White Noise Song Meanings

[paulvroc]

so...don't really know if this has been done, if anybody cares, or if its just obvious to everyone what all the songs are about

but i, for one, would like a thread where we discuss the meanings of the songs on the new album
there's a few that i haven't really entirely worked out...even though i haven't listened that intently to every word and read all the lyrics

first track is how do we know, so i guess we could start there
i don't know, maybe i'm just stupid for not being able to tell what its about...but i guess i'll just open the floor then and see how my first thread goes...discuss away

[Amur]

hey it would be much easier to hear how Chris explains meanings of his own songs!:confused:
that was interesting to read about previous albums' compositions.wish they're going to do that once again with this album!
I mean...I'm not so silly to be not even able to make up my own guesses about it, but I'd love to hear some official words on these!

[Neo]

I thought you said you had a GOOD idea for a thread

[Wazzup]

hey it would be much easier to hear how Chris explains meanings of his own songs!:confused:
that was interesting to read about previous albums' compositions.wish they're going to do that once again with this album!
I mean...I'm not so silly to be not even able to make up my own guesses about it, but I'd love to hear some official words on these!

There's no wrong answer to song meanings...unless it's completely ridiculous.

Everyone interprets each song differently, based on their experiences or personality :)

Chris may have had his own idea, but it doesn't mean it's the only meaning/interpretation to the song.

[Big J.G]

How Do We Know?

I think that song means the real turning point of the band for the new album. Like these lyrics explain:

Today will be the last day, Tomorrow everything will change.

And these lyrics say that this album is what they have been destined to make:

We've been waiting on the front line, we've been preparing our entire lives for this day to arrive
and no doubt this will be, part of our history, we're making our move and we're breaking out on the 'grind?'

Thats what I think anyway. As this song was what kick started the album.

Raise the Alarm
Not 100% Sure. I believe it takes a stab at religion and how stupid the that little differences between each religion causes chaos accross the world (EG: Muslim bombings). I agree with that. Doesn't every religion promote one thing? Love?

White Noise
I think this song is about not understanding what people have to say or some thing like that. This song I'm not too sure on

Moment In The Sun
It's obvious this song is about Chris wanting to leave the band and how being a musician isn't doing it for him anymore.

Waiting for the Silence

It's probably about when Chris was probably missing being part of the band and was eager to get back into it. (i dunno, lol)

Make the Call
To be honest, I never really listen to this song.

Loaded Gun
Isn't this song inspired by a true story? I read that somewhere

Kid
Again, No Idea

21st Century
It's obvious. The 21st Century has completely changed life, things were so much better during the 90s.

Hey Hey Disbeliever
I believe its a guy being paranoid and believing that things can only go bad, nothing will ever be fine.

Sum of Us
Obviously showing how life is unfair.


meh. I CBF writing much eh.

[r2jeeves]

Well I think Kid is about how society is ruining being a kid. Like...the innocence of it. Marketing clothing and all that 'tween' shit, and making like 8 year olds want to dress like brittney spears.

Keep it up, keep it up, you're gonna kill the kid.

It makes sense to me.

And yeah, I think I said before about Waiting for the Silence being about Chris wanting to get back out there

'when all of the boys, were making their noise and the girls were trying hard to pretend. we had it all back then'

[Colezy]

Ooooh, I had a good theory for WFTS in another thread somewhere. I can't be arsed re-typing it all, but it was along the lines of what you mentioned :)

[Flaming_Ice]

White Noise is just all the spam from everywhere in today's society just turning into noise, white noise. Information age but with too much (mis)information.

Loaded Gun would be about this (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/23/international/23intel.html) situation.

Make the Call to me could be done as saying to people 'religion is stupid, realise it'. That's not at all helped by me wanting to see that...

"No one will ease your despair. No one will answer your prayers. You take your own life in your own hands",
"See the other side. Surrendering your pride. Face yourself and let the truth decide" and
"All that you believed. What you think you see. Only what you make it out to be"
Might as well just quote the entire song.

[deano1337]

I think white noise is about andys sexy new drum kit!!!!

http://i59.photobucket.com/albums/g282/deano1337/2threads-MondayNightLive-hires-4141.jpg

[Fritz]

It sure is a nice looking kit

[dylanos]

make the call rocks! as if it is a skipable song! ha

So what is beware the moon about?

