Rise Against - Survivor Guilt

Song: Survivor Guilt
Artist: Rise Against
Album: Endgame

Rise Against is an American punk rock band from Chicago, Illinois.

Survivor Guilt is from Rise Against's sixth studio album, Endgame, which was released on March 15 2011. The beginning of the song features this clip from the 1970 film Catch 22. "What are you talking about? America isn't going to be destroyed."

"Never? Rome was destroyed, Greece was destroyed, Persia was destroyed, Spain was destroyed. All great countries are destroyed. Why not yours? How much longer do you really think your own country will last? Forever?"

The song is an anti-war song. I think it's about soldiers going off and dying for someone else's battle. I think it might also be about how the government doesn't do what it should to help soldiers who've been injured and the families of soldiers who've been killed. About giving all you have for something that wasn't worth the price. I think it's about how war is pointless, and not the way to solve anything. And about how most wars are started for very stupid reasons. How the people in charge are hypocrites who care more about money than a human life. People tell their children that fighting isn't the way to solve problems, yet look at the world. There is another clip from the same film in the middle of the song. "You're a shameful opportunist! What you don't understand is that it's better to die on your feet than to live on your knees."

"You have it backwards. It's better to live on your feet than to die on your knees. I know."
I really love this song. I like the lyrics, the message and the music.

"Survivor Guilt"

Block the entrances, close the doors
Seal the exits because this is war

All gave some, some gave all
But for what I wanna know

Carry on, don't mind me
All I gave was everything
And yet you ask me for more
Fought your fight
Bought your lies
In return I lost my life
What purpose does this serve?

A folded flag
A purple heart
A family all but torn apart

And I fought with courage to preserve
Not my way of life but yours

Carry on, don't mind me
All I gave was everything
And yet you ask me for more
Fought your fight
Bought your light
In return I lost my life
What purpose does this serve?

The cowards preach on pedestals
With words of courage and resolve
But what they meant was fuck them all
Because freedom isn't free

They send our daughters and our sons
To deserts under burning suns
A Sacrificial slaughtering
To fill the pockets of the weak

An artificial enemy
Are we so easily deceived?
They carry on

Don't carry on
Just walk away
How many more sent to their graves
In this lesson ignored?

I fought your fight
Bought your lie
In return I lost my life
What purpose does this serve?
What purpose did I serve?

Rise Against - Survivor Guilt - Youtube (Audio Only)

Bad Religion - Submission Complete

Song: Submission Complete
Artist: Bad Religion
Album: New Maps Of Hell

Bad Religion is an American punk rock band from California.

The song Submission Complete is from Bad Religion's fourteenth full length studio album released on July 10th 2007. I think the song Submission Complete is about how people are controlled by authority figures and people who see only one way of living and want to bend everyone else to that idea. Bad Religion lead vocalist Greg Graffin said in an interview about the song "This is supposed to give all those teenagers some hope that they don't have to submit to some outdated, rigid, nonsensical belief system". I really like the sound and the lyrics of this song.

"Submission Complete"

Dedication is the price you pay: the initiated are
Coddled and caged
Before you walk, as soon as you crawl
Hope is pointless 'cuz you're stuck in the trawl

Fuck the freshman lectures and brandishments
They just betray impoverished accomplishments
The puppet masters fear originality
They tighten up the tethers and they shackle your feet
Submission complete!

Young recruits never have a chance, enticed to
The drill, admonished to dance
Early to rise and early to shine, life is long but the end is nigh

Break the guilty trammels from yesteryear
Remember how rejuvenation conquers all fears
Lowly opportunists take commanding roles
And hawk ultimatums so their weakness won't show

The sad reflection of dead ambition
You live for nothing
Submission complete!

Yeah, break the guilty trammels from yesteryear
Remember how the taste of failure makes it all clear
The lowly opportunists take commanding roles
And hawk ultimatums so their weakness won't show

The sad reflection of dead ambition
You live for nothing

Expectation, indoctrination
Life's a damnation
Submission complete!

Dying on your feet
Submission complete
A total defeat

Bad Religion - Submission Complete - Youtube (Audio Only)

Rise Against - Make It Stop (September's Children)

Song: Make It Stop (September's Children)
Artist: Rise Against
Album: Endgame

Rise Against is an American punk rock band from Chicago, Illinois.

