10 years later and this album still gives me goosebumps. There never be a band who creates such a emotion filled, suspenseful and moving scene..story. defeater is unmatched
I love the sound of the drums signifying the train getting closer and the song cutting off being the brother getting hit by the train. Such a cool song. Never heard music being used to tell a story in such a way.
Melissa Creasy Oh yeah. I know. :) This was posted when I was first discovering this band but I now own their full discography on vinyl and I've pre-ordered their upcoming album so I'm quite familiar.
LYRICS: Lost in your own head But then a knock at the door Put down that drink Your steps creaking the floor Go and get the gun Distract yourself from death Back against the door Your hands are starting to sweat Slowly cock the gun Slowly move to the side Slowly turn the handle Slowly open it wide Catch a glimpse of his face Your heart sinks in your chest Your hands start to shake Because you know it’s him Just the coward and you Standing silent, dead air So you pull him inside Into your father’s chair “Your mother is dead all thanks to you Her addiction got worse after you left, you damned fool What you did to our father, I promised you'd pay up I’m going to take your life, it don't feel like enough” Cold steel to his head, walk him to his death Walk him down past the white oak doors Walk him out past the boardwalk, your old shipyard Pistol in his side, make him pay On the outskirts of town, pass the quarry now Walk him down to those cold steel tracks You stumble drunk with the gun in his back “Now get down on your knees on the tracks where you shamed me But this time, the dodge ain’t going to end so pretty Either a bullet or that train steaming just ahead Is going to end your days, you coward little kid” You sit and you stir While he waits for his death You’ll never forgive him And you never did forget He'll never see the sun again Make him pay off his debt Stand on those tracks, cold steel under feet Barrel to his temple “Your addict mother, you will soon re-meet” Whisper in his ear, feel his whole body shake In an instant he’s got your arm, got your gun, held by his weight You feel the cold steel above and below Your stomach ties in knots as the train whistle blows Feel the warm of the blood where the barrel digs in From your cheek to your mouth, you taste the sweat and the tin You don’t cry, you don’t beg You’ve been waiting for this For the coward, or for death Just to see your wife again That train is so close, so loud and so clear Your hands stop shaking and it’s all that you hear "Just like father, you took him If this is how it’s going to be I’d rather die… at the hands… of my own… fami-”
The amount of tension and anxiety I still feel when I hear “Now get down on your knees…” is actually unbelievable. No other song has ever gripped me like this. Defeater forever. ❤️
For those wondering if the song is supposed to cut off at the end, indeed it is. Symbolizes the train hitting the brother, aka, the end of the narrative.
not many songs have impacted me as much as this one. first time i heard it i sat for about 30 minutes after blank faced with goosebumps just thinking about it. that ending hits you so damn hard. easily one of the best hardcore bands out there today.
Thank you defeater for concluding, travels, and incorporating lost ground. This is by far the best album i have ever heard in my life. My dad is 72 and he has heard everything and agrees that this is by far the best album he has ever heard... A 72 year old man knows Empty days & Sleepless Nights is the best album he has ever heard...
the feels I get everytime I hear this song.. damn man.. this whole album, no this band as a whole. just so much raw emotion in the music and the vocals. It's just done so right. hands down one of my top 5 favorites of all time
i was driving home late one night, pitch black out on the road, this song came on and no exaggeration i went into a trance where the music disapeared and it started playing out like a movie inside my head, i was so anamored by the words this guy was singing to me, when it ended i snapped back into reality, to be honest, best musical moment of my life, i will forever love this band
This is one of the best songs I've ever heard, with King Park from La Dispute and Smoke em' if you got em' from Parkway Drive Metal/hardcore music is life \m/
My music class required us to bring in a song we liked and write about its and stuff. OUr prof. had to play each song (small class). They got to this song and well, the reactions were odd. The prof. skipped the whole song basically. Like the musi c had no meaning. I understand they aren't used to the vocals, but if they'd just take the time to listen to the fucking lyrics and the beautiful story the music itsself paints, theyd appreciate it so much more. I had to talk about the song, and fools took me as some wierd emo kid for enjoying my hardcore. Fuck ignorance.
Marine for 12 years. Good shit! My friend which was a hardcore partier and ended up valedictorian is the only one that knows this shit! I've introduced this shit while in Okinawa. Be YOU and be HARD! Fuck your HS teachers and fellow students! You can do better than them they just hate life! Most likely anyways! Much respect to them though!
