Protest hype

They say that in general, there is a growing anti-administration movement within punk rock (in Pittsburgh, which is my adopted home, this is led by no more than Anti-Flag). It may as well be true; you have anti-Bush compilations ("Rock Against Bush, Vol. 1" and other volumes line within that category), anti-government songs, etc.

But no more can I find a song that embodies the value (?) of protest more than in "All That's Left" by Thrice (if you don't know who Thrice is, read the previous post). To exemplify, here's the music video:

Music Video Code provided by Music Video Zone

And here's the lyrics:

One day the dreamers died within us
When all our answers never came
We hid the truth beneath our skin
But our shadows never looked the same

CHORUS:
A ghost is all that's left of everything
We swore we never would forget
We tried to bleed the sickness
But we drained our hearts instead
We are the dead

And when we couldn't stop the bleeding
We held our hearts over the flame
We couldn't help but call it treason
And after that we couldn't fill our flames
After that our shadows never looked the same

CHORUS

In summers past, we'd challenge fate
With higher pitch and perfect aim
And standing fast, we'd radiate
A light we loved but never named
But the answers never came
Our shadows never looked the same

CHORUS

CHORUS (addendum):
We are the dead
A ghost of everything we thought but never said
We are the ones who lost our faith
We dug ourselves an early grave
We are the dead, can we be saved?

If you compare the lyrics with the visuals provided in the music video, there are some stark realities: we have repressed protest rallies, protesters running away, and water cannons. Repression as such means that protest is hopeless, as shown in these two lines from the chorus:

We tried to bleed the sickness
But we drained our hearts instead

Sickness here means social sickness, and "hearts" means ideal. These youth want change, and they might as well not get it. From a year context, the video was released in 2003 and the album that same year, a time when Iraq was under way and there was still popularity on the President's side. However, look at where we are now: conservatism wins the day and God knows what direction we're going to take.

There's also three more lines that resonate the concept (from the addendum to the chorus at the end of the song):

We are the ones who lost our faith
We dug ourselves an early grave
We are the dead, can we be saved?

They generate the same response. And quite naturally, we all have no more faith left, and we might as well wait. But life is no "wait and see". We need action.

Then again, lookn at the bridge. We spoke out, but nothing came of it. So now what do we do? Do it louder? Well, we need a miracle now. For better or for worse.

I think I'll move from Thrice now. Next, I want to do something with Denver Harbor and "Picture Perfect Wannabe". That, though, will be hard. So wait and see what Uniting Voices has next. Enjoy!