ANBERLIN paraphrased meanings & actual lyrics.

less confusion, more explanation.

[anberlinlyrics]

LOWBORN

The title comes from Psalms 62:9, it feels the entire chapter sums up our existence, and our existence in the band. The album cover is the brainchild of Nathan Young and Jordan Butcher.

The title is a mantra that we as ANBERLIN have always tried to adhere to, we never wanted to be 'rock stars' we never wanted people to think that we thought of ourselves as better than anyone. We hope that we were more than just a band, we hope in the end that we are considered friends; I felt this was the perfect message to leave out on. 

Follow me places: Twitter.com/stephenanberlin Facebook.com/stephenchristian Instagram.com/stephenchristian

[anberlinlyrics]

WE ARE DESTROYER

We’re creatures of indecision

Easily undone

Caught inside collisions

Under a dying sun

Take our time for granted

Entitled in this life

Entertain us now

were owed everything in site

Give us what we want

But we don’t to earn

Give us what we think we need

But we don’t want to work

In just a matter of minutes

just a matter of time

we could lose it all

we could lose ourselves

If all we are is just

What we want then

We are the

Destroyers

  stop to take it in

think it through now

tread light on

our future

If all we are is just

What we want then

We are the

Destroyers

  You see tomorrow’s ours

It’s all for the taking here

Only the valiant survive

To live a better year

Shut up and actually try

No one can help us now

Its us against the tide

And will be till we die

No one gives you what you want

don’t get what you don’t earn

can’t have what you need

only what you deserve

  In just a matter of minutes

just a matter of time

we could lose it all

we could lose it all  

If all we are is just

What we want

We are the

Destroyers

stop & take it in

think it through now

tread light on

our future

If all we are is just

What we want then

We are the

Destroyers

We can let circumstances rule us, or we can take charge and rule our lives from within. -E.N.

We create our own destiny, I understand that some people are going to have much harder times than others, and that no two lives are alike. Yet, I have seen with my own eyes those who start with nothing and end up successful in their own rite.

I see more and more people that feel entitled, they seemingly feel they do not have to work for what they desire; entertainment outlets show them success stories of people who became famous for absolutely no reason. They think the government or society owes them something for just existing. Its not true. You are owed nothing buy a chance to work hard. 

With the same two hands that build empires, they can also destroy. Your character and reputation can be destroyed in seconds. Everything you worked so hard for can be leveled with poor decision making. 

If all you are is just what you want then you are the destroyer.

[anberlinlyrics]

ARMAGEDDON

  i can hurt like nobody else trust me now i can find a way to bleed

i can find a way

  i feel pain like nobody has don’t trust me now i can find a way to leave

i try to find my escape

  in deeper now can you tell what’s real

  and arson starts to take what arson wants what arson

because i found my own way to a personal hell

and i beat myself up for the things i’ve made

and i tell myself lies to pretend  I have havent failed

  i’ve started my, my own armageddon 

no one else to blame for this world war 3 

i built this city just to bring it to its knees

  I’ll face my mistakes the price i will pay

I’ve started my i am my own armageddon

  You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself. That is something you have charge of. -J.R.

 I think taking responsibility for your actions is a lost art, we try our best to find someone to blame. We blame our parents, our teachers, our circumstances but at the end of the day we have in our thoughts the power of life and death. 

This song is owning up to my own mistakes, and accepting the fact that with making mistakes comes consequences; however, it also comes with the opportunity to course correct and become a person of character. 

[anberlinlyrics]

STRANGER WAYS

locking eyes a waining glance

mistook chance of adding meaning to the words forever

broken silence defiance, misspoke turn

will i see you again if ever

  cmon and leave me here on a vagabond throne

wondering the night alone

right now you’re over there in a social club state

pondering the why, why are we alone

  a little bit closer to finding the real you

little bit closer to finding the truth

stranger things have happened

stronger men have answered

a little bit closer to loving you

depth defying i’m lying

if I didn’t tell you, you keep me up awake at night

is it alright if I call you lover even though we don’t know

each other, and probly never will

  would you stay with me

here in my dreams if I promised you this heaven

  would you take a chance

on a make believe dance

close my eyes and were together

stranger things have happened

stronger men have answered

a little bit closer defining the real you

little bit closer defining the truth

  a little bit closer to holding you

a little bit closer to knowing you

a little bit closer to touching you

One of the guys in the band didn’t like this song, he wanted me to rewrite the lyrics and melodies, I just couldn’t do it. The song was so subconsciously ideal, I felt it matched the mood of the music that was given to me.

I imagined someone who simply watched someone from afar, never confident enough to approach the person and simply have a conversation. Instead of dreaming with the person, they simply resign to dream of the person. 

