What does Midnight Hands mean?

Rise Against: Midnight Hands Meaning

Album cover for Midnight Hands album cover

Midnight Hands Lyrics

Like a new day rising
Like a calm before the storm
Like fog lifting from valleys
On a sleeping forest floor

Eyes open slowly as the dust is shaken off
To gaze upon the wreckage
That the midnight hands have wrought

And now I feel my...

  1. 1TOP RATED

    #1 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
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    Aug 4th 2011 !⃝

    Uhm.. Correct me if i'm wrong but couldn't it be suicide? More things add to this than to abortion

    'Whatever path you take
    And wherever you might go
    Whenever you decide to leave
    I will follow, I will follow'
    It means that he is saying if she kills herself so will he, but if she decides to live he will to.

    We face a crossroad never
    knowing what's in store
    There's an angel on my shoulder
    There's a devil at my door
    If you are about to commit suicide do you know what will come next? It could be heaven or hell or nothing, hence crossroads, not knowing what is to come, the angel, and the devil.

    She proclaimed 'Tonight will be the greatest of our lives'
    But I said 'Don't be so sure, let's just wait until the morning light'
    Meaning she thinks that the suicide will be a release from her life and the best part of it. The morning light could symbolize the actual suicide or the light of heaven.

    I feel my temperature rising
    My body explode
    I feel like somebody's watching
    Like I'm not alone
    The stress is building up he feels like someone might come and halt their suicide .

    Gripped by the midnight hands
    We cradle futures they would prevent
    Gripped by the midnight hands
    The midnight hands could be those who wish to prevent their suicide and choice in life.

    The line's crossed over, the dawn grows closer
    Let's bite off too much, let's jump with a blind trust in water over our heads
    Time is running out and she will need to trust that he will also commit suicide after her. The line symbolizes the point of no return it has begun. The waters could possibly be literal and mean they are committing suicide by drowning but i doubt it.

    'Whatever path you take
    And wherever you might go
    Whenever you decide to leave
    I will follow, I will follow'
    I will bear all the falls you take
    I won't let go if you started to stray
    I'll be there until you don't wake up here
    I will follow x7
    Wherever you might go=heaven or hell he will go with her
    Whenever you decide to leave=whenever she happens to die of blood loss or some other way
    I won't let go if you started to stray=he will not let her panic and not die in the bliss she wanted
    I'll be there until you don't wake up here=He will be with her unti she is no longer awake, dead.
    I will follow=He will commit suicide and follow her immediately

  2. anonymous
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    Feb 1st 2015 !⃝

    This song is about breaking into a factory farm and rescuing animals.

    Therefore they need "tools" and so they "cradle futures they [the animal exploitation industry] would prevent".

    The part "Whatever path you take (...) I will follow" is about not giving up on fighting animal abuse.

    I´m pretty sure this is the meaning (for them) because it fits perfectly and at a concert they dedicated this song to Peta (the animal rights organisation) for breaking into slaughter houses and exposing the truth.

    Half the band is vegetarian, the rest is vegan.

  3. anonymous
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    Feb 3rd 2014 !⃝

    Rise Against are Pro-Choice. Why would they write an anti-abortion song when they stand strongly by their belief?

  4. anonymous
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    Sep 29th 2012 !⃝

    I believe this song is about submission into a higher power. The midnight hands (antagonizing group) cause a wreckage and the victims submit into following like most countries around the world. "Let's jump into blind trust", is evidence to prove my point. Regardless of how angry they are, "my temperature rising", they give in and follow. They " bite off too much" or take more than they should and the people that have submitted are becoming evil like Nazis in Germany. At the ending the girl that says she knows that she doesn't have to do it is gripped by the midnight hands, AKA the former good guys that gave into the midnight hands. By the ending the good guys are completely transformed into their nemesis. " The lines crossed over". A powerful force that can destroy the future, "cradle futures".

  5. anonymous
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    Mar 16th 2012 !⃝

    I think it's about a cult. They are both in it and he wants to leave, but he wants to support her in her own choice.

  6. anonymous
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    Feb 2nd 2012 !⃝

    I am not saying any of you are wrong, but it is a very broad song. By this i mean all your interpretations are correct. One thing Rise Against is good at is writing songs to touch the individual. The meaning is the song is meant for the individual to interpret, applying lyrics to your own individual experiences and to think about the lyrics to help you make a variety of decisions.

  7. anonymous
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    Nov 21st 2011 !⃝

    What everyone is forgetting to understand is the album is called "Endgame" meaning end of the world topics. This doesn't apply for all of the songs on the album but Wait For Me, Broken Mirrors, A Gentleman's Coup, this and obviously Endgame all have lyrics that relate to the end of the world. These songs also relate to politics and war and not things like abortion or relationships. The song could be about suicide but Make it Stop basically already has that topic.

