The lyrics to "Class Dismissed"*:

Broke and burdened
by the debt you persuaded us to bear.
Hard and calloused,
there's nothing left but animosity.
 We're slipping through the crack.
Our time has passed us,
and we will be forgotten if we
give up hope.

 I'm finished
being your puppet.
I will not take your orders
anymore.
 You'll never know what it's like
to labor as we have.
It's only a matter of time
before we toss you off our backs.

 I've earned the right to speak and say
what I mean.
We pave your roads. We haul your trash.
We fight your wars. Show some respect.
 You are nothing without me.

 You'll never know what it's like
to labor as we have.
It's only a matter of time
before we toss you off our backs.

 You need to need to know what it's like
to labor as we have
It's only a matter of time.
It's time to knock you on your ass.

 When the weight of the world is on your back,
feels like your spine could snap.
 When you fight so hard
to stay afloat.
Just stay afloat.
Don't give up hope!
 Just stay afloat.
 Don't give up hope!

 I'm finished
being your puppet.


Meaning of "Class Dismissed":

This song is about a people who are oppressed by a wealthy group who treat them like dirt. These people slave away, knowing that the people who control them could not survive without their labor. Someday, they know, they will rise against those who enslave them, and the time is coming fast.

The band that brought me back from many years without listening to human music (meaning not Rhinoceros Tap, Dreamland or other kids CDs) was Rise Against.  I was drawn into Rise Against by their hit songs; Savior, September's Children and Help is on the Way.  But while learning about the band I learned that I liked the other, less known songs even better, and their earliest albums blow me away.  I don't joke when I say all 72 songs I have are awesome.  I love them all.

 As well, I found that Tim dealt with issues I cared about; environmental consequences of crony capitalism, the personal price people pay for wars started by others, and overall the pain as I watched my country give up its foundational roots and walk away from some of the promises of its ideals.

Choosing this song comes from spending a couple of days with a friend I had not seen in 27 years.  While in college we talked for hours about politics and philosophy, and we picked up where we left off just this week.  While my friend Shelly is quite a bit more radical than I, we both agreed that the incredible divide between the wealthy in this country and the increasing ranks of the poor is something that is destroying our country as we speak, and will in the long run tear us apart as a people.  Tim McIlrath deals with this issue so well in this song.

The Lyrics are as follows:

 All the way at the bottom
Of the barrels we cried out
So ashamed of our tears that
We blame only ourselves

That's when they win
They keep us convinced
To lift up our chins
These playing fields are level
We all have a chance
With that they dismiss
The fast lanes they rode
In which access depends
On who you know
Or where you came from
Whose daughter are you?
Whose fortunate son?

We're told to stick out our thumbs
They feast from the linens
While we settle for crumbs

 This first stanza talks directly to something that I struggle with a lot.  Our society teaches people we all have a chance, that equal opportunity is here for all to be a success.  I believe it, as I teach high school, and if I did not believe it, then my job becomes nothing but a cruel joke. The other half of this "American Dream" is that while everyone has the opportunity to succeed, failure is your own fault.  I just cannot buy this.  Yes, I have seen people truly mess up in high school.  However does that mean that they deserve a life of poverty for them and their children?  Are people of wealth condemned to a life of poverty based on their high school mistakes?  And lastly, the main point of this part: If you convince people that their circumstances are their own fault, then you win....they deserve it.  They cannot rebel.

The chorus:  (So impressed that the term "a just reparation" is used in a rock song)

 Is this an over-reaching arm
Or is this compassion?
Is this a handout undeserved
Or a just reparation?

(A just reparation)

Verse 2:

 All the way from the towers
High above glass ceilinged tombs
Tell themselves that they've earned this
By working hard and playing by the rules
But this is only part true
A dangerous trick played on me and you
And so, like a practical joke
We pulled on these bootstraps
So hard that they broke

 Chorus 2:

Is this an over-reaching arm
Or is this compassion?
Is this a handout undeserved
Or a just reparation?

And like a single domino
That falls while the rest stay vertical
We're fed these empty fairy tales
Will you believe them?

 This next part is powerful, threatening and hopeful.  The threat to those who hold power over others is so clear, to pray that they never face the sleeping giant.  However my favorite words of the song are "Perhaps the man in the gutter is not so different from you."  These words have led to a ton of discussions at dinner and in the car that people on the street had childhoods, made decisions, played with their friends, and tried, but ended up where they are.  How different from us are they really?  Are they not human like us, and are they not deserving of every chance to repair their lives? Is it not better for all of us if they can find a way to deal with the demons that haunt them, whether it be drugs, alcohol, mental illness, or simply a series of events that dropped them there?  While there is always an extra trillion or two to fix the banks that fail or invade the country we are mad at, we as a country argue that programs to help the poor are wasteful and inefficient.  Is this the direction we really want to head as a people?

 If there's a God, you better pray
That this sleeping giant never wakes
If we just took a step back
A bigger picture we might view
Perhaps the man in the gutter
Is not so different from you

Come in out of the cold
Forget all that you know
Because there's always been room
By the fire for you, oh
Come in out of the cold

Will you believe them?

Is this an over-reaching arm
Or is this compassion?
Is this a handout undeserved
Or a just reparation?