The title will only be known to those at AP.NET

'right now you're over there in a social club state' was supposed to be Right now you're over there in a Pinewood Social Club state (because its one of my favorite places in Nashville) but when I tried to sing it it was way to wordy. 

 The video for this song was done by Daniel Davidson, and is perhaps my favorite video we have ever done. The meaning behind the video is so perfect as a last video. Good job Nathan. 

[anberlinlyrics]

VELVET COVERED BRICK

cyclical, stuck inside a never ending ride

but you’re comfortable just another decomposing alibi

  sing yourself to sleep

count the days gone by

but outside your walls passes real life

  so heres the velvet covered brick

death comes to us all to quick

heres your chance to live but i heard you say

  we’re heading nowhere

its my cross to bear

even horizons can change

hope said she’s never estranged

there aren’t wings or even a prayer

if i’m heading nowhere

  turbulence, am i causing you to think outside yourself, for once

you’re still comfortable

dissolving years like no one else before

  i said lead the way you are  lead your way through this

but fear and fail has made you its passive its captive

  so heres the velvet covered brick

death comes to us all to quick

heres your chance to love but i heard you scream

  we’re heading nowhere

its my cross to bear

even horizons can fade

hope said she’s never estranged

there aren’t wings or a prayer

if we’re heading nowhere

  Painfully, I was an introvert in Middle & High School, in my Senior yearbook I had 5 people sign it because honestly I didn’t have more than 5 friends at any given moment. 

I hated going to school, I dreaded every social encounter. At lunch I go through the line then take my food off the tray then walk to the library where I would sit & eat by myself most days. 

I was so scared of failure that I never tried, It seized up my entire life. I never felt good enough, inferiority was more than a complex it was a way of life. 

A lot changed after that, I found God at 18. I spent two months on a mission trip in the Ukraine. I found friends. I started a band a year later. I found confidence.

It dawned on me one day: Who cares if I fail, I am going to try. I am going to try everything I have ever wanted to do even if I fall flat on my face. The day is too short to spend the night with regrets. 

I applied for college, I started a side project, I wrote a book, I started a non profit, & pursued my MBA. I am not here to boast; the side project never sold many records, the book wasn’t that great, the non profit folded into another one. However, success to me is not measured in numerical algorithms, I think one succeeds the moment they conquer their demons & fears and simply try. 

This song is about how it felt to be held back by insecurities and fear, and a warning to those who live out their days in its grip. Remember, hope said she is never estranged.

[anberlinlyrics]

ATONEMENT

I’ve seen faces I may never see again

I’ve been places I never could have dreamt

I’ve touched hands with those who touched me

Seen the marks of a skeleton keys

  I found peace in a foreign atonement

I lost myself in tides of a moment

but nothing compares

  Dont want to be here

Dont want to be here without you

I need to know you believe me

  What’s it worth, if what’s its worths alone

somebody tell me now

And what’s the point if all the points lead home.

Somebody show me out

I’ve loved where I’ve lived yes I’ve loved where I’ve been

but my hearts where I’m going.

  Dont want to be here

Dont want to be here without you

I need to know you

I need to know you believe in me

  Cause I don’t want to go it alone

I don’t want to do this on my own

We can ride into the sun

together we can take it worldwide with you beside

  I don’t want to go it alone.

  This song is self explanatory, I needed a way to show my gratitude to all those who have listened, loved, or touched our lives. I want to make sure that those who follow ANBERLIN realize that this decision had nothing to do with chaos or turmoil within the band, It was those outside the band who become our passion. 

Seen the marks of skeleton keys is referring to those who have ANBERLIN tattoos; to me that has become one of the highest forms of compliments ever. I wish I could do more than add a simple line in a song to say thank you. 

[anberlinlyrics]

BIRDS OF PREY

stuttering machine

iron moving fast

you want to go back in time

and try to change the past

answers in the math

science on your side

whats the worst that could happen

when two worlds collide

  and it all ends the same 

memories circle

like birds of prey

waiting for the right mind

to drive insane

don’t look back

theres nothing to see

regret is nothing more than

a toxic disease

  why even play those games

whats the point to entertain

all the best mistakes

will always have last names

  bridge:

actors take their places

your thoughts dance on stage

the curtains they are closing

on a role you can’t sustain

This song is a story of a person who longs to create a time machine to fix all their past mistakes; I think we all have those thoughts, but all they are is thoughts. 

But what if you could? What would it accomplish? It seems we learn more from our failures than we do our successes. It feels like we need to stumble in order to learn how not to fall in the future. 

If you let regret just hover it will begin to eat you alive, bitterness will devour, and who do these thoughts hurt? Not those who hurt you… these cancerous memories only end up killing you, and no one else. 

[anberlinlyrics]

DISSENTER

Pioneers get the arrows.

