Rise Against Album

Down beyond these city streets through gutters filled with black debris
In alleys void of any light where nameless things live out of sight
Down through the scrapers of the sky past neon words glowing all night
Echoes my name between each car, "Are you happy where you are?"

Blind to this impending fate
We let the world carry our weight
Its back breaks with every mile
But we all live in denial

Can we be saved? Has the damage all been done?
Is it too late to reverse what we've become?
A lesson to learn at a crucial point in time
What's mine was always yours, and yours is mine

Let's go!

And so we carry on each day as if our lives were not so grey
While every breath that we take, we only suffocate
Brush past a myriad of scenes a homeless vet crashed
On Wall Street, a single mom of three, a TV personality

I'm blind to this impending fate
They let the world carry their weight
Its back breaks with every mile
But they all live in denial

Can we be saved? Has the damage all been done?
Is it too late to reverse what we've begun?
A lesson to learn at a crucial point in time
What's mine was always yours, and yours is mine

Save us from what we have become tonight
Eyes glazed with distrust, no sense of wrong or right

Save us from what we have become tonight
Eyes glazed with distrust, no sense of wrong or right

Save us from what we have become tonight
Eyes glazed with distrust, no sense of wrong or right

Can we be saved? Has the damage all been done?
Is it too late to reverse what we've become?
A lesson to learn at a crucial point in time
What's mine was always yours, and yours is mine!

Do you spend your days counting the hours you're awake?
And when night covers the sky you find yourself doing the same
There's a burden you've been bearing in spite of all your prayers
There's a light turned off inside your heart
Can you remember what it's like to care?

Knees are weak, hands are shaking, I can't breathe

So give me the drug, keep me alive
Give me what's left of my life
Don't let me go, whooaa
Pull this plug, let me breathe
On my own, I'm finally free
Don't let me go, whooaa

The trail of crumbs you left somehow got lost along the way
If you never meant to leave then you only had to stay
But the memories that haunt us are cherished just the same
As the ones that bring us closer to the sky, no matter how grey
And yet I fall, through these clouds, reaching, screaming

Give me the drug, keep me alive
Give me what's left of my life
Don't let me go, whooaa
Pull this plug, let me breathe
On my own, I'm finally free
Don't let me go, whooaa

This grip loosens but it never breaks
(NEVER BREAKS!)
We carry nothing but a name you will forsake
Your words are always there to break my fall
(BREAK MY FALL!)
In them I find the comfort to see through it all

Guide me through unchartered waters
Before we lose our way again
Will you be my compass until forever?
Until forever ends!?

Knees are weak, hands are shaking, I can't breathe

So give me the drug, keep me alive
Give me what's left of my life
Don't let me go, whooaa
Pull this plug, let me breathe
On my own, I'm finally free
Don't let me go, whooaa

Don't let me go, whooaa
Don't let me go, whooaa

Hold on slow down again from the top now and tell me everything
I know I've been gone for what seems like forever
But I'm here now waiting
To convince you that I'm not a ghost or a stranger
But closer than you think
She said, "just go on to what you
Pretend is your life but
Please don't die on me"

Wings won't take me
Heights don't phase me
So take a step
But don't look down
Take a step

Now I'm standing on the rooftop ready to fall
I think I'm at the edge now but I could be wrong
I'm standing on the rooftop ready to fall

Perpetual motion the image won't focus
A blur is all that's seen
But here in this moment like the eye of the storm
It all came clear to me
I found a shoulder to lean on
An infallible reason to live all by itself
I took one last look from the heights that I once loved
And then I ran like hell

Wings won't take me
Heights don't phase me
So take a step
But don't look down
Take a step

Now I'm standing on the rooftop ready to fall
I think I'm at the edge now but I could be wrong
I'm standing on the rooftop ready to fall

I count the times that I've been sorry
I know, I know
Now my compassion slowly drowns
I know, I know
If there's a time these walls could guard you
I know, I know
Then let that time be right now

Now I'm standing on the rooftop
Now I'm standing on the rooftop ready to fall
I'm standing on the rooftop ready to fall
I think I'm at the edge now but I could be wrong
I'm standing on the rooftop ready to fall

Now I'm standing on the rooftop (ready to fall)
Now I'm standing on the rooftop (ready to fall)
Now I'm standing on the rooftop (ready to fall)
Now I'm standing on the rooftop ready to fall

When faith alone is not enough,
To keep our heads barely above,
We look for reason and come up empty-handed.
And when our children fight our wars,
While we sit back just keeping score,
We're teaching murder not understanding now.