And like a single domino
That falls while the rest stay vertical

 And finally, the last two lines are amazing.  While I am not a full believer that the American dream is an empty fairy tale, I do wish there was more of a safety net for people, and more of a real opportunity for those who have made mistakes.  The opportunities they have often cause them to be more in debt, and less able to rebuild their lives.  This disparity in our country is not a side effect of the system, it serves a purpose for those at the top...it is Disparity by Design.

 We're fed these empty fairy tales
And I'm through believing

The Lyrics of "Chasing the Rapture"*:

Wounded words from sharpened tongues
Are spewing from our mouths
Without a translation
We're just making sounds

The pride of a lion is your disguise
But the fear of a coward's in your eyes

You're chasing the rapture
Praying for a
Perfect disaster
To save us from ourselves

We need more than miracles
We need to answer
For the blood on our hands now
And save us from ourselves

Out of sight and out of mind
Make everything alright
So let the sky and sea collide
Just not in our lifetime

The end is running late tonight
The kingdom comes crashing
Down into ashes
Careful what you're asking for

You're chasing the rapture
Praying for a
Perfect disaster
To save us from ourselves

We need more than miracles
We need to answer
For the blood on our hands now
And save us from ourselves

We're comfortable killers
We're comfortable killers
We're comfortable killers

We're comfortable killers
We're comfortable killers
We're comfortable killers
We're comfortable killers

Chasing the rapture
Praying for a
Perfect disaster
To save us from ourselves

You're chasing the rapture
Praying for a
Perfect disaster
To save us from ourselves

We need more than miracles
We need to answer
For the blood on our hands now
And save us from ourselves

We're comfortable killers
We're comfortable killers
We're comfortable killers
We're comfortable killers

 The Meaning of "Chasing the Rapture":

 "Chasing the Rapture" is a song about the Christians who spend all their time saying that the end is coming, the rapture is coming, we must prepare for it. They are "praying for the perfect disaster to save them from themselves." They think that all will be well once the rapture comes to take them away from what they've become. They have killed people and hurt people and rejected people in the name of God and now say that all will be as it should be, just wait for the end. These people keep setting dates for this end, but "the end is coming late tonight." They have become "comfortable killers" because of their belief that the rapture will come and erase their sins. They believe that they do not need to worry about taking care of the planet and dealing with global warming and species dying out. They are using the rapture as an excuse to avoid dealing with the important problems on hand.

Listen to Chasing the Rapture!

This is the song that first turned me onto 10 Years, so I suggest listening to it.

More songs to look into would be Fade Into (The Ocean), Fix Me, Don't Fight It, Beautiful, Battle Lust, Minus the Machine, and Forever Fields.

*Lyrics courtesy of AZLyrics

Lyrics to "Andria"*:

 You still cross my mind from time to time. And I mostly smile. 
Still so set on finding out where we went wrong and why
 So I retrace our every step with an unsure pen, 
trying to figure out what my head thinks, 
but my head just ain't what it used to be. 
And then again, what's the point anyway? 
I remember you ascending all the stairs up to the balcony 
to see if you could see me - hidden quietly away 
And I remember the skin of your fingers, 
The spot three quarters up I'd always touch when I was out of things to say.
You held my hand, but you were too afraid to speak and I could never understand. 
I remember when you leaned in quick to kiss me, and I swear, 
that not a single force on earth could stop the trembling of my hand,
And I remember how you smiled through the smoke 
in a crowded little coffeehouse and laughed at all my jokes. 
And I remember the way that you dressed and, 
how we wasted all the best of us in alcohol and sweat 
And I remember when I knew that you'd be leaving, how I barely kept up breathing 
and I bet if I had to do it all again, I'd feel the same pain, 
And I remember panicked circles in the terminal in tears. 
How I wept to god in fits. I've hated airports ever since. 
It must be true what people say, that only time can heal the pain. 
And every single day I feel it fade away, but - 
I still remember how the distance tricked us, 
and lead us helpless by the wrist into a pit to be devoured. 
I still remember how we held so strong to this, 
though we had never really settled on a way out.
I still remember the silence, and how we'd always find a way 
to turn and run to our mistakes. 
I still remember how it all came back together just to fall apart again. 
My dear, I hear your voice in mine.
I've been alone here, I've been afraid, my dear.
I've been at home here. You've been away for years. I've been alone.
I breathed your name into the air; I etched your name into me. 
I felt my anger swelling; I swam into its sea. 
I held your name inside my heart, but it got buried in my fear. 
It tore the wiring of my brain; I did my best to keep it clear. 
So, dear, no matter how we part, I hold you sweetly in my head.
And if I do not miss a part of you, a part of me is dead. 
If I can't love you as a lover, I will love you as a friend. 
And I will lay a bed before you; keep you safe until the end.

Meaning of "Andria":

Reading these lyrics is like reading poetry. It truly is poetry. This song is all about how a couple tried to make a long-distance relationship work, yet it failed. Everyday the man remembers her and misses her, and in just reading the lyrics you cannot help but feel the pain he feels and just how much he loves her.

Can you really find music with better written lyrics? 

 *Lyrics Courtesy of AZLyrics