The Sufferer & The Witness
Rise Against
2006 ReleasedUpvote Your Favorite Album Today!
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Digging into The Sufferer & The Witness - what's your favorite track or standout moment? 🤘
1
Chamber the Cartridge
03 : 34
2
Injection
03 : 19
3
Ready to Fall
03 : 47
4
Bricks
01 : 30
5
Under the Knife
02 : 45
6
Prayer of the Refugee
03 : 19
7
Drones
03 : 01
8
The Approaching Curve
03 : 44
9
Worth Dying For
03 : 20
10
Behind Closed Doors
03 : 15
11
Roadside
03 : 21
12
The Good Left Undone
04 : 10
13
Survive
03 : 40
14
Built to Last
01 : 53
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Track Lyrics
Chamber the Cartridge Lyrics
[Verse 1]
Down beyond these city streets through gutters filled with black debris
In alleys void of any light where nameless things live out of sight
Down through the scrapers of the sky past neon words glowing all night
Echoes my name between each car, “Are you happy where you are?”
[Pre-Chorus]
Blind to this impending fate
We'll let the world carry our weight
It's back breaks with every mile
But we all live in denial
[Chorus]
Can we be saved, has the damage all been done?
Is it too late to reverse what we've become?
A lesson to learn at a crucial point in time
What's mine was always yours, and yours is mine
[Bridge]
Let's go!
[Verse 2]
And so we carry on each day as if our lives are not so grey
While every breath that we take, we only suffocate
Brush past a myriad of scenes a homeless vet crashed
On Wall Street, a single mom of three, a TV personality
[Pre-Chorus]
I'm blind to this impending fate
We'll let the world carry their weight
Its back breaks with every mile
But they all live in denial
[Chorus]
Can we be saved, has the damage all been done?
Is it too late to reverse what we've become?
A lesson to learn at a crucial point in time
What's mine was always yours, and yours is mine
[Bridge]
Save us from what we have become tonight
Eyes glazed with distrust, no sense of wrong or right
Save us from what we have become tonight
Eyes glazed with distrust, no sense of wrong or right
Save us from what we have become tonight
Eyes glazed with distrust, no sense of wrong or right
[Chorus]
Can we be saved, has the damage all been done?
Is it too late to reverse what we've become?
A lesson to learn at a crucial point in time
What's mine was always yours, and yours is mine
Injection Lyrics
[Verse 1]
You spend your days counting the hours you're awake
And when night covers the sky you find yourself doing the same
It's a burden you've been burying in spite of all your prayers
As the light turns off inside your heart can you remember
What it's like to care?
Knees are weak, hands are shaking, I can't breathe
[Chorus]
So give me the drug, keep me alive
Give me what's left of my life
Don't let me go
Pull this plug, let me breath
On my own I'm finally free
Don't let me go
[Verse 2]
The trail of crumbs you left somehow got lost along the way
If you never meant to leave then you only had to stay
With the memories that haunt us, I cherish just the same
As the ones that bring us closer to the sky, no matter how grave
Yet I fall through these clouds and she's screaming
[Chorus]
So give me the drug, keep me alive
Give me what's left of my life
Don't let me go
Pull this plug, let me breath
On my own I'm finally free
Don't let me go
[Verse 3]
This grip loosens but it never breaks
We carry nothing but a name you will forsake
Your words are always there to break my fall
And now I find the comfort to see through it all
[Bridge]
Guide me through uncharted waters
Before we lose our way again
Will you be my compass
Until forever, until forever ends
Knees are weak, hands are shaking, I can't breathe
[Chorus]
So give me the drug, keep me alive
Give me what's left of my life
Don't let me go
Pull this plug, let me breath
On my own I'm finally free
Don't let me go
[Outro]
Don't let me go
Ready to Fall Lyrics
[Verse 1]
Hold on slow down again from the top now and tell me everything
I know I've been gone for what seems like forever
But I'm here now waiting
To convince you that I'm not a ghost or a stranger
But closer than you think
She said just go on
To what you pretend is your life
But please don't die on me
[Pre-Chorus]
Wings won't take me
Heights don't faze me
So take a step
But don't look down
Take a step
[Chorus]
Now I'm standing on the rooftop, ready to fall
I think I'm at the edge now but I could be wrong
I'm standing on the rooftop, ready to fall
[Verse 2]
Perpetual motion, the image won't focus
A blur is all that's seen
But here in this moment like the eye of a storm
It all came clear to me
I found a shoulder to lean on
An infallible reason to live all by itself
