Desert Song

The song, to me, screams that someone has died, and Gerard is grieving them alone, since, well, a desert can be a lonely and vast place. A place one thinks they'll never get out of.

"We hold in our hearts the sword and the faith"
The sword is a metaphor of intense pain, and 'faith' is the faint belief that it'll be alright in the end.
"Swelled up from the rain, clouds move like a wraith"
Since clouds can be manipulated into images by the human imagination (such as seeing a dog or turtle in the coulds), and since clouds grow larger and darker when filled with rain, he probably is remembering the lost one and seeing them (or so he thinks he sees them) everywhere. But when he realizes it's just his mind playing tricks on him, his sorrow runs deeper and his mood becomes darker.
"Well after all, we'll lie another day"
Since he's supposedly grieveing alone, he has to act like he's okay out in public, so he's lying to others about what he's going through.
"And through it all, we'll find some other way
To carry on through cartilage and fluid"
This could be something completely off, but I think this hints towards self-harm. The carilage part, I can't explain, but the fluid part could be blood. It almost sews in. Sorrow to depression, depression to self-harm. Self-harm is a coping method ('We'll find some other way to carry on...')
"And did you come to stare or wash away the blood?"
Another thing that might have to do with self-harm. Getting caught in the act. The person who catches him walks in, shocked ('Did you come here to stare') but he doesn't care about being caught, and basically says, "You here for a show or are you going to help me clean this up?".
"Well tonight, well tonight
Will it ever come?
Spend the rest of your days rocking out
Just for the dead
Well tonight
Will it ever come?"
Wishing for relief from the sadness of losing someone.
"I can see you awake anytime, in my head"
Again, seeing the lost one everywhere, only to find it's a trick of the mind.
"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"
I read it as the seriousness of Gerard's alcohol addiction, just broken down in levels of seriousness: starting from lowest to highest.
Lights to the pavement - falling from drunkenness
Van to the floor - being driven home, and passing out on his floor
Backstage to the doctor - after a preformance, drinking so much he gets alcohol poisoning
The Earth to the morgue - finally drinking so much it kills him

this song is about what would have happened if they kept going down the road they were on.(drinking)" from back stage to the dr.'s from the earth to the morgue"

For whatever strange reason I have, I've loved this song from the first time I heard it... it does seem to have that kind of messy, description of all the crap that happened years ago, when everything/everyone was maybe messed up for one reason for another. Especially the:
From the lights to the pavement
From the van to the floor
From backstage to the doctor
From the Earth to the morgue,

It just sounds so raw, rough - like you can feel what they were all going through.

i think that this song can be interpreted many different ways. it really depends on what it means to u. one way is that someone has died and hes going through all of that, another way is that hes dealing with his drug/alcohol addiction. i think poeple need to figure out what it means to them.

"and did u come to stare or wash away the blood?" I LUV THIS it definetlly means r u going to help me or just watch me struggle?

this is one of my fav songs tho!

I also took it to be about Gerard's alcholism.

But I think it's one of those life saving songs, like it's about anyone whose been through some kind of depression. How alone they felt, how everyone around didn't understand the turmoil inside them. The band/Gerard letting all those people know they aren't alone, that they've been there, they understand.

"We hold in our hearts the sword and the faith
Swelled up from the rain clouds, move like a wraith" -Sword=pain, holding pain and faith to move on despite in heart.
"Well after all, we'll lie another day
And through it all
We'll find some other way
To carry on through cartilage and fluid" -Continue to go on despite the pain, maybe lying, saying you're alright. Finding a way to move on.
"And did you come to stare, or wash away the blood?" -About how alone those in depression are. That people just stare at them like they're crazy. but aren't willing to help them through it. Maybe about a friend not being there when you most needed them.

"Well tonight, well tonight
Will it ever come?" -"Tonight" meaning when they're better and okay again.
"Spend the rest of your days
Rocking out just for the dead" -Meaning their dead inside, maybe they feel like no one really cares.
Well tonight
Will it ever come?
"I can see you awake anytime, in my head" -"You" maybe meaning the person's true self. "You" and "I" are like the same person, but "you" is the happy self, not troubled and depressed ( "I" )

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" -Already been said, I think this is the part that refers more directly to Gerard. The first two lines could literally mean collapsing, as could the third, like he passed out after a show and had to go to a hospital. (I have no idea if anything like that actually happened. Did it?) That last one means he's slowly killing himself. Also, like in LOTMS when it refers to his "rock bottom" before he became sober, that everything just lead to that. He went down.

This is now one of my favorite songs.

it goes along with Lovers...that's why its called Desert Song. Demolition Lovers was in a desert (on desert sky)

We hold in our hearts the sword and the faith
Swelled up from the rain clouds, move like a wraith
Well after all, we'll lie another day
And through it all
We'll find some other way
To carry on through cartilage and fluid
And did you come to stare, or wash away the blood?
(the girl finds out her husband (or w/e) is dead and no body is helping


Did we all fall down? [x4] (Demolition Lovers fall at the end...)