Here is another Rise Against song. I know I'm doing a lot of Rise Against songs, but they're one of my favorite bands and they just released a new album Endgame on March 15th, 2011. So I'm probably gonna do a couple of songs from the new album. In the month of September 2010 several teenagers commited suicide as a result of anti-gay bullying. That is what this song is about. The song is about how ignorant and prejudiced people bully those who are different from them. About how gay young people and even straight kids presumed to be gay are being bullied until they reach a breaking point. And how something has to be done about the society that lets this go on. Horrible examples of homophobia are seen all the time. I once saw a child of about 7 years old on TV holding a sign that said "God Hates Fags". That was one of the most disgusting things I've ever seen. That child didn't even know the meaning of what he was being made to support. What if that child turns out to be gay? He would most likely be closeted and ashamed and scared to be himself because of his parents' homophobia. Things like this are the reason kids are killing themselves. This has to stop. During the song the names and ages of five of the teens who commited suicide are spoken. As I said before Rise Against is one of my favorite bands, and I admire them for writing a song about this. It makes me love them even more.

"Make It Stop (September's Children)"

Woah, woah.

Bang bang go the coffin nails, like a breath exhaled,
Then gone forever.
It seems like just yesterday, how did I miss the red flags raise?
Think back to the days we laughed.
We braved these bitter storms together.
Brought to his knees he cried,
But on his feet he died.

What God would damn a heart?
What God drove us apart?
What God could

Make it stop
Let this end.
Eighteen years pushed to the ledge.
It's come to this,
A weightless step.
On the way down singing,
Woah, woah.

Bang bang from the closet walls,
The schoolhouse halls,
The shotgun's loaded.
Push me and I'll push back.
I'm done asking, I demand.
From a nation under God,
I feel it's love like a cattle prod.

Born free, but still they hate.
Born me, no I can't change.
It's always darkest just before the dawn.
So stay awake with me, let's prove them wrong.

Make it stop.
Let this end,
Eighteen years pushed to the ledge.
It's come to this,
A weightless step.
On the way down singing,
Woah, woah.

The cold river washed him away,
But how could we forget.
The gatherings hold candles
But not their tongues.
And too much blood has flown from the wrists,
Of the children shamed for those they chose to kiss.
Who will rise to stop the blood?

We're calling for,
Insisting on, a different beat.
A brand new song.

Whoa, whoa
Make this stop
Make this end.
This life chose me, I'm not lost in sin.
But proud I stand of who I am,
I plan to go on living.

Rise Against - Make It Stop (September's Children) - Youtube (Audio Only)

Rise Against - Help Is On The Way

Song: Help Is On The Way

Artist: Rise Against

Album: Endgame

Rise Against is an American punk rock band from Chicago, Illinois.

Now I know I did a Rise Against song on here not that long ago, but today (January 25th) Rise Against released a new song Help Is On the Way. The song is the first single off of their upcoming new album, which will be their sixth studio album. The album is called Endgame and is set to be released on March 15th 2011. Rise Against are known for their politically charged and socially concious lyrics and this song follows that theme as well. I think the song is about the BP oil spill. About the loss of life and the pollution caused by the oil spill. About a tragedy caused by corporations trying to make more money at the cost of the environment and human lives. Also about government officials who make false reasurances that everything is fine when in fact it's not. I like the guitar and drums on this song. The lyrics are amazing. I think Rise Against has done a great job on this song, I love it, and I can't wait until Endgame comes out.

"Help Is On The Way"

I have my mother's dreams,
I have my father's eyes,
You can't take that from me,
Just go ahead and try.
The cursed city sleeps,
Watch giants in the sky,
Preparing to unleash,
Let loose a mighty cry.

Can nobody save us?
Will anyone try?
The pyre is burning,
The severance is dying.
And all along they say it.

Help is on the way
(They said, they said)
Help is on the way
(They said, they said)
Hold my hand to help see.
Right there in front of me.
Help is on the way.

Five thousand feet below,
As black smoke engulfs the sky,
The ocean floor explodes,
Eleven mothers cry.
My bones all resonate,
A burning lullaby,
You can't take that from me,
Just go ahead and try.

She says that's the shoreline,
With hands in the air,
Her words miss the dark light,
Does anyone care?
And all along they say it.

Help is on the way
(They said, they said)
Help is on the way
(They said, they said)
Hold my hand, to help see.
Right there in front of me.
Help is on the way.

Right here! Right here! [x3]

Choking on the black gold,
Upon which we rely,
We keep actions in the attics,
To see cameras in the sky.