We're setting the fires to light the way,
We're burning it all to begin again,
With hope in our hearts and bricks in our hands,
We sing for change

The lives our buried sons have laid,
Won't cancel debts we've yet to pay,
In death, we justify anything now,
As long as we blindly obey and do exactly what they say,
We'll have no one to blame, but ourselves now.

We're setting the fires to light the way,
We're burning it all to begin again,
With hope in our hearts and bricks in our hands,
We sing for change.

We run on the fumes of injustice,
We'll never die with the fuel that you give us,
Keep it coming 'cause I'm prepared to burn,
Keep running, find me at every turn.

Your life around,
(into something true, into something true)
So turn your life around,
(into something true, something true)

We're setting the fires to light the way,
We're burning it all to begin again,
With hope in our hearts and bricks in our hands,
We sing for change.

Wake me up inside
Tell me there is a reason
Take another step
To get up off my knees and,
Follow this path of most resistance.
How ever it takes us,
Whatever it faces and wherever it leads,

So wake me when it's through,
I don't want to feel the things that you do (the things that you do)
Don't worry I'll be fine
I just don't want this dream, wake me up inside

Something for the pain, just to kill this feeling
Although we looked awake, inside were all still sleeping
And I spent my time here alive, but buried there
Do you believe we will ever make it,
Do you think we will ever really say.

So wake me when it's through,
I don't want to feel the things that you do (the things that you do)
Don't worry I'll be fine
I just don't want this dream, wake me up inside

Wake me up inside
These dreams all die if we let them,
Wake me up inside
today won't start if we just give in.
(DON'T TELL ME ANYTHING)

Just wake me when it's through,
I don't want to feel the things that you do (the things that you do)
Don't worry I'll be fine
I just don't want this dream, wake me up inside

Warm yourself by the fire, son,
And the morning will come soon.
I'll tell you stories of a better time,
In a place that we once knew.

Before we packed our bags
And left all this behind us in the dust,
We had a place that we could call home,
And a life no one could touch.

Don't hold me up now,
I can stand my own ground,
I don't need your help now,
You will let me down, down, down!

Don't hold me up now,
I can stand my own ground,
I don't need your help now,
You will let me down, down, down!

Down!

We are the angry and the desperate,
The hungry, and the cold,
We are the ones that kept quiet,
And always did what we were told.

But we've been sweating while you slept so calm,
In the safety of your home.
We've been pulling out the nails that hold up
Everything you've known.

Don't hold me up now,
I can stand my own ground,
I don't need your help now,
You will let me down, down, down!

Don't hold me up now,
I can stand my own ground,
I don't need your help now,
You will let me down, down, down!

So open your eyes child,
Let's be on our way.
Broken windows and ashes
Are guiding the way.

Keep quiet no longer,
We'll sing through the day,
Of the lives that we've lost,
And the lives we've reclaimed.

Don't hold me up now,
I can stand my own ground,
I don't need your help now,
You will let me down, down, down!

Don't hold me up now,
I can stand my own ground,
I don't need your help now,
You will let me down, down, down!

Don't hold me up…
(I don't need your help, I'll stand my ground)
Don't hold me up…
(I don't need your help)
No! No! No!
Don't hold me up!
(I don't need your help, I'll stand my ground)
Don't hold me up!
(I don't need your help, I'll stand my ground)
Don't let me down, down, down, down, down!

Deep inside these burning buildings
Voices die to be heard
Years we spent teaching a lesson
We ourselves had never learned

And if strength is born from heartbreak
Many mountains I could move
And if walls could speak I'd pray
That they would tell me what to do

If you see me, please just walk on by, walk on by.
Forget my name and I'll forget it too.
Failed attempts at living simple lives, simple lives
Always keep me coming back to you.