[r2jeeves]

Pretty sure Beware the Moon is about a dating a girl who's a werewolf. Bare with that thought for a minute...


"I was paralyzed,she changed right before my eyes, under the moonlight"

"She liked the dark, she made up excuses to walk in the park"

"She Seemed like the normal kind"

"She scares the hell out of me"

Maybe not a werewolf, but at least dating a strange girl who scares you. I could be reading too much into it, she could just be a criminal? but you know, moonlight making werewolves appear and all that. Horror films are also mentioned.

[The Dying Start]

It sure is a nice looking kit

Shit yeah, i'd definately pelvic thrust in its direction.

Pretty sure Beware the Moon is about a dating a girl who's a werewolf. Bare with that thought for a minute...

Hahahaha. Nice. You made me guffaw.

[paulvroc]

I thought you said you had a GOOD idea for a thread

haha, cheers Neo
yay, my thread got some reception...
my input...

How Do We Know - I guess I agree with whats been said, pretty much, about the new band launching into a new direction, and ready to rock again

Raise the Alarm - I really didn't know. But whats been suggested makes pretty damn good sense to me, with the petty differences in religions, and violence between them, and stuff...when really there should be one vision and peace, even if people are atheists...

White Noise - typical sorta relationship song, I would have thought...but whats been said sounds much better! white noise in the form of miss-communication, all talk and no action, etc.

Moment in the Sun - self explanatory, with Chris and his band-leaving and such.

Waiting For The Silence - I think this has strong links to when Chris had his hiatus type exit from the band. This fits i reckon as it follows Moment in the Sun chronologically, as well as the lyric 'waiting for the silence to end', meaning, waiting for that killer HDWK riff to come along, and relaunch his creative career with TLE.

Make The Call - never really listened to the lyrics. No idea. What others have said sounds about right.

Loaded Gun - simply awesome song about those real life murders, mentioned before.

Kid - I tended to think this is about the modern day pressures on all kids, and they shit they cop and go through, while being expected to take it all in their stride.

21st Century - obvious. The worlds gone nuts, etc.

Hey Hey Disbeliever - like make the call, never really thought about it, or listened that hard to the words

Sum Of Us - typical complaint about the world being selfish, and all the problems that affect modern society.

overall, the albums message is pretty clear...besides how do we know and the other songs about the band, its all about the problems with society, and sort of a punk rock (in hard rock form, with TLE touch) view on everything that's going wrong, with violence, loss of innocence in youth, inequality, selfishness, and miscommunication. it all comes back to 'white noise'. great album!

[Absolution]

Hmm, ok, like this idea lot. Official words would be sweet but eh, here's my take on things:

How Do We Know:
Second verse made me kind side with something that was mentioned on these boards (i think...heard it somewhere, not sure now, lol) but yeh. One interpretation could be like a revamped Killing the Right.
'A disaffected race being born under a real bad sign.' - That and some of the other lyrics could be associated with the great apology by Kevy and the time for breaking out of any remaining discrimination in Aus --> the world, w/e.
But JG's post on the first page makes a bunch-load of logic overall. HDWK was the first song on the new album (was the first to filter through the airwaves too) -kinda marked the start of the things to come for the band this year. So eh, take a pick...I like the latter imo.

Raise the Alarm:
Call for reason to shine through well, a vision shrouded by religious beliefs; on a more basic level, an atheists view perhaps; "I may not believe in God...I may not believe in Jesus...etc"
Heightens to the realisation of the chaos of religious pursuit; "But I'd rather risk my fate, then to lose my faith." - Hence, RAISE THE ALARM - (also reference to a State of Emergency ;) )

White Noise:
Well summed up already. Society talking and nobody really hearing/understanding it all. Communication failure...could extend it to political arguments; eg- all talk and no action on issues.

Moment in the Sun:
Pretty self-explanatory as the title shows. Time for one's moment to shine, make your move in life and never look back kind of thing. "There's no future for us here in this place..."

Waiting for the Silence:
Yerh, been said much already; time for the band to get back out in the limelight.

Make the Call:
Decisiveness imo. MAKE THE CALL! General stance on the problems/questions we are faced with in life, and the need to make one's stance clear on the issue, rather then let things go; "Well what are you gonna do if they reset the bomb? Whatever you do, don't leave it too long....MAKE THE CALL!" ALSO: "You take your own life in your own hands." - Fantastic lyrics in this song.

