So here is, to the best of my knowledge, the full and overanalyzed meaning of the song. First of all, the song was written in 2002 and then when they were recording it in '05, the brazilian man was killed on the subway, and they changed the title as a tribute, as psychobain said. As for the meaning, here goes:
The song is a social commentary on the state of the world today. Fyfe discusses the ever-present feeling of distrust and suspicion as a result of terrorist attacks, which resulted in the wrongful murder of the aforementioned Brazilian man on the subway last year. We are all living with our "backs to the wall", and though he wonders when they'll "blow us away", he's just thankful to here for as long as he can. The "prophets and pawns" are the terrorist leaders and their mindless followers, and we live in a culture of anxiety, aware that are lives are "in the hands of these erroneous fools". He curses those who live their lives unhappy, "from one day to the next", and says "let them take you next", as you should just be thankful to be here on this earth, living this life, as it could be "you tomorrow [or] next year".
As for the girl referenced in the song, the one he still "thinks about on cold winter mornings", I'm a little less confident. It could be that she's just an example of a reason he's happy to be alive, but I think she may have been a victim of terrorism herself. She is an example of a person whose life turned out to be "in the hands of those erroneous fools", a victim of senseless terrorism. This song is beautiful, amazing, incredible, and moving, and completely worthy of the hyperbole I drenched the first half of this sentence in. Far and away the best song of 2006 so far.
So here is, to the best of my knowledge, the full and overanalyzed meaning of the song. First of all, the song was written in 2002 and then when they were recording it in '05, the brazilian man was killed on the subway, and they changed the title as a tribute, as psychobain said. As for the meaning, here goes:
The song is a social commentary on the state of the world today. Fyfe discusses the ever-present feeling of distrust and suspicion as a result of terrorist attacks, which resulted in the wrongful murder of the aforementioned Brazilian man on the subway last year. We are all living with our "backs to the wall", and though he wonders when they'll "blow us away", he's just thankful to here for as long as he can. The "prophets and pawns" are the terrorist leaders and their mindless followers, and we live in a culture of anxiety, aware that are lives are "in the hands of these erroneous fools". He curses those who live their lives unhappy, "from one day to the next", and says "let them take you next", as you should just be thankful to be here on this earth, living this life, as it could be "you tomorrow [or] next year".
As for the girl referenced in the song, the one he still "thinks about on cold winter mornings", I'm a little less confident. It could be that she's just an example of a reason he's happy to be alive, but I think she may have been a victim of terrorism herself. She is an example of a person whose life turned out to be "in the hands of those erroneous fools", a victim of senseless terrorism. This song is beautiful, amazing, incredible, and moving, and completely worthy of the hyperbole I drenched the first half of this sentence in. Far and away the best song of 2006 so far.