No signs of life here, save the embers, the occasional flame,
We'd know the way but can't remember, conception to the grave,
Shout confessions from the greatest heights, where no one can hear,
All my fears, my insecurities are falling like tears.

If you see me, please just walk on by, walk on by.
Forget my name and I'll forget it too.
Failed attempts at living simple lives, simple lives
Always keep me coming back to you.

The drones will slave away, they're working overtime,
They serve a faceless queen, they never question why.
Disciples of a God, they neither live nor breathe, (I won't come back!)
But we have bills to pay, yeah we have mouths to feed! (I won't come back!)
I won't come back!

And if you see me, please just walk on by, walk on by.
Forget my name and I'll forget it too.
Failed attempts at living simple lives, simple lives
Always keep me coming back to you.

I'm coming back to you!

[Spoken:]
The music played with a calming frequency.
The speakers gently seeped the sound of ambient keyboards and light percussion,
creating a seductive soundtrack to our midnight drive through curtains of
blackness.
The windows were cold to the touch, reflecting the icy conditions in our
immediate extremity.
Salt stains and fingerprints littered the glass, and streaks with melted snow
cascaded down it's length.
The music pulsed louder, yet gentle, like the far away squeal of a pot of
boiling water.
The skylight was glowing faintly with a vague hints of an impending dawn.
The car raced along a painfully straight stretch of road,
and she hadn't so much as turned the steering wheel two degrees in the last
twenty minutes
no word was spoken.

As we were, so perfect, so happy.
They'll remember, only our smiles 'cause that's all they've seen.
Long since dried, when we are found, are the tears in which we had drowned.
As we were, so perfect, so happy.

[Spoken:]
"Why are you doing this?" she spoke without expecting a response.
Her voice penetrated the still air of our speechless drive, so silent my heart
had jumped.
"I'm not doing anything," I said, but I didn't even believe that myself.
"This is what's best, for me, for you, for us, or maybe just for me," I thought,
as a tear formed in the pit of her eye. The music poured through the speakers
and we were losing ourselves in the cadence. She looked down momentarily and
closed her eyes
for a bit longer than a standard blink. Then she was crying. Then she was
shouting.
Then I was shouting, now pouring confessions, having no answers, or solutions,
we barely even heard the questions.

As we were, so perfect, so happy.
They'll remember, only our smiles 'cause that's all they've seen.
Long since dried, when we are found, are the tears in which we had drowned.
As we were, so perfect, so happy.

Don't put me underground, I was meant for a life somewhere else.
Please, love, give me the wheel, before both of our hearts yield.
We'll steal tonight. (We'll steal tonight.)

As we were, so perfect, so happy.
Don't remember, only your smiles 'cause that's all they've seen.
Long since dried, when we are found, are the tears in which we had drowned.
As we were, so perfect, so happy.

[Spoken:]
Our cracking voices became part of the music.
The car pressed on faster through he night. As our voices lowered,
The cadence again overtook the air.
Up ahead there was a curve approaching.
She made no indications of slowing.

Set me off like dynamite strapped tight around my waist
We are the ones in competition but claim this ain't no race

(Let's go!)

Take a breath and explode like bullets
Tearing through the wind
Cut me up with a razor blade
Then try to separate the skin
Now when the
White flames are burning flags
We found a world worth dying for yeah

We've been battered so hard that
We don't feel anymore

Take me
From this world
Save me
What if we
All die young?
So take me
From this world
Save me
What if we
All die young?

Send me off on the morning breeze so far away from here
Fill your eyes in the strains of thought outside the warm embracing air
I'm moving slow
Like a glacier melting
Watch me dissipate
I switched to love in an empty world
But all I found was hate

Now when the
White flames are burning flags
We found a world worth dying for, yeah
We've been battered so hard that
We don't feel anymore

Take me
From this world
Save me
What if we
All die young?
So take me
From this world
Save me
What if we
All die young?

