I wasn’t a big fan of Senses Fail’s newest album “Life is not a waiting room” when it came out. I liked a few songs, but that was it. As most great albums do, they tend to grow on you and be far better than you saw before. The song “Yellow Angels” has caught my attention lately. It starts with the imagery of one losing control of a car and their life. I didn’t really get what the song was saying at first, but I got it after a couple listens. The song is brought together by the last few lines in the song:
As the car begins to roll
I smile as I lose control
This weightlessness is such a gift
‘Cause gravity has lost its hold
I see the sky, and then the ground
Kaleidoscope of light and sound
Catching flashes of my life
Just then, the house-lights all went out
I want to know
Myself so bad it hurts
I am a shelf
Holding unread words
I’ve said goodbye so many times in my life
I’m surprised it’s still so hard for me
To see that I should start living my life
Or I will die unfulfilled and empty
I come to, still in the chair
As yellow angels step with care
My spinal cord’s still sending shocks
But my life’s in need of repair
There’s got to be more than this
I don’t want to just exist
As a hollow house for bones
More alone every minute
Is there a place where I can start again?
I’ve said goodbye so many times in my life
I’m surprised it’s still so hard for me
To see that I should start living my life
Or I will die unfulfilled and empty
Wake up, you’re sleeping
Wake up, you’re sleepin’ behind the wheel
The song then took its full effect on me. I am one of those people not living my life. “There has got to be more than this, I don’t want to just exist.” I feel you Buddy. Most days I feel like i’m just living the life of a drone, mindlessly repeating the day to day steps just trying to get it over with. That is just a waste of a life. “Is there a place where I can start again?” asks Buddy. I’m looking for that place too. I’m in need of a change to start living my life to its potential, because life is NOT a waiting room.
Youtube for audio: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-agm8XL9fQ
the towers that shoulder your pride
the words you’ve written in stone
sand will cover them, sand will cover you
the streets that suffer your name
your very flesh and your bones
sand will cover them, sand will cover you
so put your faith in more than steel
don’t store your treasures up, with moth and rust
where thieves break in and steal
pull the fangs from out your heel
we live in but a shadow of the real
step out from time, see the dust of nations
step out from time, hear the stars ovation
Saturn will not sleep, until the sand has made us clean
still we stack our stones and bury what we can
but it all will be undone, and nothing built under the sun
will ever stand before the endless march of sand
so put your faith in more than steel
don’t store your treasures up, with moth and rust
where thieves break in and steal
pull the fangs from out your heel
we live in but a shadow of the real
so put your faith in more than steel
don’t store your treasures up, with moth and rust
where thieves break in and steal
pull the fangs from out your heel
we live in but a shadow of the real
Music to me is so much more than sound and surface. The music I listen to for the most part has to go beyond to grab my attention. Sometimes it says the things that you can’t say. To me music like a philosopher,it makes me question and reflect on life.
It’s bold to declare a favorite song, but “Of Dust and Nations” by Thrice is my favorite song. Musically it has a great build up, flash of energy, and quite possibly the best outro ever. (this is not the studio version, this is a live version with a string quartet) Lyrically the song speaks strongly to me as well. To my interpretation, the song is saying that you will not last for ever. Your material things will not last forever. People need to live a less materialistic life style because what you have is not all tangible. Looking back on the most famous people to ever live, they left ideas and messages. They were not remembered for their enormous amount of money they have in their bank account or how big their house was. Sand will cover them and make them irrelevant, with sand being a metaphor for time. I can say that I am guilty of this. Thinking about it, if I were to die today, what would I leave behind? Did I make the world a better place? Did I try? Did you try? This song is a constant reminder to me to try to and live a fulfilled life.
