Desert Song

i think that its basically about his depression when he was using drugs and alcohol

We hold in our hearts the sword and the faith ~ i think that basically this bit is about when he used to be depressed and he's talking about "we" as him and all the other depressed people out there.
Swelled up from the rain, clouds move like a wraith
Well after all, we'll lie another day ~ lie about being ok??
And through it all, we'll find some other way
To carry on through cartilage and fluid ~ i think this is about him cutting himself, which he did briefly. and no matter how much people try to stop him. he'll carry on cutting "through cartilage and fluid(blood)"
And did you come to stare or wash away the blood? ~he's askin people about when they found out he was depressed/on drugs did they come to look at the rock star who had fallen from grace or to actually help him

Well tonight, well tonight
Will it ever come? ~ will the end of this (bad) day come or will it always be like this??
Spend the rest of your days rocking out
Just for the dead ~ a reference to helena
Well tonight
Will it ever come?
I can see you awake anytime, in my head ~ i don't need to beleive someone (possibly helena??) is gone, i can pretend that they're still alive in my head.

Did we all fall down?
Did we all fall down?
Did we all fall down?
Did we all fall down? ~ is it just me who is this way??
From the lights to the pavement ~ from the bright lights of the stage to throwing up on the pavement
From the van to the floor ~ from touring in the van, to throwing up/passing out again
From backstage to the doctor ~ from coming offstage from playing and going to see people for his depression
From the Earth to the morgue, morgue, morgue, morgue ~ he realises the links between these things and also the ultimate result of his actions - death.

Well tonight
Will it ever come?
Spend the rest of your days rocking out
Just for the dead
Well tonight
Will it ever come?
I can see you awake anytime in my head

All fall down ~ again, he's pleading for someone to be messed up and have fallen down like him because he's not ok
Well after all... ~ maybe he realises that "after all" he's only human and what can he do?? its just the way he is

vanillasky;;:

Like that the first part of the lyric (i.e From the lights...) talks about the Gerard the fans were seeing, and the second part (i.e ...To the pavement) is about himself and, in this case, how he would go from the stage to completely breaking down.

I think.

That makes sense. And would fit with the rest. Like...

From the lights to the pavement - lights being the stage lights, pavement obviously being outside afterwards
From the van to the floor - van maybe just being a general sort of allusion to touring
From backstage to the doctor- meet and greets maybe, or just the occasional fan encounter
(and "floor" and "doctor" would be the places other, "outside" people rarely, if ever, saw him)
From the earth to the morgue - it kinda reminds me of this line from a Death Cab song, "so who's gonna watch you die?" It's almost like saying, "Sure, but how many people will I be with when I croak?"

Heh. Sorry, I guess that sounds a bit cynical, but you know. It is My Chem.

I also agree with the idea that is was written from someone else's POV.

I always thought it was a reflection on Gerard's part for the band. You know, the success that they had experienced thus far, the behind the scenes troubles with drug addiction, alcoholism, and anxiety.
I feel that it's from a jaded artist's point of view. They wonder if they're gonna end up "rocking out just for the dead", meaning that the fans are no longer hearing their message, becoming merely obssessed with other aspects such as looks and following the trend. Once the fans stop listening to the message, they're dead in a way.
ANd the part where he sings "from the lights to the pavement".... all the way to the part "from the earth to the morgue", i think it's just metaphorically capturing the ideas of
1) their failure as musicians/artists because their fans stop paying attention to the message behind their music
2) the fatigue that they feel on the road
3) And the jaded feeling they get from performing too many shows.

That's about it so far i guess. My mind's not really working at it's best at the moment so sorry if what i've said made no sense whatsoever.

I think Gerard wrote this quite soon after getting clean and sober and the song is about overcoming your obstacles and demons in life.

'Did we all fall down? x4
From the lights to the pavement
From the van to the floor
From backstage to the doctor
From the earth to the morgue
Morgue! Morgue! Morgue!'

Here, Gerard is saying that if he carried on as he was, the alchol and drugs would have killed him. He fell down hard and had to go to the doctors at times, his next fall could have been his death.

oh, i like this song, i dont know why, it´s too depressive, too sad, íts not nice, but i love it
i think ints about living

we hold in our hearts the sword and the faith = the faith of still living
sweled up fron the rain, clouds move like a wraith, well after all, we lie another day = maybe, life it´s just a lie, because, everyone will die
and trough it all, we´ll find some other way, to carry on, trogh cartilage and fliud = we have to continue living, for many hard the way it´s
and did you come, to stay or wash away the blood? = the people we know it´s here for helping or defeat us, i´ts just life
well tonight, will it ever come? = will the death come soon?
spend the rest of your days , rocking out, just for the death = we do the same things every day, until the end of, our lives
well tonight, will it ever come?, i can see you awake anytime in my head= well, maybe, this is gee waiting to se helena again
Did we all fall down?x4 = this are the parts in life we don´t know if we want to still, livig
from the ligts to the paviment = when we feel so happy, but then, we wat to die
from the van to the floor=when we want to see everything, but it´s not whai it seems to be
from bacstage to the doctor = when everyone want to know us, an when no one cares about us
from the earth to the morgue, morgue, morgue, morgue = and finally, from life to death
well tonight, will it ever come? spend the rest of your days , rocking out, just for the death well tonight, will it ever come?, i can see you awake anytime in my head = this part again
well, we all fall down well after all = everyone will die some day, what does life mean???

i dont know what i like this song.....it´s too depresive : ,(

I also feel this song is mostly about Gerards addictions.