I have more I could write but I have other things. SORRY!
obviously I cut down the lyrics

Effected-Chris!:

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.

Bingo!

Thats what I was thinking to when I first heard the song. It seems like he was slowly drinking himself to death in the song. Briliant Song!

that's really sad thought. :[

I listened to this song for about 5 hours straight, one night. Why? Because I wanted to understand it. :]

I think the whole song is about My Chemical Romance. I think it's about Gerard.
About how they started. His problem with alcohol, and drugs. And the part that says "Spend the rest of your days rocking out. Just for the dead." Is about how he for a while only sang for his grandma, after she died.
Also, I think it's about what was going to happen to them.
If they had already fallen down. If they were about to fall down. If they were going to survive being famous, or get sick, or give up.


Long, yes.
Pointless? I believe.
But it allowed me to understand the song.
:]

Suide_n_her_gothnss:

i think that Gerard is doing this like another tribute to his gramgram but he is like telling her what he's been through since shes been dead and like how he's fallen so much and when he says from the earth to the morgue he means leaving the earth is his old alcoholic and drugged self and entering the morgue to reach another spiritual point in his life is the brand new gerard trying to reach her better to sorta ask her to be closer in spirit
<just my opinion>

yea but one loop hole, he wasnt clean yet. this was a demo for 3 cheers and he didnt get clean untill after it was all recorded. like the week b4 i'm not o.k. was shot. but he could have had that state of mind before knowing he had to get clean....idk maybe i'm wrong.

i gusse it um about the desert

"Well after all, we'll lie another day
And through it all
We'll find some other way"
Meaning we all lie and get away with it...mostly...
"To carry on through cartilage and fluid
And did you come to stare, or wash away the blood?"
We can't hide the truth from ourselves..but we try

"Well tonight, well tonight
Will it ever come?"
The realization of something..i dont know what though
"Spend the rest of your days
Rocking out just for the dead"
Maybe not wasted life..but you spend a big majority of your life with music..
"Well tonight
Will it ever come?"
....what happens when its gone..?

"I can see you awake anytime, in my head"
Maybe a loved one or a metaphor for a favorite band or fond memory being remembered

"Did we all fall down? [x4]
From the lights to the pavement
From the van to the floor"
These to me scream alchol abuse or drug abuse(drugs as pils)
"From backstage to the doctor
From the Earth to the morgue
Morgue, morgue, morgue"
Like a reference to O.D...maybe..and how quickly your life can be over based on your own actions

"Well tonight
Will it ever come?"
Waiting to sleep to start a new day..or again a realization with something bigger
"Spend the rest of your days
Rocking out just for the dead"
Again..music helps us in life its a big part of our lives actually
"Well tonight
Will it ever come?"
When the day comes that your music is gone..what do you do
"I can see you awake anytime in my head"
..Other than remember it and cherish the memories..?

"All fall down
Well after all..."
We all die eventually and theres not much you can do but except it and hope you lived a good life

That's just me..and my thoughts though

OMG y wasnt this song on any of the albums.... i had to buy life on the murder scene just to get it!!!

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.

I love that !
Frankly, I never really looked at the lyrics, I'm just addicted to the song .
I love how there's an acoustic from one speaker, and electric from the other .
And Gerard's voice just makes this .
The way he sings it, he sounds hopeless and broken .
Buat at the same time, there's a feeling of hopeless hope .
If anyone get's what I'm saying lol .

This was the first song I could play on guitar. In fact it's the only one I can play...
The first time I played it though I was in tears.
This song makes me think of how we feel so alone after we lose the people we love.
"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!" sound like it's about drug abuse. For those of us who have seen LOTMS there was a lot of drunken tripping.
(I saw it for the first time last night and almost threw up because I'm really emotional)
I think that "Spend the rest of your days rocking out just for the dead" means that you're going to die, possibly from drugs or suicide.
When you're in a desert, you're all alone and no one is there to help you. When someone dies, you feel so alone and can't comprehend how the world just keeps on going. So the title "Desert Song" seems to be about that.
All in all, it's a very depressing song that's open to interpretation. I like it though, because it gives me the relief that there are people out there that feel just like I do.

I think "spend the rest of your days rockin' out if just for the dead" is either about doing what you love, or kind of "sticking to your gut" .
They obviously like playing music, so who cares if you're playing for a bunch of corpses, you're playing music .
Or even to stand up for what you believe in .
They say what they believe in their songs, so if no one agrees with them, they're going to play for the dead .

About a lover/friend dying and about all the people that have died in gerard's life?

how do you know that demolition lovers was written in a desert??

or havent i looked into the meaning of the song enough?

hmm.

i think these are all great ideas.

i think its about somene dieing, and gerards like trying to deal with it. and hes turning to self harm.(To carry on through cartilage and fluid) fluid = blood. cartalidge. the bonyish stuff that you cut through.
and people are watching him do all this stuff even though he cant help it. and theyre just watching. not helping.(And did you come to stare, or wash away the blood? )

i think this song is about someone he love died and no one is helping him through it so he feels all alone.