You know I’ll be known at the gates

Bring your skull to me

For so long I’ve dreamt of this moment

It couldn’t come soon enough

I’d stay awake and dream

And replay every word you said you mean

For so long I’ve wanted for this

And now it’s finally here

This song has more stories than I care to share here, but three stand out. I had no idea that this song was going to be recorded until I got in the studio with Aaron Sprinkle to record vocals. I knew Christian liked it but didn’t know that everyone had voted it on the record. 

The original demo was actually me just yelling words from a book I was reading at the time and was originally titled ‘The decapitation of Dennis P. while he is trying to think for a second time’. 

In light of the above I wrote (the majority of the) lyrics & sang this the last day of recording. I could have spent more time on melody lines and lyrics but for me it was punk rock at its finest. This song was not going to be a ‘single’ nor was it going to be the standout track on the record so I just let it happen. 

[anberlinlyrics]

LOSING IT ALL

Not sure what tomorrow brings

Not sure why a cage bird sings

Don’t ask cause I don’t know

No idea just where to go

  High hopes and higher dreams

May not have everything

I promise to be good

I’ll be good to you

  Hard work and harder times

As long as you say you are mine

We’ll see the other side together

  Its not losing it all if we have each other

In the end its all that matter

If we take this chance

And it falls to pieces

In the end you’re all that matters.

My my oh no

Don’t have much money to show

Don’t care don’t cry

Wipe that mascara from your eyes

  i know, you’ll see

We’ve just got to believe

In you in me we make our own destiny

Its not losing it all if we have each other

In the end its all that matter

If  we take this chance

And it falls to pieces

In the end you’re all that matters.

  How could I

Say goodbye

We’ve come too far to turn back now.

Who are we

Without each other

To intwined to untangle now.

This song is for all the dreamers, those that sacrifice for the their goals. Those who work two jobs to pay for University, those who leave friends and family behind to explore a promising future, those who view financial woes as just a marker that they are one step closer, and for those significant others that stand behind us every step of the way. 

I know that this will be the most underrated song on the record, perhaps in our catalog. Even some of the guys wish it wasn’t on the record; for me its one of my favorites. It reminds me of the ‘pop’ songs we used to write. 

[anberlinlyrics]

Hearing Voices

I feel lost

Conflicting thoughts course through

Clarity she’s gone took everything I thought I knew

  Everyone wants to see heaven but no one wants to say goodbye

Everyone wants to see heaven but no one wants to die

  Can’t explain this feeling there's a void inside

Can’t escape this feeling how can I deny

  I hear voices in my head

Choices, I can’t contend

I hear voices and they all know your name

& they all know your name

Trapped inside a cell that I built myself

Felt so very empty cold dark and lost

Everyone wants to (know) God but they're afraid of what they'll find

Everybody wants to know God but they want to live like he died.

Can’t explain this feeling there's a void inside

When the spirit moves you how can you deny

I hear voices in my head

Choices, I can’t contend

I hear voices and they all know your name

& they all know your name

I feel It all

I feel it all around

I heard it call

It doesn’t make a sound

Voice in my head

never seems to leave

I know your there

I know your here with me

Can’t escape the Ghost

When the Ghost is not dead

This song is about my faith, and the humbling experience that a God powerful enough to create the universe still has time to communicate to me through others, his Word, and (for me) signs & wonders. 

I wanted to call this song Voices but since that was Saosin's big song I thought it better to change it at the last second. 

[anberlinlyrics]

HARBINGER

Comes a time in everyone’s life

We pain to feel free

Fall asleep now calming leaders

Be who you want to be

  We’ll live forever, we’ll come together

I don’t want to go now but I know I’ve got to

For you to remember me in this light

  So many changes taking places

We need to walk away

With all these reasons, time, and seasons

We need who we would bleed for

  We’ll live forever, we’ll come together

I don’t want to go now but I know I’ve got to

For you to remember me in this light

  Look back with a lighter soul…

I wanted to put into lyrics and song my reason for leaving, I know everyone in the band has a different outlook as to why they feel they need to walk away from the band but as the lyricist I have the luxury to put to music everything I am thinking. 

The name for Lowborn was actually supposed to be Harbinger, but Nate & Jordan Butcher thought it looked too close to the word Hamburger. Which would have a been a great title as well. 

[anberlinlyrics]

LOWBORN JULY 22, 2014

[anberlinlyrics]

VITAL

There are different reasons I chose this title; first we wanted to create a record that when people looked back in time at Anberlin they would choose this record to show their friends as a summation of who we were as a band. The lyrics, the music, the instrumentation- we wanted it all to be simply quintessential 'Anberlin'.