We hold in our hearts the sword and the faith ~I'm holding onto these addictions and the faith that I'll one day overcome them
Swelled up from the rain, clouds move like a wraith
Well after all, we'll lie another day ~basically another way of saying the sun will still rise in the morning or "there will always be a tomorrow"
And through it all, we'll find some other way
To carry on through cartilage and fluid~it will be tough but I'll overcome my hardships. Obvious reference to cutting.
And did you come to stare or wash away the blood?~This is more like he's hiding pain and people are oblivious. People are carrying on and he's got these enormous feet's to overcome

Well tonight, well tonight
Will it ever come? ~I think this is when he's heavily intoxicated or after a suicide attempt and he's just questioning, "how much longer until i die?"
Spend the rest of your days rocking out
Just for the dead ~He's predicting death
Well tonight
Will it ever come?
I can see you awake anytime, in my head~I might miss you(whomever "you" may be...) but i can always imagine you

Did we all fall down?
Did we all fall down?
Did we all fall down?
Did we all fall down? ~he's questioning "are we all in such pain???"
From the lights to the pavement
From the van to the floor
From backstage to the doctor
From the Earth to the morgue, morgue, morgue, morgue
~these are all variations of seriousness of addiction and self-destruction, to the point where it kills him (earth to the morgue)

Well tonight
Will it ever come?
Spend the rest of your days rocking out
Just for the dead
Well tonight
Will it ever come?
I can see you awake anytime in my head

All fall down
Well after all... ~in the end we'll all "fall" or 'die'

Maybe it's about the story of the man and the woman, and the corpses of a thousand evil men.
I mean, obviously it reflects Gerard's personal life, but maybe it's a part of the story of Revenge.

After all, they did get massacred at their wedding, which was in a desert.

Just sayin'...

I agree with you BurnMySanity... you got to love how Gerard leaves his songs so open ended though... these songs can be related to nearly everything... metaphorically and literally... its amazing

Our Avenged Jules:

I believe it is titled 'Desert Song' because in a desert, you are alone usually.
Nothing surrounds you.

I always interpreted it to be about Gerard's drug/alcohol addiction:
From the lights to the pavement,
From the van to the floor,
From backstage to the doctor,
From the earth to the morgue...
From the streetlights (looking up), to the pavement (falling down, looking down),
From the van (when he'd get out of the van), to the floor (fall on the floor),
From backstage (he'd be suffering), to the doctor (was sick?)
From the earth (alive), to the morgue (dead).

Like, each line is a different step in the seriousness of his addiction...
I dunno... Just an assumption.

Yes I see that way, I truely think this song is about him losing someone, and he couldn't stop it...it is very sad if you think about it

"From backstage to the doctor"

I read somewhere that Gerard tried to hurt himself backstage, maybe that means something?:S

qianthefirst:

'We hold in our hearts the sword and the faith'
...i think it is saying how in everyone of us there are 2 sides, the side that believes in love and life and the side that is defensive and destroys all things good becuase we are too scared to live and get hurt.

'Swelled up from the rain clouds Move like a wraith'
...how we absorb all the depressing things in life and begin go about life as a ghost, not really enjoying it or sensing it.

'Well after all, we'll lie another day? And through it all we'll find some other way'
...we do this because we persuade ourselves that tomoro is another day and another chance to do what we wnat and that we have all the time in the world. this gives us time to find and easier way in life.

'To carry on through cartilage and fluid And did you come to stare or wash away the blood?'
...to pass through all the obstacles to arrive at a place in our lives where we decide to ust sit and wait or decide to do something with our lives.

'Well tonight, well tonight will it ever come?
Spend the rest of your days rockin' out
Just for the dead
...'

...whole chorus asking whether the realisation will ever come or will they just do what they are doing for themselves and fans that don't even realise the beauty of their lives and are more like dead. he can imagin what the world would be like if pl actually didi something meaning ful.

'Did we all fall down? x4
From the lights to the pavement
From the van to the floor
From backstage to the doctor
From the earth to the morgue
Morgue! Morgue! Morgue!'

asking if we have all given up and 'fallen down' like them. like Gerard's alcoholism and depression while on tour forcing him to seek treatment and maybe even killing himself.

'All fall down, well after all...'
... last hitch excuse for why people do not live their lives because we think that whatever happens to us won't matter as we are all going to die anyway. so 'well after all, we are all going to die/fall'.

