Biopower May 31st, 2007 12:36PM  

I seriously do not understand why this song needs interpretation, but it has been requested, so I will do one, anyways…

This song is about the war on terror, and is a call for peace.

”Turn my mic up louder,
I got to say somethin.
Lightweights steppin' aside,
when we comin.
Feel it in your chest,
the syllables get pumpin.”
I believe this has no hidden meaning, it means just what he says.

”People on the street,
they panic and start running.”
self-explanatory...

”Words on loose leaf,
sheet complete coming.
I jump on my mind,
I summon the rhyme of dumping.”
This verse is open to a wide variety of interpretations, really. You would have to ask the band themselves what this means. It could be about a bill that went through Congress, but I doubt that…

”Feeling the blind,
I promise to let the sun in.
Sick of the dark ways,
we march to the drumming.”
I’m sick of how we love war drums.

”Jump when they tell us
they want to see jumping.”
We blindly do what our leaders tell us.

”Fuck that, I want to
see some fist pumping.”
Fuck that, I want to see some protest, for peace.

”Risk something.
Take back what's yours”
Who gives a shit if you might be arrested, it’s for peace!

”Say something that you know
they might attack you for
cause I'm sick of being treated
like I have before.
Like it’s stupid standing for
what I'm standing for.”
Saying anything bad about the war is “undermining the troops”

”Like this war is really just
a different brand of war.
Like it doesn't cater to the rich
and an abandoned the poor.”
This war is no different from all the rest. It is just to make the military-industrial complex happy.

”Like they understand you
in the back of the jet,
When you can't put gas in your tank.
These fuckers are laughing their way
to the bank and cashing their cheque
asking you to have compassion and to have some respect.”
Pretty self-explanatory. He’s saying that we are a plutocracy.

”For a leader so nervous
in an obvious way
Stuttering and mumbling
for nightly news to replay
and the rest of the world
watching at the end of the day
in the living room laughing
like what did he say?”
About how our president is lying to us, and thus stuttering, and making “Bushisms” (for lack of a better word.)

”Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen”
This is sarcastic. Separation of church and state.

”In my living room watching,
But I am not laughing.
'Cause when it gets tense,
I know what might happen.”
I’m not laughing at the president. Not because I respect him, but because he is making mistakes that could lead to all-out war.

”The world is cold,
The bold men take action.
Have to react,
To getting blown into fractions.”
9/11…

”10 years old is something to see,
Another kid my age dragged under a jeep,
Taken and bound and found later under a tree,
I wonder if he even thought the next one could be me.
Do you see?”
Torture, because the enemy uses guerilla tactics…but it’s kept secret, you see? (of course you don’t see it! It’s a secret!)

”The soldiers that are out today.
That brush the dust with bulletproof vests away.
It's ironic.”
It’s ironic that they think they are fighting for justice, because the “enemy” never did anything to us…

“At times like this you pray,
But a bomb blew the mosque up yesterday.
There's bombs in the buses, bikes, roads,
inside your markets,your shops, your clothes”
pretty self-explanatory…

”My dad, he's got a lot of fear I know
but enough pride inside not to let that show.
My brother had a book he would hold with pride
A little red cover with a broken spine.
In the back he hand wrote a quote inside,
when the rich wage war, it's the poor who die.”
I also assumed this was self-explanatory…There’s no hidden meaning here. The book is the Bible. Possibly, an acquaintance’s brother died in the “War on Terror,” thus the inspiration.

…

…

”With Hands Held High
into a sky so blue
as the ocean opens up
to swallow you.”
Ah, now I see why you wanted an interpretation for these lyrics…This should prove difficult…let’s see…This is repeated several times, which is significant. It is also sung in a light tone, which is significant as well. So, based on those two things, and the lyrics themselves, of course, we can assume that it is about a very significant event that will change your life.
It could be about death. You are holding your hands high, saying, “Why, God, why?” The ocean could be the graveyard, swallowing you by putting you to rest…Another death interpretation: the guy he is reffering to is literally falling into the ocean, and holding his hands high, grasping, as he falls…it could be whatever you make it to be. Songs like this are what make music great. They are open to artistic interpretation.


I hope that helps, this was a little bit of a toughie!

anonymous June 11th, 2007 08:04PM  

Biopower, I think you're spot-on for the first half of the song, but you lose it starting around "10 years old..."

I believe that section is talking from the POV of a 10-year old in Iraq, and makes the point that America isn't the only aggressor. Also, I think you divided up the lines incorrectly.

