Anti-Flag: Rank-N-File Meaning

Rank-N-File Lyrics

I'm standing with the rank-n-file,
I'm marching with the underground,
Our black hearts worn on our sleeves!

Let my imagination go and drop me where i feel most scared.
Snap back already giving thanks, i'm not trapped working in a...

1. anonymous

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   Jan 8th 2006 !⃝

   This song, is about sweatshops and manipulated, exploited, overworked laborers in Third World countries, and also people forced to become soliders and fight for "someone else's gain".
   
   At one point, Justin Sane says "let my imagination go/ and drop me where/ I feel most scared..." then he adds "snap back already giving thanks I'm not working/ in a sweatshop somewhere". He's trying to point out that while those of us fortunate enough to live in countries like the U.S., where at least there are labor laws and government aid and such, can only imagine what the conditions are like elsewhere in the world, and they seem like a bad dream to us, for many people they are a reality- everyday life. He describes them as "trapped in a world where both ends aren't meant to meet".
   
   Then he goes on to address people forcibily drafted to join the military in many countries, or forced against their will to join rebel or paramilitary groups (think child soldiers, for example, like in many African and South American countries). He gives "total thanks again... I'm not soldiering somewhere." He dedicates this song to everyone living in those conditions, forced to work or fight by forces beyond their control, for whom life is a constant struggle. This song is also a rallying cry for people in more developed nations (like the U.S.) to realize how bad things are elsewhere in the world. (Such as when he sings "I left my home for foriegn streets/ to strange places new faces I flew. Shoeless kids stood on the corner/ their eyes they were transfixed on you," this talks about how unaware most people are of how bad off their global neighbors are until they see it first hand, and how we need to feel responsible for helping them, because if not, who else will? They need us to do something, we can't just sit around wait for someone else to do it.) Justin sings about his dedication to helping these people, how he's "standing with the rank-n-file... marching with the underground", and in short calling for change. And he's challenging everyone else to do the same.

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