Rise Against: Whereabouts Unknown Meaning
Whereabouts Unknown Lyrics
You have marched and you have sworn
To a tainted crown of thorns
As the hungry sails unfurl
We are thrusted from the shore
And it's you that we search for
The blackest night
The midnight sun
The covered...
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A little late to the party, here... but here goes...
Based on the recurring theme with Rise Against (even in the bands name) of questioning systems of control, I get from this that it is indeed directed at either AWOL soldiers, or renegade extremists from the point of view of one of their former brothers in arms. Obviously, a soldier going AWOL in the Middle East, “this lost world”, constantly at war, would be hunted and brought to justice by the military. And his former brothers in arms would be tasked with finding him or her. Much of this song seems metaphorical. But lines like “tainted crown of thorns”, “the hungry sails unfurl”, and “the blackest night, the midnight sun (moon)” seem to me to point to the Middle East, and metaphors for soldiers carrying out orders they may not necessarily agree with, or are so brainwashed that they cannot understand why their brother has abandoned the cause.
The narrator clearly is broken up over the loss of his friend, but duty dictates he must follow orders and carry out justice.
It could also be a metaphor for the slaughter of Muslims at the hands of American armed forces, and how the narrator, clearly a lowly soldier wishes they would just come around to the American governments way of thinking in order to end bloodshed.
Just my two cents. -
I see it as a renegade soldier hunting his old troop. He talks about the tainted crown of thorns, saying their cause is no longer just, and it's his God-given duty to stop them (I hesitate and then look for a sign somewhere in the sky). He talks about the good times they had, how he always felt different, and how they would all be forgiven if they would just listen (to God, to morality, to what the renegade believes is right; to join his cause). Whereabouts unknown- talking about his fellow soldiers'... I guess morality would be the best word; where has their morality and their sense of right and wrong gone? It's whereabouts are unknown
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i belive the song is about not a sinhle story (three soilders splitting up) i believe the song refers to all the people in the army afraid to come home beacuase of the crimes they have commited in the war where tim sings
Even together, we stand apart Swallow the
sun, erase the sky
An invitation that's been declined
Where did you go? Where did you go?
its talkin about how the soliders feel after the war 'I see your face
In my sights
I hesitate
And then look for a sign
Somewhere in the sky'
is refering to the soilder looking at his family seeing that the soliders he shot were the same as his family they could be fathers mothers even kids
theres more to the song but thats the overall basic message -
I love this song to death.
I do believe this song is about three solders.
ok so, "To the ends of this lost world" They have gone everywhere together.
"You have marched and you have sworn"
uh, duh, that one's easy.
"To a tainted crown of thorns"
Referance to Jesus of Naserath, he had a crown of thorns to mock him, so this solder tried to be pure, but was changed, 'tainted'.
"As the hungry sails unfurl
We are thrusted from the shore
And it's you that we search for"
Ok, present day, the trio is seperated, two remain while the other disappeared. They are slightly unwilling to go and hunt for their one time friend.
"The blackest night
The midnight sun
The covered tracks and days spent on the run
The strangers we've become"
The two solders seem to be in an endless nightmare, (day representing light and good). The lone man has hidden himself, not wanting to be found. The three discover that they don't know each other anymore.
"These whereabouts unknown
Please know you can come home
It's alright
I long for the moment
Our silence is broken
It's alright"
The two solders are trying to convince the third to come back, it's ok now, they want to speak to each other again.
"Another place, another time
We toed the same side of the line
Yeah we saw eye to eye"
Back in the past. The three of them were all the same, with the same views. Same sides.
"Even then the saddest sounds,
Were nothing laughter could not drown
But we are not laughing now"
Still in the past, they had to do some things that hurt other people. Now to the present, things have changed, they disagree now.
"I see your face
In my sights
I hesitate
And then look for a sign
Somewhere in the sky"
The narrator has his gun and sees the third rouge man. Ready to take him out, but he still feels some loyalty. He looks for something, anything to give him orders, tell him what to do.
Chorus
"Even together, we stand apart"
They have diffrent views, they do not agree.
"Swallow the sun, erase the sky"
Change your ways, agree with me.
"An invitation that's been declined"
The rouge solder said no. No.
"Where did you go? Where did you go?"
Why did you go? Why did you leave.
Chorus
"It's alright now
Cause all is forgiven
If you could just listen
It's alright"
The second person, I see them saying this line, with the first person saying 'fuc-given', but being interrupted. If the rouge would just hear them out, fall silent. Be a good solder, obey. They would be friends again.
But that word, forgiven, gets me, I swear the narrators about to say f*ck, but changes in mid word.
There should be a gun shot at the end, maybe two, leaving the first man alone. -
I honestly thought this song was about a kid running away from home...
Some parts of the song also remind me of MIA soldiers. -
This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
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I think this song is about two victims of the holocaust who escape their camp and are constantly running from the nazis (night, covered tracks, running), in the first verse, he's reffering to the german soldiers, telling them that the cause they work for is evil, in the rest he's telling the person he's with that they are becoming distant (even together, we stand apart, the strangers weve become), and that they can confide in him (please know you can come home [come home-confide])
-
I actually think that it's about a soldier coming home from a war, and he's afraid that people would hate him because they lost the war or something. And although it's alright, he still doesn't want to due to the fear.
"You know you can come home, it's alright, it's alrigh." -
hey love song. keep on fighting, dont hid. and know that you can alwas talk to people. please know you can come home. see. home=people.
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