"10 years old
It's something to see
Another kid my age dragged under a jeep
Taken and bound
and found later under a tree,
I wonder if he thought the next one could be me?
Do you see?
The soldiers
They're out today they brush the dust with bulletproof vests away."
Referring to the actions of terrorists. The line "I wonder if he thought the next one could be me?" makes the point that it could be anybody they take.
The references to the soldiers is saying that the soldiers are out there simply brushing the dust off their vests, not really doing anything to stop the aforementioned abduction.

Skip on to:
”My dad, he's got a lot of fear I know
but enough pride inside not to let that show.
My brother had a book he would hold with pride
A little red cover with a broken spine.
In the back he hand wrote a quote inside,
when the rich wage war, it's the poor who die.”
As you said, fairly self-explanatory. However, I'm much less certain about the book being the Bible. Especially seeing as "The little red book" is a term for a book of quotations by Mao Zedong ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quotations_from_Chairman_Mao_Zedong ), and the quote he wrote inside is a Karl Marx quote.


Thus, I believe he's trying to make a point for communism; i.e., "Both sides are warring, neither is doing anything, there's only one system I know of that can end war." I'm not saying he's right, just what I think he's saying.

anonymous September 10th, 2007 09:35PM  

Music is art, and art is all about expressing how you feel. Alot of the songs on Linkin Park's new album are expressing various social problems and political issues that have obviously been upsetting them...i personally think it shows how much they've matured in their songwriting. Hands held high is a very powerful song that this whole world needs to listen to.
And I believe the part where it says "10 years old it's something to see, another kid my age dragged under a jeep" is about someone actually being dragged under a jeep. Apparently it was an african-american who ended up getting caught under a jeep and was dragged until death, and the ones in the jeep let the pavement grate his body alive. There was an 8 month old baby dragged by a vehicle too, it's a horrible horrible way to die.

anonymous October 17th, 2007 12:26PM  

Hand held high in a sky so blue, the ocean opens up to swallow you
Hands held high - could mean protesting
Sky so blue - could mean for a clear and pure reason
Ocean opens up to swallow you - could mean joining the million who are protesting. The reference to water could be that water is peaceful and calm, but when stirred can release a massive amount of power and force.

anonymous February 1st, 2008 12:51PM  

The first part of this song is from the POV of a soldier fighting in Iraq. The second part is POV of a boy, in Iraq. The ending is how both sides come together, and they do not like the war. "when the rich wage war its the poor who die" is a quote by _____.

jpizzle May 14th, 2008 12:58PM  

This is a powerful song about what is going on in our world. The bombing, the president, the war, everything. It talks about his dad and his brother. Its a very powerful song that speaks to everyone who listens to it and actually pays attention to what is being said in the song

anonymous June 22nd, 2008 04:42PM  

Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

anonymous July 22nd, 2008 06:00PM  

"When the rich wage war, it's the poor that die" is from The Devil and the Good Lord (1951, a play by French philosopher and writer Jean-Paul Sartre.

Not sure if that changes peoples interpretations of the references to communism.

postman October 3rd, 2008 11:33AM  

Yea I agree wit most of the interpretations just not sure bout the red book (Gideon's bibles are blue in s.a.) but I think when it says "brush the dust from bullet proof vests away" it means they have these vests to supposedly protect themselves but they aren't using them and they collect dust. Then "its ironic at times like this we pray when a bomb blew the mosque up yesterday" I'm a christian but I think its still wrong to pray for protection when you are the one blowing up the place (And people) that others go to for spiritual strength

anonymous October 15th, 2008 07:51PM  

"The bomb blew the mosque up yesterday" in my opinion, is when a mosque was destroyed in Iraq because of a US air strike against militants. They believed the militants were hiding in the mosque (of course they didn't know it was a mosque at the time...) so they ordered an air strike only to find out later, there were no militants there. THANKFULLY it was empty (meaning no civilians inside...) so no one was killed, but this action did spark anger in Saudi Arabia, who in turn increased fuel prices as compensation, when the US president didn't apologize...

anonymous November 5th, 2008 10:54PM  

I was wondering if the line "with hands held high into a sky so blue, the ocean opens up to swallow you" could be a reference to some other classic writer or writing, given that a quote by Sartre was already introduced.

I originally thought it would be something form Moby Dick because the imagery I got from it, a person standing (possibly alone) looking at the sky with hands held high are most likely praising a deity, and the ocean opening up and swallowing them (key word)made me think that the literal ocean need not have been meant, but the whale- moby dick.