I took one last look from the heights that I once loved
And then I ran like hell
[Pre-Chorus]
Wings won't take me
Heights don't faze me
So take a step
But don't look down
Take a step
[Chorus]
Now I'm standing on the rooftop, ready to fall
I think I'm at the edge now but I could be wrong
I'm standing on the rooftop, ready to fall
[Bridge]
I count the times that I've been sorry
I know, I know
Now my compassion slowly drowns
I know, I know
If there's a time these walls could guard you
I know, I know
Then let that time be right now
[Chorus]
Now I'm standing on the rooftop
Now I'm standing on the rooftop, ready to fall
I'm standing on the rooftop, ready to fall
I think I'm at the edge now but I could be wrong
I'm standing on the rooftop, ready to fall
[Outro]
Now I'm standing on the rooftop (Ready to fall)
Now I'm standing on the rooftop (Ready to fall)
Now I'm standing on the rooftop (Ready to fall)
Now I'm standing on the rooftop, ready to fall
Bricks Lyrics
[Verse 1]
When faith alone is not enough
To keep our heads barely above
We look for reason and come up empty-handed
And when our children fight our wars
While we sit back just keeping score
We're teaching murder not understanding now
[Chorus]
We're setting the fires to light the way
We're burning it all to begin again
With hope in our hearts and bricks in our hands
We sing for change
[Verse 2]
The lives our buried sons have laid
Will cancel debts we've yet to pay
How could we justify anything now
As long as we blindly obey and do exactly what they say
We'll have no one to blame but ourselves now
[Chorus]
We're setting the fires to light the way
We're burning it all to begin again
With hope in our hearts and bricks in our hands
We sing for change
[Bridge]
We run on the fumes of injustice
We'll never die with the fuel that you give us
Keep it coming cause I'm prepared to burn
Keep running from me at every turn
Your life around
(Into something true, into something true)
So turn your life around
(Into something true, something true)
[Chorus]
We're setting the fires to light the way
We're burning it all to begin again
With hope in our hearts and bricks in our hand
We sing for change
Under the Knife Lyrics
[Verse 1]
Wake me up inside
Tell me there's a reason
To take another step
To get up off my knees and
Follow this path of most resistance
And wherever it takes us
Whatever it faces and wherever it leads
[Chorus]
So wake me when it's through
I don't want to feel the things that you do (the things that you do)
Don't worry I'll be fine
I just don't want this dream, wake me up inside
[Verse 2]
Something for the pain, just to kill this feeling
Although we look awake, inside we're all still sleeping
I've spent my time here alive, but barely there
Do you believe we'll ever make it?
Do you think we'll ever really see?
[Chorus]
So wake me when it's through
I don't want to feel the things that you do (the things that you do)
Don't worry I'll be fine
I just don't want this dream, wake me up inside
[Bridge]
Wake me up inside
These dreams all die if we let them
Wake me up inside
Today won't start if we just give in
(Cause you'll be anything)
[Outro]
Just wake me when it's through
I don't want to feel the things that you do (the things that you do)
Don't worry I'll be fine
I just don't want this dream, wake me up inside
Prayer of the Refugee Lyrics
[Verse 1]
Warm yourself by the fire, son
And the morning will come soon
I'll tell you stories of a better time
In a place that we once knew
Before we packed our bags
And left all this behind us in the dust
We had a place that we could call home
And a life no one could touch
[Chorus]
Don't hold me up now
I can stand my own ground
I don't need your help now
You will let me down, down, down
Don't hold me up now (Oh, oh, oh, oh)
I can stand my own ground
I don't need your help now
You will let me down, down, down, down
[Verse 2]
We are the angry and the desperate
The hungry and the cold
We are the ones who kept quiet
And always did what we were told (Oh, oh, oh)
But we've been sweating while you slept so calm in the safety of your home
We've been pulling out the nails that hold up everything you've known
[Chorus]
Don't hold me up now
I can stand my own ground
I don't need your help now
You will let me down, down, down
Don't hold me up now (Oh, oh, oh, oh)
I can stand my own ground
I don't need your help now
You will let me down, down, down
[Bridge]
So open your eyes, child, let's be on our way (Hey, hey)
Broken windows and ashes are guiding the way (Hey, hey)
Keep quiet no longer, we'll sing through the day (Hey, hey)
Of the lives that we've lost and the lives we've reclaimed
Go
[Guitar Solo]
[Chorus]