Don't ask me why
'Cuz I don't know
Don't ask me how
I'm gonna solve this on my own
Don't ask me why
'Cuz I don't know
These things I'll never face
Scratch out the warning race
The wreckage of a job well done
I saw a place I'd never seen before, yeah
And that morning I refused to close my eyes anymore

Take me
From this world
Save me
What if we
All die young?
So take me
From this world
Save me
What if we
All die young?

So take me [2x]

Chairs thrown and tables toppled,
Hands armed with broken bottles,
Standing no chance to win but,
We're not running, we're not running.

There's a point I think we're missing,
It's in the air we raise our fists in,
In the smiles we cast each other,
My sister, my brother.

About the time we gave up hope and
We never find these locks still open,
Stumbling on stones unturned,
The hurt we feel, we all have found.

The lives we've lost in such a change,
but all they see is treason

[Chorus:]
Although we have no obligation to stay alive
On broken backs we beg for mercy, we will survive
(Break out) I won't be left here
Behind closed doors.

Bonfires burn like beacons,
Guiding the lost and weakened.
Flames dance on crashing waves,
Guiding ships who've gone a stray

Time out, let's stop and think this through,
We've all got better things to do,
A talk in circles run in place,
Answers inches from my face.

[Chorus]

Black eyes, broken fingers,
Blood drips and I let it run
down my lips and to my swollen gums
When hope is non-existent,
Our instincts all scream "Run",
We never turn our backs or even bite our tongue.

[Chorus x2]

Tell me what I'm supposed to do,
With all these left over feelings of you;
'Cause I don't know

And tell me how I'm supposed to feel,
When all these nightmares become real;
'Cause I don't know

And I don't think you see the places inside me that I find you,
And I don't know how we separate the lies here from the truth;
And I don't know how we woke up one day and somehow thought we knew
exactly what we're supposed to do.

So leave me at the roadside,
And hang me up and out to dry;
So leave me at the roadside,
And hang me up and out to dry.

And I don't think you see the places inside me that I find you;
And I don't know how we woke up one day and somehow thought we knew
exactly what we're supposed to do.

So leave me at the roadside,
And hang me up and out to dry;
So leave me at the roadside,
And hang me up and out to dry.

'Cause I don't think you see the places inside me that I find you,
And I don't know how we woke up one day and somehow thought we knew
exactly what we're supposed to do,
exactly what to do.

In fields where nothing grew but weeds,
I found a flower at my feet,
Bending there in my direction,
I wrapped a hand around its stem,
I pulled until the roots gave in,
Finding now what I've been missing,
But I know…
So I tell myself, I tell myself it's wrong.

There's a point we pass from which we can't return.
I felt the cold rain of the coming storm.
All because of you,
I haven't slept in so long.
When I do I dream of drowning in the ocean,
Longing for the shore where I can let my head down,
I'll follow your voice,
All you have to do is shout it out.

Inside my hands these petals brown,
Dried up, falling to the ground
But it was already too late now.
I push my fingers through the earth,
Return this flower to the dirt,
So it can live.
I walk away now.
But I know…
Not a day goes by that I don't feel it's burn.

There's a point we pass from which we can't return.
I felt the cold rain of the coming storm.
All because of you,
I haven't slept in so long,
When I do I dream of drowning in the ocean,
Longing for the shore where I can let my head down,
I'll follow your voice,
All you have to do is shout it out.

All because of you…
All because of you…

All because of you,
I haven't slept in so long.
When I do I dream of drowning in the ocean,
Longing for the shore where I can let my head down,
Inside these arms of yours.

All because of you,
I believe in angels.
Not the kind with wings,
No, not the kind with halos,
The kind that bring you home,
When home becomes a strange place.
I'll follow your voice,
All you have to do is shout it out.

Somewhere between happy, and total fucking wreck
Feet sometimes on solid ground, sometimes at the edge
You spend your waking moments, simply counting time
Is to give up on your hopes and dreams, to give up on your...

