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I still remember that night
It was the fourth of July
It's still engraved in my mind
and I'm not suprised.
Gang wars
no guns
hand to hand.
You're black
I'm white
he's purple
but I still don't understand.
I'm going to be alright
I'm going to be okay
everything is going to be fine
back off. I want to be alone
I want to think it out and
I'm thinking that I want to go home.
Look who's laughing now.
I'll pull it off somehow.
As I passed her by
I could see her cry
and I'll never forget the look that was in her eye
and the music you know it played on & and on & on
so won't somebody tap her on the shoulder tell her life goes on.
3 years, 2 months, 1 week, 4 days
I'm always counting down because there ain't no easier way
trust me you know that I tried
and if I said it was easy then you know that I told a lie.
I'm going to be alright
I'm going to be just fine.
One down five billion to go.
Am I the next in line
and do I really want to know?
It was the fourth of July
It's still engraved in my mind
and I'm not suprised.
Gang wars
no guns
hand to hand.
You're black
I'm white
he's purple
but I still don't understand.
I'm going to be alright
I'm going to be okay
everything is going to be fine
back off. I want to be alone
I want to think it out and
I'm thinking that I want to go home.
Look who's laughing now.
I'll pull it off somehow.
As I passed her by
I could see her cry
and I'll never forget the look that was in her eye
and the music you know it played on & and on & on
so won't somebody tap her on the shoulder tell her life goes on.
3 years, 2 months, 1 week, 4 days
I'm always counting down because there ain't no easier way
trust me you know that I tried
and if I said it was easy then you know that I told a lie.
I'm going to be alright
I'm going to be just fine.
One down five billion to go.
Am I the next in line
and do I really want to know?
Lyrics submitted by oofus
Track duration: 03:14
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I think the song is just a metaphor for different situations he had to go through in high school.
"You're black
I'm white
he's purple
but I still don't understand."
Perhaps simply regarding racism
"I'm going to be alright
I'm going to be okay
everything is going to be fine
back off. I want to be alone
I want to think it out and
I'm thinking that I want to go home."
I think its safe to say we've all had a day where we ran something similar to this through our heads in school. You had a bad day and your telling yourself it'll be better, and all you want is for everyone to back off and leave you alone
"3 years, 2 months, 1 week, 4 days
I'm always counting down because there ain't no easier way
trust me you know that I tried
and if I said it was easy then you know that I told a lie."
Maybe the amount of time he had left in school when he wrote it, or maybe just a metaphor for saying "I'm gonna be here for awhile"
That's how I see it.
While the theory seems to be popular, I it should be fairly safe to rule out that any bystander has been killed. It clearly says "Gang wars, no guns, hand to hand", which I think again supports my theory of one guy being beaten to death. It is, after all, fairly hard to kill an innocent bystander in a fist-fight.
I don't think the narrator has any personal relationship to the woman he sees crying. It could be the girlfriend or mother of the guy he killed, which would explain his indifference towards her ("Somebody tap her on the shoulder and tell her life goes on" isn't exactly the most compassionate thing you can remark upon seeing any person crying), an indifference he has to put on to keep sane upon realizing he has killed a person she loves.
He then tries to find comfort by telling himself that everything will be allright and he's counting down the days until his jailtime is over. While in jail he gets to cool down and contemplates how fragile life is and how easy it can get taken away from him, with no greater consequences for humanities remaining 5 billion people.
Really great song. This one is, along with As the Footsteps Die Out Forever and Day In Day Out, a definite C22 favourite of mine.
Starts off with some guys having a fist fight, and I think he's saying their races didn't matter. Like, "I'm this, you're that, he's something else, who cares?" And it's a really emotional fight. The narrator ends up killing the other guy and has mixed emotions over it. He keeps repeating to himself that everything will be fine, but really in his mind he knows he really screwed up. It's like he's going crazy, you know?
Later that night, I think he got taken in by the cops. His girlfriend is watching him get arrested. That'd explain "and I'll never forget the look that was in her eye". Like she was shocked, scared, and disappointed. It'd also show why he couldn't be the one to "tap her on the shoulder, tell her life goes on."
The end just goes over him while he's in jail, the same mental conflicts going on as he just sits around, counting down the days till he's released. Thinking about life, and wondering when it'll be his time to die.
Has anyone heard streetlight manifesto's version of this song? its pretty kickass.
"Gang wars
no guns
hand to hand.
You're black
I'm white
he's purple
but I still don't understand. "
theres a brawl that breaks out. the colors he chooses are supposed to represent sides. the "purple" guy dies in this brawl between the "black" and "white" sides, even though hes an innocent bystander. this is why the girl is sad and he has to calm her down and tell her that life goes on.
its also evident that someone dies in the lines:
"One down five billion to go.
Am I the next in line
and do I really want to know?"
hes talking about one person dying out of the entire population.