Don't hold me up now
I can stand my own ground
I don't need your help now
You will let me down, down, down
Don't hold me up now (Oh, oh, oh, oh)
I can stand my own ground
I don't need your help now
You will let me down, down, down
[Outro]
Don't hold me up (I don't need your help, I'll stand my ground)
Don't hold me up (I don't need your help)
No, no, no
Don't hold me up (I don't need your help, I'll stand my ground)
Don't hold me up (I don't need your help, I'll stand my ground)
Don't let me down, down, down, down, down
Drones Lyrics
[Verse 1]
Deep inside these burning buildings
Voices die to be heard
Years we spent teaching a lesson
We ourselves had never learned
And if strength is born from heartbreak
Then mountains I could move
And if walls could speak I'd pray
That they would tell me what to do
[Chorus]
If you see me, please just walk on by, walk on by
Forget my name and I'll forget it too (Simple lives)
Failed attempts at living simple lives, simple lives
Are what keep me coming back to you
[Verse 2]
No signs of life here, save the embers, the occasional flame
We'd know the way but can't remember, conception to the grave
Shout confessions from the greatest heights, where no one can hear
All my fears, my insecurities are falling like tears
[Chorus]
If you see me, please just walk on by, walk on by
Forget my name and I'll forget it too (Simple lives)
Failed attempts at living simple lives, simple lives
Are what keep me coming back to you
[Bridge]
The drones all slave away, they're working overtime
They serve a faceless queen, they never question why
Disciples of a god, that neither lives nor breathes
(I won't come back!)
But we have bills to pay, yeah, we have mouths to feed!
(I won't come back!)
I won't come back!
[Chorus]
If you see me, please just walk on by, walk on by
Forget my name and I'll forget it too (Simple lives)
Failed attempts at living simple lives, simple lives
Are what keep me coming back to you
[Outro]
I'm coming back to you
The Approaching Curve Lyrics
[Spoken: Tim McIlrath]
The music played with a calming frequency
The speakers gently seeped with sounds
Of ambient keyboards and light percussion
Creating a seductive soundtrack to our midnight drive
Through curtains of blackness
The windows were cold to the touch
Reflecting the icy conditions in our immediate extremity
Salt stains and fingerprints littered the glass
And streaks of melting snow cascaded down its length
The music pulsed louder, yet gentle
Like the far away squeal of a pot of boiling water
The skyline was glowing faintly with vague hints of an impending dawn
The car raced along a painfully straight stretch of road
And she hadn't so much as turned the steering wheel
Two degrees in the last twenty minutes
Nor had we spoken
[Chorus]
As we were, so perfect, so happy
They'll remember, only our smiles cause that's all they've seen
Long since dried, when we are found, are the tears in which we had drowned
As we were, so perfect, so happy
[Spoken: Tim McIlrath]
"Why are you doing this?" she spoke as if not expecting a response
Her voice penetrated the still air of our speechless drive
So suddenly that my heart had jumped
"I'm not doing anything," I said, but I didn't even believe that myself
"This is what's best, for me, for you, for us," or maybe just for me I thought
As a tear formed in the pit of her eye
The music poured through the speakers and
We were losing ourselves in the cadence
She looked down momentarily and closed her eyes for
A bit longer than a standard blink
Then she was crying. Then she was shouting. Then I was shouting
Now pouring confessions, having no answers, or solutions
We barely even knew the questions
[Chorus]
As we were, so perfect, so happy
They'll remember, only our smiles cause that's all they've seen
Long since dried, when we are found, are the tears in which we had drowned
As we were, so perfect, so happy
[Verse]
Don't put me underground, I was meant for a life somewhere else
Please, love, give me the wheel, before both of our hearts you
Will steal tonight (Will steal tonight)
[Chorus]
As we were, so perfect, so happy
They'll remember, only our smiles cause that's all they've seen
Long since dried, when we are found, are the tears in which we had drowned
As we were, so perfect, so happy
[Spoken: Tim McIlrath]
Our cracking voices became part of the music
The car pressed on faster through the night
As our voices lowered, the cadence again overtook the air
Up ahead there was a curve approaching
She made no indications of slowing
Worth Dying For Lyrics
[Verse 1]
Set me off like dynamite strapped tight around my waist
We are the ones in competition but claim this ain't no race
Let's go!