Loaded Gun:
Been down this one many a time before; London Underground shooting used as basis for wider stance on the issue of the power and fate left in a...Loaded Gun...

Kid:
Pressures in life; ignorance, perhaps of the way the young adolescent is growing up these days, extends to wider medium of emotional weight on a 'Kid' -this song is a call out for realisation.

21st Century:
Yerh, overview of the world's ways over the past while. Faces us with some problems/headlines of both past, present and future...perhaps a outcry about the madness of the modern day...also briefly refers back to ideals of WN; "Everyone is shouting but I can't hear a sound."

Hey Hey Disbeliever:
Paranoia does fit with bits and pieces of this song...but maybe...more to do with misguidance methinks...not terribly sure on this one, but I think that works. Misguidance and then I'd say a type of...grr...'finding yourself' phase and seeking the truth behind a fog of uncertainty...something like that. Again, not 100% sure.

Sum of Us:
Lack of equality in the world and indeed, as previously mentioned, how life can be unfair. Also the need for that equality, and effectively 'world unity' to exist; "God help those who don't help the others."

[dylanos]

I don't think I have the energy to do this... everyone's perception is different, I have mine. It's interesting to see what people think though. Anyone go the energy to analyse the B sides then? gee i wonder what cia is about

[Kacky]

Well, it's about the CIA. Lolz.

Captain Obvious to the rescue!?

[Deadcat Kaye]

http://www.bluelinecomics.com/New%20Blue%20Lines/Captain%20Obvious%207%20splash%20finished.jpg

[paulvroc]

as far as B-sides go...
i love that 'enjoy your life while it lasts' and 'you're lucky to be here' view put forward in Live To Love, as well as its uniqueness as a song in general.

[Pigmy]

Well i did a lyrical response assignment for mye nglish comms project and i chose i think it was 4 or 5 living end songs so anyway theyre not all from white noise but here is my project well part of it =P.


So yeah hope you dont mind me broading out the thread to all song meanings instead of it being limited to just 'white noise' saves heaps of other threads beign made.


NOTE THESE ARE NOT THE ACTUAL MEANINGS JUST MY INTERPRETATION!


The living end – Raise the alarm - White Noise (2008) Lyrics


Response:

The song raise the alarm is about the age old debate of religion.

The song gives an impression that the writer (Chris Cheney) is an atheist but the song is not about preaching his beliefs or trying to convert people into becoming atheists, the song is about him defending his beliefs and everyone else’s. Chris try’s to show that no matter what a persons beliefs are they’re still human and should not be treated or judged for their beliefs “I may not believe in God, It doesn't mean I'm a lesser person. I still have a heart”.

What I get out of this song is Chris is trying to show that though there are major differences in religion there is still also a lot of common ground, “I may not believe in Jesus, But I believe in sacrifice”, he wants us (the listeners) to realize that we shouldn’t be concentrating on those differences but the common ground that most of us stand on.

I feel Chris isn’t trying to say religion is an evil or bad thing but trying to state that we our selves as people should not be judged for our beliefs because it does not change the fact that we are all still people and that is not going to change.




The Living end – Wake Up – State of emergency (2006)

Response:
The song wake up is about today’s generation, and how we are completely brainwashed by the media, our government and even our schools. It’s about how what children are taught these days is not anything to help make the world better, but to make it worse and how modern society is more focused on materialism and peoples wants instead of the worlds needs.

The kids of today’s generation are not taught how to make the world better but are making it worse and eventually we are going to kill ourselves and our world hence the use of the word “suicidal” in the song. We are doing this our selves we are destroying our world and we are doing nothing about it, we are creating our own demise.

The songs most powerful point is the “wake up”. It’s as the line says telling us to WAKE UP. Telling us to see what is actually happening in the world and our government, so see all the lieing, deceiving and manipulation in the world and wake up to it.

In today’s society everyone is manipulating everyone, the governments manipulating its people, businesses’ manipulating people just to increase their power, we never hear of the corruption going on inside our government, politicians lie, history can be manipulated, hidden and changed all of this is going on around us but no one is waking up to the situation.

The main underlying message in the song is telling us to wake up before it’s too late, before there’s no turning back.