With this historical/literary context in mind (which I didn't dig too deep into) I can see how the rest of the lyrics would not have to solely apply to just the current war. The final two and most repeated lines of the song could be perceived two-fold, the literal imagery, and the meaning.

The meaning as it can be interpreted as turning over trust to a higher power as the world changes, submitting/giving up while changs take place and the foreshadowing of the song takes place.

anonymous November 15th, 2008 09:13AM  

Biopower, you divided the verses up in correctly. "It's Ironic, In times like this you pray, but a bomb blew the mosque up yesterday." this specific part is commenting on the pointlessness of prayer in times of war. All Gods (except the olympians, who aren't very popular nowadays) are peaceful, we created war, not the gods.

katmando1036 November 28th, 2008 12:30AM  

These are just a few arguments with what the first guy said. 1. Amen, amen, amen, etc. I disagree that this is sarcasm. There is no reason to believe that just because the song is dealing with government issues that "Amen" would be sarcasm because of "seperation of church and state." 2. "With hands held high to a sky so blue, the ocean opens up to swollow you," I agree this has to do with death, but in a more obvious reason. The "ocean" symbolizes the sky and heaven. Picture someone looking up at the sky with his "hands held high" waiting for soemthing, when the sky opens up and the person transcends to heaven.

anonymous December 9th, 2008 11:38PM  

Another possibility for the little red book is the Qur'an, which often has a red cover, and that would davetail nicely with the imagery of the mosque being destroyed.

anonymous April 9th, 2009 08:21PM  

this song is definitely making fun of the government and of people in general. where the song says "with hands held high up to a sky so blue as the ocean opens up to swallow you" it's making fun of people saying that they are just standing there with their hands in the air totally unaware of the huge ocean beneath them that's about to destroy them. So, the entire song, in short, is saying how manipulatve the government is and how the public blindly follows.

anonymous May 19th, 2009 12:37AM  

"Like they understand you
in the back of the jet,
When you can't put gas in your tank.
These fuckers are laughing their way
to the bank and cashing their check
asking you to have compassion and to have some respect."
i personally think that part is talking about all the rich people telling you to support the war, knowing it hlps them. In reality, they don't know, or care, what its doing to us middle class/poor people. also telling you to respect them, when don't respect you, which is where they might be trying to mention the 'golden rule', "treat others how you want to be treated".
but hey, I'm just 15... my opinion doesn't matter, I'm not old enough to understand things going on in this dog-eat-dog world. <3

anonymous May 20th, 2009 03:42PM  

that are some great thoughts both on LP's side and all the interpretations here. the passage about the brother's little red book is one of my all time favorites. and its also one i want to highlight a little more: The book has a broken spine and i think its a very important point because although mao might have said some wise things he should not be taken as a role model because of his ethics and actions + he also waged wars with the poorer population suffering search for GREAT LEAP FORWARD and CULTURAL REVOLUTION. and one final quote by mao zedong:"People who try to commit suicide — don't attempt to save them! . . . China is such a populous nation, it is not as if we cannot do without a few people.

anonymous June 24th, 2009 07:02PM  

This song is about the war in iraq and the economy and we should stand up for whats right and not just do as they say (jump when they tell us they want to see jumping ---- that i want to see some fist pumping) Also how the rich dont understand what is like to struggle fianchaly. THat the rich dont struggle in when it comes to war but middle class and lower struggle to pay taxes.

anonymous July 4th, 2009 01:43AM  

"Brush the dust off the bulletproof vest away" Refers to the sandy conditions in Iraq. When youre hit, you fall and kick up sand. Its meant to say these guys just have to get up and brush it off and keep on, and no one is there to help them "In times like this we pray but a bomb blew the mosque up yesterday" Means everyone looks to pray for salvation from war, but the holy shrines are disappearing and being bombed. "When the rich wage war its the poor who die" Means rich politicians can wage war, but its the lower and middle class that go to fight, not the rich sons As far as the president talking on TV At first, we all laughed at how much of an idiot Bush sounded with broken sentences and "Bush-isms", but once the wars started, and he went on his "Axis of evil" kick pissing everyone off, the country was in disbelief that he was saying these things

anonymous October 22nd, 2009 04:21PM  

I honestly think that the line in the song that says; "A little red cover with a broken spine" is making reference to Mao Tse-tung's "Little Red Book". I like Linkin Park but when lyrics like this are put into songs it is disturbing. The farther we get from Chairman Mao's unbelievable "communist" brutality the more the younger generation thinks he,Che,Castro, Hitler, etc., are cool! It is sickening! They need to do some in-depth history review before revering such beasts of the world.