The Good Left Undone

The Good Left Undone: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRmbcqp5Dbc

            This week, the song I chose is by a great band that infuses incredible meaning into every one of their songs. The band is called Rise Against, and the song is called The good Left Undone from their fourth Album The Sufferer and the Witness (2006).

            The meaning of this song took me a while to figure out because of the poetic nature of the lyrics. Once I finally did however, I thought they were about life and relationships, like many rock songs are. The first verse is about a flower among fields and fields of weeds, which is a metaphor for the good in the world among an ocean of bad. The flower itself represents a woman that the narrator fell in love with, and throughout the song, Tim McIlrath, the singer of the band, sings about the changes she brought to his world. The final verse says "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." Before meeting her, he thought the world was a darker place, but now he sees the good the people around him can bring.

            The love is only half the song though. The other half is about their breakup. He hasn't "slept in so long," and when he does he "dreams of drowning in  the ocean, longing for the shore." he can't sleep, and when he does, he only has nightmares. The man in this song can't let go and appreciate the changes she stirred in him. For many of us, people, possesions, and memories are hard to let go, and just like in last week's song Boys of Summer, the better and happier the memory, the more desperately we cling to it.

            Hope you all enjoyed the song! It's one of Rise Against's best! see you next week.

The Good Left Undone Lyrics:

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 there what I’d 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 lay my head down,
I’ll follow your voice,
All you have to do is shout it out.

Inside my hands these petals browned,
Dried up, fallen to the ground
But it was already too late now.
I pushed my fingers through the earth,
Returned this flower to the dirt,
So it could live. I walked away now.

But I know…
Not a day goes by that I don’t feel this 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 lay 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 lay 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.