That make's the most sense to me and it kind of adds in all the theorys.

love is blind.:

Gerard is just good at making metaphors.

And I hate the whole idea of this board (sorry Dujo) because metaphors are meant to speak to somebody in a way that they believe means the most to them.

If we can relate to them, thats great, but Gerard writes the songs for himself, not just the fans, meaning,

Gerard is the only one that knows the exact meanings.

I also aggree with this

I think it might be about his grandmother or when he was doing drugs he got sick and had to go oto the doctor. when his grandma died from the earth to the morgue.

From the lights to the pavement
From the van to the floor
From backstage to the doctor
From the earth to the morgue

when he sings that its like kind of your living life and then you just die. and hes saying backstage like after a concert you go backstage. and maybe If gerard gets sick from back then when he did drugs, maybe one day he got really sick and had to go to the doctor. part of gerards drug addiction and depression.
idk
I think the desert song is like when your alone in the desert theres nothing else around you and its empty. theres not a lot of food, water, or anything there.

I think the song is about dealing with grief when you're all alone, like in a desert.

Ermm...I'd have to agree with all the afore mentioned ideas about the lyrics the song, but I'm going to analyse the title.
I think somebody's probably already said this, and if they have, I agree with them.
Although there's no mention of a desert in the song, I think that they used desert in the title for two reasons.
1. Because I suppose if you're in the middle of the desert, you're alone. I guess it's that feeling that there's absolutely nobody there to give you a hand or anything. You're just...there.
2. There's usually a hundred miles of nothing on either side of you in the middle of the desert. Nowhere particularly to go, just the same endless stretch.
With the stuff others have said about the lyrics, It could be possible that maybe this is what Gerard felt while he was an alcoholic.

ive never heard this song

REVENGEXHASXJUSTXWON:

ive never heard this song

You can get it on Limewire, I think, but it's nearly a 10Mb download.

"We hold in our hearts the sword and the faith"
The sword sort of sounds like a metaphor that "we" can defend ourselves.(?) And the faith is like, gee's hanging on.. beleiving he can get over it?
"Well after all, we'll lie another day"
sounds like he's saying "we" are going to lie again about being ok with the person dying.?
"And through it all We'll find some other way"
To go through life without whoever died
"To carry on through cartilage and fluid"
Maybe Gee is saying he got sad and cut himself. fluid=blood?
"And did you come to stare, or wash away the blood?"
Are you just going to watch me suffer or help me through it?
"Well tonight, well tonight Will it ever come?"
will the misery end?
"Spend the rest of your days Rocking out just for the dead"
This reminds me Helena.
"Well tonight
Will it ever come?
I can see you awake anytime, in my head"
He remembers the person who died and he can spend time with them in his head
"Did we all fall down? [x4]"
are we all hurt, or is it only me?
"From the lights to the pavement
From the van to the floor
From backstage to the doctor
From the Earth to the morgue"
This reminded me of like, out of the light of the house to the pavement to get in the tour van, then getting out of the tour van, getting on the stage floor, backstage after the concert someone got hurt, went to the doctor, and died..
"Well tonight
Will it ever come?
Spend the rest of your days
Rocking out just for the dead"
Again, reminds me of helena
"Well tonight
Will it ever come?
I can see you awake anytime in my head"
Again, it sounds like hes saying he remembers the person who died..
"All fall down
Well after all..."
Not sure what it means, but it sounds cool lol

qianthefirst:

'We hold in our hearts the sword and the faith'
...i think it is saying how in everyone of us there are 2 sides, the side that believes in love and life and the side that is defensive and destroys all things good becuase we are too scared to live and get hurt.

'Swelled up from the rain clouds Move like a wraith'
...how we absorb all the depressing things in life and begin go about life as a ghost, not really enjoying it or sensing it.

'Well after all, we'll lie another day? And through it all we'll find some other way'
...we do this because we persuade ourselves that tomoro is another day and another chance to do what we wnat and that we have all the time in the world. this gives us time to find and easier way in life.

'To carry on through cartilage and fluid And did you come to stare or wash away the blood?'
...to pass through all the obstacles to arrive at a place in our lives where we decide to ust sit and wait or decide to do something with our lives.

'Well tonight, well tonight will it ever come?
Spend the rest of your days rockin' out
Just for the dead
...'

...whole chorus asking whether the realisation will ever come or will they just do what they are doing for themselves and fans that don't even realise the beauty of their lives and are more like dead. he can imagin what the world would be like if pl actually didi something meaning ful.

'Did we all fall down? x4
From the lights to the pavement
From the van to the floor
From backstage to the doctor
From the earth to the morgue
Morgue! Morgue! Morgue!'

asking if we have all given up and 'fallen down' like them. like Gerard's alcoholism and depression while on tour forcing him to seek treatment and maybe even killing himself.

'All fall down, well after all...'
... last hitch excuse for why people do not live their lives because we think that whatever happens to us won't matter as we are all going to die anyway. so 'well after all, we are all going to die/fall'.

wow, that makes the most sense to me.