Same thing happened in my English class in high school! I used Cowardice as the song to play in class and after about 2 minutes the teacher said "I think we've had enough of this." and made me turn it off. I even gave enough the lyrics so they could follow along, but everyone pleaded ignorance saying they couldn't follow the lyrics if they can't understand the vocalist. I was pretty pissed, but nothing I could do.
TheKemmist I feel like if maybe they had the lyrics, they would appreciated it more. But im college and my room is full of more mature people, and a professor who has a knack for music he's never heard before. The thign that threw them off is that they oculdnt understand the screaming, which basically made it sound like awesome instrumental with gibberish to them. thats what my professor said about this song, he loved the instrumentals. Anyway, its not my loss, just thought i'd show some people a different kind of music than what they probably listen to. I tried :)
Still the best ending an album has ever had. if this song is you're first time encountering defeater and you're reading this, stop and listen to the whole album with lyrics!
This may be music...but its more than that...its art, passion, fury.....unbelievable swirling emotions...even if its not a true story...brings me back to the amazing story albums by armor for sleep and boys night out...truly outrageous
it is so important to read the lyrics for this album. This album and travels both tell the same story, about two brothers and their corrupt family. this album is told from the elder brothers point of view, and travels is told from the younger brothers point of view. The story is very grim and depressing, and the ending always sends chills down my spine. DEFEATER are so unique compared to any other hardcore band, in the way they write their lyrics and they way they perform acoustically as well.
I didn't realize the end of this song he gets hit by the train and the song ends. I've read the lyrics from the album beginning to end and my mind is seriously blown. Only a few bands have made me feel like this. LA dispute, armor for sleep, your best friend, and now defeater. Love them. Only bands I'd ever consider getting a tattoo for.
UGH I LOVE THIS I LOVE THE ENDING i was confused at first but then i saw the meaning in the top comment and it just makes it so perfect. fucking love this band new favorite.
Oh my God. The ending is so terrifying and so powerful. I feel like it rivals "Cowardice". I'm so glad this is a continuation of Travels. That album is so powerful. The fact that they make references to that album is haunting. I'm going to pick this album up ASAP.
I have such an amazing reaction to this. I do like hardcore music, but normally I would hate this type of "screaming." But as I was on the bus ride to the airport home from the championships I had in Ohio for drumline, I was listening to this album and I was just watching everyone singing and having fun, and it made me so happy. Pure ecstasy at that very moment. Great band, so glad I was told of the,.
I always thought that it would have been awesome if you could hear more clear the sound of the train at the end. Like the music will stop and all we can hear is the train passing by for 20 seconds. Imagine that....
I'd love to hear the rest of the song! Although it does create such intensity when it cuts out (when the train hits them) Pure beauty and poetry make this band!
Read the lyrics, it's a concept album. The build up to the cutoff has a man holding his brother down on the railway tracks at gunpoint waiting for a train to come to kill him but the brother overpowers him and they're both held down as the train comes closer and the cutoff is the point where the train hits and kills them both.
if only you listened to their first album travels and knew who the guys brother was that killed him in this song and his whole story, this album would be (sorry for my vocabulary) fucking amazing. also in their EP Lost Grounds, the character meets the brother in Travels. such a good band with great writing techniques. my four favorite bands will always the defeater, ruiner, trapped under ice and the early november (yes i know they arent "hardcore" but the rooms to cold is perfect)
Oh no for sure man. Makes sense. That mssg was a reply to your comment but it was for other people reading not directed at you. I understand what you are doing. thumbs up to you.
I haven't heard a version that's not cut off, so it's probably part of the story the song is telling. I just came to check to make sure I didn't get a weird download due to the cutoff haha
YES. Not a bad version, if anything, it's better. It's a conceptual album. It tells a story, take a closer listen. It cuts off because the train eventually reaches them. Listen to the lyrics, that rhythm, raw emotional screams, & layering. INTENSE.
Just realized how incredible this album, it only took me two years to get it... i still can't get into the acoustic tracks though. They don't grab me like "Prophet In Plain Clothes" did years ago
me, as a fan of almost any kind of music., find that hardcore (punk) comes at the same line as classical music. they are both genres where ALL emotions can be found. and esecialle Defeater does this.
@Maharoba judging by the lyrics... the older brother was held down onto the tracks by the younger brother, who held the gun to his head. "If this is how its going to be, then I would rather die at the hands of my own family." Its like he realised he would either die from the train or from his brother, and he prefered his brother... To me, that suggests that the younger brother shot him, which also explains the sudden ending. Dont understand the 10 minutes silence though...
Its actually from their older albums, continuing the story from the song forgiver and forgetter. check it out, it makes sense if you compare the lyrics. Fucking love this band.