Take a breath and explode like bullets tearing through the wind
Cut me up with a razor blade that tries to separate the skin
Now in the
White flames of burning flags we
Found a world worth dying for, yeah
We've been battered so hard that we don't feel anymore
[Chorus]
Take me
From this world
Save me
What if we all die young?
So take me
From this world
Save me
What if we all die young?
[Verse 2]
Send me off on the morning breeze so far away from here
Feel me rise in the strength I've found inside the warm embracing air
I'm moving slow
Like a glacier melting watch me dissipate
I searched for love in an empty world but all I found was hate
Now in the
White flames of burning flags we
Found a world worth dying for, yeah
We've been battered so hard that we don't feel anymore
[Chorus]
Take me
From this world
Save me
What if we all die young?
So take me
From this world
Save me
What if we all die young?
[Verse 3]
Don't ask me why
Cause I don't know
Don't ask me how
I'm gonna solve this on my own
Don't ask me why
Cause I don't know
These things I've never faced
Scratch out, but won't erase
In the wreckage of a job well done
I saw a place I'd never seen before, yeah
And that moment I refused to close my eyes anymore
[Chorus]
So take me
From this world
Save me
What if we all die young?
So take me
From this world
Save me
What if we all die young?
[Outro]
So take me
So take me
Behind Closed Doors Lyrics
[Intro]
Chairs thrown and tables toppled
Hands armed with broken bottles
Standing no chance to win but
We're not running, we're not running
[Verse 1]
There's a point I think we're missing
It's in the air we raise our fists in
In the smiles we cast each other
My sister, my brother
About the time we gave up hoping
We'd ever find these locks still open
Stumbling on stones unturned
The hurt we feel, we all have earned
The lines we cross in search of change
But all they see is treason
[Chorus]
Although we have no obligation to stay alive
On broken backs we beg for mercy, we will survive
(Break out) I won't be left here
Behind closed doors
[Verse 2]
Bonfires burn like beacons
Guiding the lost and weakened
Flames dance on crashing waves
Guiding ships who've gone astray
Time out, let's stop and think this through
We've all got better things to do
Than talk in circles, run in place
Answers {are} inches from our face
[Chorus]
Although we have no obligation to stay alive
On broken backs we beg for mercy, we will survive
(Break out) I won't be left here
Behind closed doors
[Bridge]
Black eyes, broken fingers
Blood drips and I let it run
Down my lips into my swollen gums
When hope is non-existent
Our instincts all scream "Run"
We never turn our backs or even bite our tongues
[Chorus]
Although we have no obligation to stay alive
On broken backs we beg for mercy, we will survive
(Break out) I won't be left here
Behind closed doors
Although we have no obligation to stay alive
On broken backs we beg for mercy, we will survive
(Break out) I won't be left here
Behind closed doors
Roadside Lyrics
[Verse 1]
Tell me what I'm supposed to do
With all these left over feelings of you
Cause I don't know
And tell me how I'm supposed to feel
When all these nightmares become real
Cause I don't know
[Verse 2]
And I don't think you see the places inside me that I find you
And I don't know how we separate the lies here from the truth
And I don't know how we woke up one day and somehow thought we knew
Exactly what we're supposed to do
[Chorus]
So leave me at the roadside
And hang me up and out to dry;
So leave me at the roadside
And hang me up and out to dry
[Verse 3]
And I don't think you see the places inside me that I find you
And I don't know how we woke up one day and somehow thought we knew
Exactly what we're supposed to do
[Chorus]
So leave me at the roadside
And hang me up and out to dry
So leave me at the roadside
And hang me up and out to dry
[Outro]
Cause I don't think you see the places inside me that I find you
And I don't know how we woke up one day and somehow thought we knew
Exactly what we're supposed to do
Exactly what to do
The Good Left Undone Lyrics
[Verse 1]
In fields where nothing grew but weeds
I found a flower at my feet
Bending there in my direction
I wrapped a hand around its stem
I pulled until the roots gave in
Finding there what I'd been missing
But I know...