  8. anonymous
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    Sep 28th 2011 !⃝

    First know that Rise Against would never condone suicide...if you know nothing else about them, know that! I tend to agree with the abandoned abortion theory, but without some clarification from the band it's hard to say. I think we should take from it what is most meaningful to ourselves. If you feel it call you to take action either politically or personally, go with it. But remember that these guys are not about harm to others...I think they seek to prevent it above all else.

  9. anonymous
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    Jul 8th 2011 !⃝

    I'd have to say that abortion isn't necessarily the "right" interpretation; I'm not saying it's wrong, either, don't take me wrong, but I can only offer my own opinion on the matter.

    To me, the song is about going against society's expectations and seize the opportunity when it comes, "like a new day rising". Your "eyes open slowly" to see your old life and find that it is a "wreckage" brought upon you by the "midnight hands", as in those who handle the darkest point of your life.

    When the singer realizes this, "I feel my temperature rising, my body explode", he suddenly feels as if he alone isn't deciding his life, "like I'm not alone".

    He remembers telling this guide of his (his parents? society?) that "whatever path you take, I'll follow". Now he's facing a "crossroads" with an "angel" with him and a "devil" guarding the door, the only way out.

    He finds someone to take him out of his life, but her sacrifice is just as large as his "You don't have to do this, and I forgive you if you don't".

    In their doubt, "gripped by the midnight hands", they start having second thoughts and "cradle" their plans, but eventually "the line's crossed over".

    The two of them build a new future together, featuring a reprise of "whatever path you take".

    That's just my two cents.

  10. anonymous
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    May 19th 2011 !⃝

    Just a thought- I've noticed how Rise Against uses a bunch of metaphors in their songs. Could the part where Tim starts to scream, "the midnight hands..." represent the actual process of giving birth? Because I visualize a young girl in labor as the baby is being delivered.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  11. anonymous
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    May 8th 2011 !⃝

    It's about drugs. Testing a new drug with the one you love. Every word in that song, in my opinion, leads to the new experience of a drug. (ANGEL'S DUST)

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  12. anonymous
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    May 2nd 2011 !⃝

    I thought it was about child molester parents that abuse their kids at night.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  13. anonymous
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    Apr 16th 2011 !⃝

    this song is about revolution and a love between a boy and a girl. this song is about the night of the revolution. the boy and the girl deciding that they are going to fight the revolution together gripping hands together.

  14. anonymous
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    Apr 13th 2011 !⃝

    The guy above me is almost right. It is about getting a girl pregnant. But they back out of the abortion at the last second.

    'You don't have to do this, and I'd forgive you if you don't
    She just looked away and said 'I know'
    He isn't forcing her to do it and the fact that she looked away tells me she's ashamed of it.

    'We cradle futures they would prevent'
    They decide to keep the baby and cradle it's future, or protect it.

    'Let's bite off too much, let's jump with a blind trust in water over our heads'
    Here they decide to keep the kid and raise a child even though they think they won't be good parents and aren't ready for the responsibility. They want to try anyway.

    'I will bear all the falls you take
    I won't let go if you started to stray
    I'll be there until you don't wake up here'
    These last three lines are wedding vows.

  15. anonymous
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    Apr 10th 2011 !⃝

    I believe Midnight Hands could be about multiple topics on society and politics. I personally have connected it with abortion.

    The beginning could be about having sex
    "Like a new day rising like a calm before the storm" -the storm being the abortion

    "to gaze upon the wreckedge the midnight hands have wrought" -wreckedge girl or women that have to have the abortion midnight hands being doctor or his.

    "She proclaimed tonight will be the greatest of our lives but i said don't be so sure lets just wait until the morning light" foreshadowing abortion every action has a consequence.

    "I feel my temperature rising my body explode" Orgasm

    Middle of the song at the aborton clinic
    "I vowed whatever path you take wherever you might go whenever you decide to leave i will follow" He will be there for her thru an abortion or whatever she might choose.
    "We lay out the tools" Doctors abortion equipment
    "You don't have to do this and i forgive you if you don't" She doesn't have to go thru with the abortion.

    Ending society and govt views
    "gripping the midnight hands draining the futures they might prevent" Midnight hands once again representing doctors or his.

  16. anonymous
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    Apr 6th 2011 !⃝

    midnight hands seems like its talking about the flaws in government and society and we can either fix it or rebel. somewhere in the middle of the song it seems to be talking a plan of revolting when it says "There in the clearing, we gather close under the moon's pale light we lay out the tools you don't have to do this but I forgive you if you don't she just looked away and said i know" thats one interpretation i got from it but there are others i believe

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