A song that's unusually grounded in reality by my standards!
I think the chorus for this one might have been started as long ago as 2008 under a song called "The Race" (and that chorus was eventually pushed off to the outro, so it's a completely different song from how it started). It wasn't until it came together with the introduction that I realized I'd written I Want Out.
It's probably very easy to tell what this is about - it seems to end on rather a hopeless note, but that's about as optimistic as I can get since moving to America. Despite that it's much happier than my recent music and is probably one of my less serious offerings overall. I would have liked to have said something more profound with the icon, but I couldn't find the image that I remembered and nothing else really came to mind.
The pre-chorus section "It takes so long to teach them what they never want to learn, turn your back on the fire and you'll burn" is more or less a direct quotation from a prominent American politician. I wish I could remember who it was.
Lyrics
The country's broken, and they know just who's to blame
They tell you lies and want a mark next to their name
Trust in your brainless fear and gullibility
To make you see what they tell you to see
The donkey and the elephant
The rose and crayon tree
Choosing which of their lies you will believe
And the race goes on forever
As we try to best ourselves
One side spreads lies and hate and fear
The other wants to save the world
Every time the dance began
A new face took the stage
But the future refused to change
So grab your flag, we'll march together to the square
No need for reason cause we all know why we're here
They'll change their minds about us when they see our words
Who cares what all the others say, we'll scream until we're heard
It takes so long to teach them
What they never want to learn
Turn your back on the fire
And you'll burn
And the race goes on forever
As we try to best ourselves
One side spreads lies and hate and fear
The other wants to save the world
One will stand above the rest
And promise hope and change
But turn out to be just as strange
Sit back with covered ears
You'll make them king of all the world
Turn your back on the fire
And you'll burn
And the race goes on forever
As we try to best ourselves
One side spreads lies and hate and fear
The other wants to save the world
Every time the dance began
A new face took the stage
But the future refused to change
And steadfast we will stand divided
Cause united we would fall
Still we live, side by side
Just as long as we're alive
And the future will never change