Life for you, has been less than kind
So take a number, stand in line
We've all been sorry, we've all been hurt
But how we survive, is what makes us who we are

An obvious disinterest, a barely managed smile
A deep nod in agreement, a status quo exile
I shoot my obligations, I miss all your deadlines
I started quitting early, and fucking up my life

Life for you, has been less than kind
So take a number, stand in line
We've all been sorry, we've all been hurt
But how we survive, is what makes us who we are

All smiles and sunshine, a perfect world on a perfect day
Everything always works out, I have never felt so fucking great
All smiles and sunshine, a perfect world on a perfect day
Everything always works out, I have never felt so great

(Life isn't like this)
(Life isn't like this)
(Life isn't like this)
(Life isn't like this)
(Life isn't like this) Life isn't like this
(Life isn't like this) Life isn't like this
(Life isn't like this) Are we forging on an answer,
or fucking up our...

Life for you, has been less than kind
So take a number, stand in line
We've all been sorry, we've all been hurt
But how we survive, is what makes us who we are

(Who we are)
It's what makes us who we are
(Who we are)
Makes us who we are
(Who we are)
It's what makes us who we are
(Who we are)

[Originally by Sick Of It All]

Invest time, invest life
invest it all, reinvent yourself
before you know it
your essence is renewed with something fresh
Your will, your way
will earn respect in your day
let the glory sharpened knife
carve the future of your life

let's not praise the past, just a fact
Built to last
old school or the new
doesn't mean a thing if your heart's not true
greedy ones faded fast, we're here
Built to last
For the fun, not a fad
the love and the truth so powerful

work out the snags of the past
work out the snags that won't last
mistakes have finished my brothers
mistakes will guide all the others
Your will, your way
might shape a better day
eradicate the stagnancy
eradicate it like disease

let's not praise the past, just a fact
Built to last
old school or the new
doesn't mean shit if your heart ain't true
greedy ones faded fast, we're here
Built to last
For the fun, not a fad
the love and the truth so powerful
the love and the truth so powerful

as we've seen around the world
We won't go away
cause we'll always feel this way
We're here to stay
and our impact will be felt
We won't go away
if we feel it, if we feel it
We're here to stay
Built to last

[Originally by Lifetime]

Tune the electric bass to the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th string.
The boy's no good.
Yeah, he's a fuckin' hood.
He won't treat you like he should.
I heard he's making time with this friend of mine.
I heard he's talking trash.
I saw that kid last night.
He's starting fights.
He's got that nervous twitching.
He's just not the kid for you.
He's all dressed up.
He's got nothing to do, but he's got something.
He's cool as anything, but he's not good.
That boy's a fucking creep.

The boy's no good.
Yeah, he's a hood.
He won't treat you like he should.
I said the boy's no good.
He's a hood.
He won't treat you like I would.
I said the boy's no good.
Listen to what I say.
The boy's no good.
He'll fuck you anyway.
The boy's no good.
I'm gonna have a talk... the boy's no good.
The boy's no fuckin' good.

Breathe deep and easy, swallow this pride.
Stare at my shaking hands through blown dry, blood shot eyes.
Clock strip the hours, I count the miles.
Will you be there waiting, awake until sunrise.

I have traveled in darkness, for what seems like days,
I, come from the sinkholes, collapsed under this weight.
I know that's your sorrow, but I know mine,
So say you'll stay and dance with me tonight.

In the glow of twilight, our world is finally calm.
I felt it complete me, when the stars give way to dawn.
A language universal, but I speak not its tongue.
Is this a night that spins forever, or a dawn that never comes.

I have traveled in darkness, for what seems like days,
I, come from the sinkholes, collapsed under this weight.
I know that's your sorrow, but I know mine,
So say you'll stay and dance with me tonight.

Tomorrow we might wake in solitude and silence
I will give you everything if only you would have me
Tomorrow we will sweat and toil,
Our hands will quiver caked with soil,
Tomorrow we'll give it one last chance,
But tonight we dance,
But tonight we dance!

And for this, I travel in darkness, for what seems like days,
I, come from the sinkholes, collapsed under this weight.
I know that's your sorrow, but I know mine,
Just say you'll stay and dance with me tonight.