Help is on the way
(They said, they said)
Help is on the way
(They said, they said)

We were told just to sit tight,
Cause somebody will soon arrive.
Help is on the way.
But it never came!
It never came!

Help is on the way
(They said, they said)
Help is on the way
(They said, they said)
Hold my hand, to help see.
Right there in front of me.
Help is on the way.
On the way.

Rise Against - Help Is On the Way - Youtube (Audio Only)

Rise Against - Entertainment

Song: Entertainment

Artist: Rise Against

Album: Appeal To Reason

Rise Against is an American punk rock band from Chicago, Illinois.

I think the song Entertainment is mostly about hollywood and shallow fame. It's about how people worship celebrity, watching the every move of stars, wanting/wishing to be like them and letting their own lives be consumed by something that's not even real. Some people will worship famous people to the point of obsession. I think it's about how in a lot of cases "musicians" and other "celebrities" care way more about making money than about creating something of quality and substance. How sometimes what's sold to people is a product posing as art instead of actual art. How people will strive to be this idea of  perfection that is completely fake (though I find perfection usually is fake and something to be wary of). People that hide their flaws have the worst flaws, if someone/something seems too good to be true they probably are. Just look at the annoying auto-tuned shit that passes for "music". All n' all I think this song is excellent, it's very thought-provoking and very true.

"Entertainment"

All we are is entertainment
Caught up in our own derangement
Tell us what to say and what to do
All we are are pretty faces
Picture perfect bottled rage
Packaged synthesized versions of you

We've all made petty fortunes but we can't afford a life
Confined to pull-out quotes and hotel rooms
They all scream California and its toppling empire
But can't you see the end is coming soon

Come one come all the new sensation
Guarantees then obligations
Spotlights follow every single move
Basking here on ten foot stages
Pouty lips and oh so jaded
All as if we have something to prove

Despite these petty fortunes we still can't afford a life
Confined to pull-out quotes and hotel rooms
They all scream California and its toppling empire
But can't you see the end is here

And if we cared at all
About this unknown plight
Then we'd do something more
To finally make this right

Is this only entertainment
Pull the curtains, places please
We've learned to sing and dance and cry on cue
But this is more than entertainment
In a world so sick with pain
This is the only thing that's real or true

We've all made petty fortunes but we can't afford a life
Confined to pull-out quotes and hotel rooms
They all scream bloody murder over graves already dug
But can't you see the end

Rise Against - Entertainment - Youtube (Audio Only)

Rise Against - Blood-Red, White and Blue

Song: Blood-Red, White and Blue

Artist: Rise Against

Album: Revolutions Per Minute

Rise Against is an American punk rock band from Chicago, Illinois.

I first got into Rise Against when I was given a free download. I loved the punk/hardrock sound and the lyrics of the music. I purchased more of their music including the album Revolutions Per Minute. My favorite song off Revolutions Per Minute is Blood-Red, White and Blue. To me the song seems to be about the Bush administration and against war. The lyric "So pride yourself on what you are" reminded me of Bush saying that he would disown his daughters if they were gay. The song seems to say that Apathy will get us nowhere and that we shouldn't sit by and do nothing when something needs to be done.

"Real revolution starts at learning. If you're not angry then you are not paying attention." - Taken from inside the album cover of Revolutions Per Minute.

"Blood-Red, White, And Blue"

So come test me, so come break me
So come on intoxicate me
With hands tied behind my back I fight
And wait for you to strike

A new problem we cannot stop them
We're outnumbered and uncautioned
A rally cry rings out into the night

So pride yourself on what you are
And hold them all to words they can't take back
I've seen a place (it comes) to me in dreams
Where fires die but light still shines for us to see

What did you have to say?
Give me your logic, your definition
The words you twist to justify your position
Of mass starvation and blind airstrikes
Every problem is solved with a fight

Peace won't be found
Till we're underground
As long as we live without a sound

So pride yourself on what you are
And hold them all to words they can't take back
I've seen a place (it comes) to me in dreams
Where fires die but light still shines for us to see

Would God bless a murder of the innocents?
Would God bless a war based on pride?
Would God bless a money-hungry government? Noooo!

Would God bless our ineffective court system?
God bless the sweatshops we run.
God bless America?
God bless America? (Noooo)

Rise Against - Blood-Red, White and Blue - Youtube (Audio Only)