates and "the outskirts with cars on blocks and houses run down", ie decimated from some post-apocalyptic ordeal seems to point to this. Obviously waking children in the night and hiding "details in a jar" and burying them would go with some sort of invasion. Displaying our diseased organs could mean people who have survived a nuclear exchange/fallout. Celebrating tax-free seems to mean that after the world has ended, you can celebrate because at least there's no more taxes.

    That's just how it seems to me.
    Flag tundradesert81on June 24, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Here's some food for thought. He commands "attack the holy land" and then talks of rolling down an interstate to a holy land. See what I am going for here?

    What is the modern holy land?
    Flag Sadexon September 22, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:i really dont think it's anything to do with iraq.. or literal war at all. i think 'gathering up the family and displaying our diseased organs' refers to drinking and smoking (liver and lungs). Ben is a smoker and a drinker, he often refers to alcohol and cigarettes. maybe he's talking about an economic war in the slums of america: 'cars on [cinder]blocks and houses run down'
    Flag willsfarmon July 12, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:this song first appeared on gibbard's all-time quarterback album in 1999. i agree with how you interpreted some of the lines but unless you are talking about the original persian gulf war, the current iraq war hadnt started when it was written.
    Flag abitamancan44on June 07, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:wow. 11 comments and no one's said anything.

    Here's what I think the song means: This is clearly an anti-war song. Specifically, he's talking about the Iraq war.
    Most of it can be decoded easily, but the part about diseased organs and pride is a bit tougher. He's discussing the benefits we derive from dirty wars... "we'll call it pride, and celebrate tonight, tax-free and always underpriced"... the benefits of imperialism. We "wake the children when done" because know it's a shameful thing... and of course, lying, suppressing information, and telling ourselves what we want to hear is what "put the details in a jar and bury them underwater" is about.
    Flag Mr.Meon May 15, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Great song a good melody my favorite line is
    "you were my army and i would command" another great sonf of the genius Ben Gibbard Great DCFC
    Flag blythegunon February 09, 2006   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:It's perfect in every way!
    Flag pandakaton July 22, 2005   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

Back to top
explain