Finally, I think this was an urgent time for Anberlin, a turning point. We had no idea what was going to happen next in our careers which is the first time we had ever been unsure in our history as a band. The winds had begun to shift and the sense of urgency began to set in; the title 'Vital' fit perfectly to me.  

[anberlinlyrics]

SELF STARTER

Last night rolled over beside my bed That sort of madness could leave us dead Our eyes deceive we were on fire Mistook for love and love desire I still can't feel nothing Just want to, want to hold something Tell me again what's real? Tell me again what to feel. Why do you stay until you see blood? Why does the weight fall upon us? We're on the same side in the same war Why stay til you see blood? Where are we that we digress Long for love but then undress Our hands no bounds, our hearts detached We grasp for all that will not last I still can't feel nothing Just want to, want to hold something Tell me again what's real? Tell me again what to feel.

Why do you stay until you see blood? Why does the weight fall upon us? We're on the same side in the same war Why stay til you see blood? Fall Falter on my chest Feel Failure to progress This song is about attempting to overcome a mutual vice with someone you are in a relationship with. It seems humanity as a whole is prone to pulling each other down, and we usually assimilate with whom we choose to spend the most time with. 

We become callused to our own sin, immune to our shortcomings. We continue to indulge and soon it is a routine and part of our character. For the weak (all of us) we need something beyond ourselves to pull us out of the hole we have dug. 

Overcome.

[anberlinlyrics]

LITTLE TYRANTS

Soft spoken, straight forward Tell me all the ways in which you feel So broken lying helpless, can you even tell me what's for real Great divine, great divide, great divine Am I alive, somebody tell me, am I alive? You are the king of an island of one Alone in a world that lost it's only black sun You are the king of an island of one Lil' tyrant soon to come undone Well all hail the king No motives just cover Justify the things that come to mind All pictures no color All the wrong that you think you've made right Dead inside, yours is mine, dead inside Are you alive? Somebody help me, are you alive? You are the king of an island of one Alone in a world that lost it's only black sun You are the king of an island of one Lil' tyrant soon to come undone Well all hail the king This song is about self centered people who have isolated themselves on an island of superiority. It makes no sense to me to think yourself better than someone else, this archaic life only leads to a life where you end up with no friends or loved ones on your death bed. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves. 

Black sun is a reference to Black Hole Sun by Soundgarden.

[anberlinlyrics]

OTHER SIDE

Solitary views, of the other side of a plane we've yet to know, Will we ever get the chance to walk alone? In this life, or when we find out that we're home. What will we hear there? Love me! Love me! Why don't you know me? Know me? Hold me! Hold me! And you trust me, trust me! Inhabitations through, I can finally forget a past you say you never knew. I reach my hands to the sky! Love me! Love me! Why don't you know me? Know me? Hold me! Hold me! And you trust me, trust me! There's a time and a place. An unknown region of space. I can meet you all there. Throw your arms in the air. Hands towards the sky, and you'll hear.

Love me! Love me! Why don't you know me? Know me? Hold me! Hold me! And you trust me, trust me!

This song is about crossing the great unknown beyond death and a Savior who is waiting for me on the other side. 

[anberlinlyrics]

SOMEONE ANYONE

Thought we were past this Thought we moved on But I guess I was wrong Do we not learn from mistakes? Do we not have what it takes? Are you the cure or disease? Do you still take as you please Are you the cure? Or are you the disease? Someone, someone tell me what we’re fighting for Anyone, anyone, anyone can start a war No one can walk away, no one can walk away truly alive Someone, someone, tell me why we need this Anyone, anyone, anyone can start a war No one can walk away, no one can walk away truly alive Forward we find, yesterday’s gone And I hope that I’m wrong If we don’t learn from their past We’ll repeat their history, oh, at last Are you with us or without? Scene is set but fading out Are with us, well are you with us? Someone, someone tell me what we’re fighting for Anyone, anyone, anyone can start a war No one can walk away, no one can walk away truly alive Someone, someone, tell me why we need this Anyone, anyone, anyone can start a war No one can walk away, no one can walk away truly alive Are you the cure or disease? Do you still take as you please? Are you the cure? Or are you the disease? Someone, someone tell me what we’re fighting for Anyone, anyone, anyone can start a war No one can walk away truly alive, truly alive Someone, someone tell me what we’re fighting for Anyone, anyone, anyone can start a war No one can walk away, no one can walk away truly alive Someone, someone, tell me why we need this. I don’t see a reason, tell me why we need a reason

I am tired of war, I feel as a global society we should have evolved past this but sadly we haven't. There are many other places online where I go into detail about the song so that being said I absolutely support the men and women who serve in our Armed Forces who defend this country; because of them we can sleep better tonight knowing there is someone out there who is willing to lay down their lives so we might live ours in peace and freedom.