So I tell myself, I tell myself it's wrong
There's a point we pass from which we can't return
I felt the cold rain of the coming storm
[Hook]
All because of you
I haven't slept in so long
When I do I dream of drowning in the ocean
Longing for the shore where I can lay my head down
I'll follow your voice
All you have to do is shout it out
[Verse 2]
Inside my hands these petals browned
Dried up, fallen to the ground
But it was already too late now
I pushed my fingers through the earth
Returned this flower to the dirt
So it could live. I walked away now
But I know...
Not a day goes by that I don't feel this burn
There's a point we pass from which we can't return
I felt the cold rain of the coming storm
[Hook]
All because of you
I haven't slept in so long
When I do I dream of drowning in the ocean
Longing for the shore where I can lay my head down
I'll follow your voice
All you have to do is shout it out
[Bridge]
All because of you...
All because of you...
[Extended Hook]
All because of you
I haven't slept in so long
When I do I dream of drowning in the ocean
Longing for the shore where I can lay my head down
Inside these arms of yours
All because of you
I believe in angels
Not the kind with wings
No, not the kind with halos
The kind that bring you home
When home becomes a strange place
I'll follow your voice
All you have to do is shout it out
[Instrumental Outro]
Survive Lyrics
[Verse 1]
Somewhere between "happy" and "total fucking wreck"
Feet sometimes on solid ground and sometimes at the edge
To spend your waking moments simply killing time
Is to give up on your hopes and dreams
To give up on your
[Chorus]
Life for you (Who we are) has been less than kind
So take a number, (Who we are) stand in line
We've all been sorry, (Who we are) we've all been hurt
But how we survive (Who we are)
Is what makes us who we are
[Verse 2]
An obvious disinterest, a barely managed smile
A deep nod in agreement, a status quo exile
I shirk my obligations, I miss all your deadlines
I excel at quitting early and fucking up my life
[Chorus]
Life for you (Who we are) has been less than kind
So take a number, (Who we are) stand in line
We've all been sorry, (Who we are) we've all been hurt
But how we survive (Who we are)
Is what makes us who we are
[Bridge]
All smiles and sunshine
A perfect world on a perfect day
Everything always works out
I have never felt so fucking great
All smiles and sunshine
A perfect world on a perfect day
Everything always works out
I have never felt so great
[Refrain]
(Life isn't like this, life isn't like this)
(Life isn't like this, life isn't like this)
(Life isn't like this)
Life isn't like this
Life isn't like this (Life isn't like this)
Are we verging on an answer
Or fucking up our—
[Chorus]
Life for you (Who we are) has been less than kind
So take a number, (Who we are) stand in line
We've all been sorry, (Who we are) we've all been hurt
But how we survive (Who we are)
Is what makes us who we are (Who we are)
It's what makes us who we are, woah (Who we are)
It makes us who we are (Who we are)
It's what makes us who we are (Who we are)
Built to Last Lyrics
4 ContributorsBuilt to Last LyricsInvest time, invest life
Invest it all, reinvent yourself
Before you know it
Your essence
Is renewed with something fresh
Your will, your way
Will earn respect in your day
Let the glory-sharpened knife
Carve the future of your life
Let's not praise the past, just a fact
Built to last
Old school or the new
Doesn't mean a thing if your heart's not true
Greedy ones faded fast, we're here
Built to last
For the fun, not a fad
The love and the truth so powerful
Work out the snags of the past
Work out the snags that won't last
Mistakes have finished my brothers
Mistakes will guide all the others
Your will, your way
Might shape a better day
Eradicate the stagnancy
Eradicate it like disease
Let's not praise the past, just a fact
Built to last
Old school or the new
Doesn't mean shit if your heart ain't true
Greedy ones faded fast, we're here
Built to last
For the fun, not a fad
The love and the truth so powerful
The love and the truth so powerful
As we've seen around the world
We won't go away
'Cause we'll always feel this way
We're here to stay, yeah
And our impact will be felt
We won't go away
If we feel it, if we feel it
We're here to stay
Built to last!