anonymous January 8th, 2009 01:26PM  
This song could be about anybody, from ex-drummer Jeremy Hummel to the Devil himself. I tend to prefer the latter, and imagine a song written by a man that has triumphed over a troubled past (no longer live that life), willing to "burn the whole world down" rather than return to that way of life. This is easy to relate to, we have all overcome demons by the grace of God. Someday all of us will have the opportunity to say these words to Satan, for "his end is near", and he has already been defeated, thus paving the way for songs like this.
The lyric in the first verse of the song, "we are all prisoners//This couldnt get much worse" further allows this spiritual imagery. Galatians 3:22-23:

22But the Scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.23Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed.

we are all prisoners to sin, freed only by faith in Christ. This is attested to the many who claim freedom from said struggles (demons) in Jesus. Further, this verse corrects the misunderstanding that Christianity is all about rules. On the contrary, the following verse in Galatians says that faith frees us from the bondage that is the law, not puts us into it. So...Mr. Burnley of Breaking Benjamin may be on to something deeply theological when he notices that we ARE all prisoners, and that this world is not the way our Creator intended it.

anonymous February 13th, 2009 10:23PM  
I am more than likely wrong, but.. i thought, when i first heard this song, it was about a guy that stole a girlfriend from him. "you had to have it all, well have you had enough you greedy little bastard you get what you deserve" I don't know i could be and probably am wrong.

HowCouldYou May 15th, 2009 04:23PM  
About some 'other' that took or is 'taking advantage' of 'a situation' or person
or group of people, and appears to know it, and how an 'accuser', in this case
the author, warns the 'other' that the 'taken advantage of' must be repaired in
some way and suggests 'total moral and physical destruction' upon the 'other'
as their chosen form of retribution if they were to be given the chance to
make that judgment.

I would like to talk about the 'appears to know it' aforementioned. The second and
third verse of the first stanza implies that the 'other' was either high in
rank or had a well established and trusted reputation to do good deeds but 'turned'
bad by making a series of poor judgments that caused someone harm, physical damage
or mental anguish, or personally physically or mentally harmed another with their own
body, words, or some other weapon.

The 'Hold me down' statement shows weakness since the statement implies threat of
harm that can be held back, in fact, the entire song has threats of harm and could
be said to be a warning.

The accuser is not sure what to do, but so fed up that they are willing to risk
their reputation and pride by acting like a complete idiot with 'burn down that
world' kind of nonsense in an effort to divert attention away from the truth or
lies to keep situations in their past from affecting a future they want and can
not have if the accusations remain as a matter of fact because they are on record
but were not refuted, because of something that happened out in the public for all to
see, that they exposed on their own by accident, do not want leaked out
to damage their reputation, or to protect someone else's reputation.

Those that are the 'other' may be as close as a family member known for many years,
believing that Family is there to uphold or restore which in fact does the opposite and
acts as a form of mental abuse by implying that the 'victim' is powerless to regain
their own power. I appreciate the previous interpret and feel for your situation since I
perpetrated my own act of 'trespass' and the 'victim' went on to accept a proposal
from some 'other' soon after. Going back to the lyrics though, the need
to correct a misdeed or to regain some sense of security is the goal, but the
desparation is sickening.

Twisting of the truth in the second and third verse of the first stanza
when the person looked them in the face and said they would not share
the information, but then turned around and exposed the truth or looked them in
the face, twisted the facts, and told people things that were incorrect as to what
took place and could be happening still.

The fifth verse of the first stanza is about the act of sinning. We all sin or
do wrongs in various degrees. I new someone would get hurt, but I blocked the thoughts
that were so horrific that I imagined they could not occur perhaps through some ingrained
'truth' or because of feelings of despair or lack of confidence to control the situation
that I failed to act and, when it happened, it instilled more despair
and shame, until recently and despite my desire to deny this, I realized that things
happen for a reason, things have to be in just the right order to happen or not and in a
blink a fresh idea, a change in heart or attitude regarding the entire process can either
block, delay, or eliminate the ability for the 'unhappy ending' from taking place.

When bad things happen we must not accuse ourselves of not acting upon
the 'information' provided, we have to choose to learn from what happened, why we
'chose' to act or not or why our actions may or may not have had the desired result.
Getting help requires facts showing that 'ill-will' was perpetrated and intended and
if the facts are embarrassing or based on an unscientific process, nothing gets better
until a 'sudden-death' occurs to free the accuser of harmful actions being perpetrated,
because of the thought that no one will believe or is incapable of believing what you are
going through because of instilled scientific or religious 'truths'.

Those that 'live' through a 'trespass' of some 'other', are the victims that sometimes
do not know it or refuse to accept or believe it and later in their lives the memory may
'haunt them' or skew the way they think in ways that could make living much 'more difficult
than it needs to be.' And those close in proximity to the 'suffering' also suffer with
the shame they feel for not being there to help prevent the acts or to protect. Shame can
kill you if you are not careful to pick up on the physical symptoms and then address them
with drugs or a better understanding of why those feelings are there and how to 'control'
the symptoms in some other 'natural' way. I have 'tried' both and neither really helps
except to stay 'normal' to the best of my ability with regular sleep, plenty of exercise,
and various foods and vitamins. If any of those goes out of wack, it is easy to predict
that those that observe me will see obvious changes in personality and interests.

I must transfer a chain that will offer great strength and good will to the 'victim', I must
undo set things right for myself by making this offering and only then will I be able to move on.
The ring was taken and the author is asking for forgiveness and trying to offer understanding
to the 'victim' that is coming forward with their descriptions of the 'truth'. The author,
the other, is saying we had a great time didn't we, we can do it better this time, come back, I did not
intend to hurt if that is what you think then I am sorry, but whatever you do 'stay silent', I do not
want to hurt anyone else, the ones I care for. Friday nights I like to go to the same place, plenty
of people, but I only communicate with the employees and yet I fail at all the rest, you can find me
there, those following me know. My scab is all but healed, but my pelvis got banged last night, and
the night before I thought I was getting kissed, I can not endure much more, help me, bring her, I will explain why I did what I did, and you will be justly rewarded in time, and perhaps finally get the revenge you seek.

lilshorty1724 November 1st, 2009 11:56PM  
when i listen to this song i think about two different things. Someone is getting taken advange of and they have had enough and are trying to leave a relationship & gaining strength from it. the other meaning could very well be overcoming a drug addition.