Old Soul Song (For the New World Order) Lyrics

Grey light, new day leaks through the window
An old soul song comes on the alarm clock radio
We walk the forty blocks to the middle
Of the place we heard that everything would be
And there were barricades to keep us off the street
But the crowd kept pushing forward
Until they swallowed the police

Yeah, they went wild
Yeah, they went wild
Yeah, they went wild
Yeah, they went wild

We left before the dust had time to settle
And all the broken glass swept off the avenue
And on the way home, held your camera like a bible
Just wishing so bad that it held some kind of truth
And I stood nervous next to you in the dark room
You dropped the paper in the water
And it all begins to bloom

Yeah, they go wild
Yeah, they go wild
Yeah, they go wild
Yeah, they go wild

And just when I get so lonesome I can't speak
I see some flowers on a hillside
Like a wall of new TVs
Yeah, they go wild
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Cover art for Old Soul Song (For the New World Order) lyrics by Bright Eyes

does none of u people see the 9/11 references ("we left before the dust had time to settle" etc.) Most of the new songs are related to New York as well.

And the real songtitle is: Old Soul Song (FOR THE NEW WORLD ORDER)

I went to see him in NYC last week and he said it was about 9/11 but there are tons references like you said

Not Valid
Cover art for Old Soul Song (For the New World Order) lyrics by Bright Eyes

"Grey like new day leaks through the window and some old song comes on the alarm clock radio. You walk the forty blocks to the middle of the place. We heard where everything would be and there was barracades to keep us off the street, but the crowd kept pushing forward until they swallowed the police. Yeah, they went wild.

We left before the dust had time to settle and all the broken glass swept off the avenue. On the way home I held your camera like a bible, wishing so bad that it held some kind of truth. And I stood nervous next to you in the dark room, you dropped the paper in the water and it all begins to bloom. Yeah, they go wild.

Just when I get so lonesome I can't speak, I see some flowers on a hill side, like a wall of new TVs. Yeah, they go wild. "

I'm not really sure how to explicate this song, but I'll damn well take a guess.

The first verse- He talks about the new day (a recurrent theme throughout the album), then overpowering the 'controlling force', the police (I think this has to do with the other theme on the album, that war is stupid and childish. Maybe. ). They just got tired of being repressed.

Second verse- They leave the place when it's all still a mess. I think the think about the camera and the bible is somewhat of a mockery of religion. He knows that the camera will hold something that really happened, where as the bible is all BS. So his longing for truth is fulfilled in the darkroom where "it all begins to bloom"- the photos coming up on the paper. I really think that verse is all about losing religion, and him knowing that truths are found in concrete evidence and not in faith.

Third verse- Not much there, but it's lovely. He says he's "so lonely [he] can't speak", but then he sees flowers on a hillside, symbolizing hope.

As for the choruses of "they go wild", I think it's just all about being released (from the government, religion, and depression [stated in the verses, respectively]) and finally being free.

I think it's absolutely wonderful.

Cover art for Old Soul Song (For the New World Order) lyrics by Bright Eyes

I always like to imagine that this song takes place during Orwell's 1984. Everything is just a little dirty and a little cold and a little grey, and there's that lonesome aching in the bones that tells you you've been dealt some great injustice, but you can't remember things being any different.

And the guy holds his camera like a bible because beauty is so rare in those days! Not even beauty, just... secrecy, being able to have something un-inspected and un-fuddled. You know? Something organic. It's sacred and special and he's careful with it.

In a world like that, art would be the first little step towards fighting the man. Photography, holding truth, could make the people realize they've been cheated out of their lives, and... yeah. So they're just huddled there in the dark room, clutching their sacred vessels of change, probably scared silly and about to do something totally epic.

But then it flashes back to the present or back to reality, and the main character has only been day-dreaming that he could have rebelled. But he has still won, sort of, because he knows that he has been cheated; and also because there are beautiful things like flowers in the world--which he compares to bright and colorful new TVs because that is the closest to flowers that anyone from 1984 can get--if he could only find his camera and show the public their motivation!

Cover art for Old Soul Song (For the New World Order) lyrics by Bright Eyes

"On the way home I held your camera like a bible, wishing so bad that it held some kind of truth. And I stood nervous next to you in the dark room, you dropped the paper in the water and it all begins to bloom. Yeah, they go wild"

just lovely!

This song seems to take place over the course of one day. He wakes up when the alarm sounds. Then, he is walking with someone to a place in an inner city. whatever this place is, there are barricades to keep everything orderly. what ends up happening instead of order is chaos and everyone going wild. this sounds like a new york city protest.

then, he and this other person decide to leave before it is completely over, or before the location's original order is restored. many people believe that their bible holds the ultimate truth, whatever that truth is....

Not Valid
Cover art for Old Soul Song (For the New World Order) lyrics by Bright Eyes

i don't really know what this song is about, but i have to comment on it because its wonderful, lol

Cover art for Old Soul Song (For the New World Order) lyrics by Bright Eyes

i think this song is about all the crappy things in life being seen a different way, in a different light. even when things go bad, people revolt against the "badness" and find something better.

Cover art for Old Soul Song (For the New World Order) lyrics by Bright Eyes

I love the way this song is a memory and possesses the qualities of memory so well: time in a memory is not linear-the first 2 sentences are 'present' then it becomes 'past'. We often attach memories to a strong sensory experience- leading to the importance of the 'old soul song'. But memories dont count so much in the 'real world'- hence the photos' importance. I guess the scene at the start is the Seattle riots. Not quite sure about the 'wall of new tvs' - twice in the song he compares pictures to flowers (the photos bloom and the tvs are flowers). Cant say i ever think of tvs when i see flowers.

Cover art for Old Soul Song (For the New World Order) lyrics by Bright Eyes

this song is one of conor's most amazing pieces i've heard, and i've heard everything. amazingly he compares wild flowers to new tvs, i love that symbolism.<p><b><i>Edited by mellow_harsher on July 9 2006, at 04:36PM</i></b></p>

Cover art for Old Soul Song (For the New World Order) lyrics by Bright Eyes

he actually says "like a war on your tv"

Cover art for Old Soul Song (For the New World Order) lyrics by Bright Eyes

or "a war on new tvs" or something. something about a war on tv definetly