The living end – Tabloid Magazine – Modern Artillery (2003)

Response


The song tabloid magazine is about the media, and how we are deceived and fed “useless information”, rumours and just straight out lies and though the public know this, people still buy the magazines, people still read the articles and keep getting sucked in.

The song positions us to see the tabloids, and journalists in a negative light. It suggests to us that we can’t believe everything we read because the stories that may originally be written are edited and can be turned into a completely different story. The writers and editors don’t care about “truth” their main priority is making money and they will do anything to sell more copies just as the fist verse suggests, “Temperamental editors, searching for the passion, Overpaid and over-rated, Looking for a cash in”.

The second verse is directed at the journalists and about the extremes that they will go to just to get the “money shot”. It’s about how all the journalists are fighting to get the best picture, the one that will sell more magazine copies, which will then in return make them more money, because from a good enough picture almost any story can be made up. The song also shows how little morals journalists have. They’re invading people’s privacy, celebrities and famous people rarely will get a time out in public where they are not being photographed, but not only in public even their homes because the journalists will camp outside peoples homes just to get the “perfect” shot.

The bridge in the song “Everybody's reading, Everybody else's problems” is trying to show us that we shouldn’t be focusing on other peoples problems, not only because its nothing to do with us and a complete invasion of privacy, but also because there is bigger problems around us and that there are bigger problems in the world then just those focused around the “famous and wealthy”. It’s also trying to send a message to the public to try and break away from these magazines, and not be fooled and drawn in by them, but that’s the problem that they are always writing the stories to get us sucked in wether they be true or not. We (the public) have got to learn not to believe all read.



The living end – All Torn Down – The living End (1998)


Response:


The song All torn down is about the destruction, the tearing down and the complete disregard for historical landmarks buildings and sites in the world. Its about how the government has little to no concern about history being destroyed “Don't care if it's historic; don't really care at all”.

The government has little to no care about the preservation of historical sites and keeping our history remembered all that is cared about is the advancement of society. The population grows and grows, buildings are torn down, historical land marks are built on and all for public homes or new stores or something that the government will portray as being an “advancement in society”. I interpret this song in trying to show how little society cares about our history and its all about the ‘advancement’ in society ‘I see the city and it's grown into a big machine. The streets are freeways and the parks are just a memory’.

The song also try’s how there will never be such thing as a perfect world because everyone is different and a perfect world to someone could be a nightmare to another because everyone has different views and opinions ‘Both striving for a perfect world, Each having their own opinion’.

The living end are against the destruction and tearing down of historical buildings and landmarks and those are the views they are putting across to their listeners.

[Ben reed]

thats really good, you should get an A for it!

[paulvroc]

wow yeh good reading.
especially wake up!!!
for some reason i couldn't think of a meaning for that song, even though its pretty obvious.

god you gotta love songs like that...well put together, loud and full of emotion, with lyrics that really mean something. undoubtedly one of their all time best songs.

oh and another thing, you should consider putting those summaries on wikipedia, the single pages are so bare.
thats just me though, i'm a Wiki junkie.

[Pigmy]

Hehe thanks guys, really appreciate it and means alot coming from other TLE fans, i was really worried of getting flamed before i posted it :o

But thanks :)

Yeah its a great song Paul i was obssessed with it when it first came out absolutely loved it but the media absolutely flogged the shit out of it which kind of killed it for me and as for wikipedia...I dont think theyre that good hehe :P but thanks.

[Big J.G]

We did a music video analysis a while ago in english. I wish you wrote that up earlier so I could copy you...

I did mine on Roll On (pinball), I haven't gotten back my marks yet, but I think i did kind of shit.

[The Dying Start]

No reason to change your style now...

[r2jeeves]

No reason to change your style now...

Oh snap! :D

[Big J.G]

...look, i found a time machine in the toilet, it says that the world is gonna end in 10 hours! we need to evacuate to another country no one has ever seen before!

[Sarah]

....

are we absolutely certain Evil BJ isn't a spambot?

[lozzamouldy]

yeah, cos its his msn name too

[The Dying Start]

Lozza, I think your sarcasm detector needs a reboot.

[lozzamouldy]

yeah, i spilt my drink on it the other day, its fizzled out

[Big J.G]

My dad pointed out that White Noise has simmilar meanings to The Sound Of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel.

Hmm..

[Big J.G]

I could be reading too much into it, she could just be a criminal?

Maybe a sleasy hooker.