What is 'it' in 'The Things I've Seen' and 'Waters Rising'?

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What is 'it' in 'The Things I've Seen' and 'Waters Rising'?

Post by Troops4Tremonti »

Hello all,

Every time I listen to The Things I've Seen, I'm completely lost to what he's talking about. What is 'it'??? (and I'm not giving a jeopardy answer lol)

The Things I've Seen:

"It takes you in and tears it all out, it tears it all out"

"It takes your life, turns you into someone"

"Inside you feel it taking over
It's taking over
When you feel it most
It draws you in and tears it away
It tears it away"

Waters Rising:

"The earth has provided the means to burn it down"

Mark said he wanted/expected that song to be the popular single of the album and I think that didn't happen because I, for one, can't relate to something if I don't know what he's talking about. Maybe I'm over-critiquing but I think when writing lyrics, before you refer to something as 'it', you should first state what 'it' is so that people can better follow along.

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Re: What is 'it' in 'The Things I've Seen' and 'Waters Risin

Post by anguyen92 »

When did he actually say that he wanted Waters Rising to be the popular single of the album?

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Re: What is 'it' in 'The Things I've Seen' and 'Waters Risin

Post by Dolo »

That's the beauty of interpreting lyrics. You have to figure out what he is talking about yourself.
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Re: What is 'it' in 'The Things I've Seen' and 'Waters Risin

Post by AB23 »

Songs are whatever YOU make of them. There isn't one central meaning that everyone must understand to a certain song... otherwise it sorta takes away some of its impact. We've all been through different experiences so songs will mean differing things.

But for the record, I don't ever recall MT stating that WR was gonna be a popular single or anything. It's about Armageddon if I recall correctly.
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Re: What is 'it' in 'The Things I've Seen' and 'Waters Risin

Post by Troops4Tremonti »

anguyen92 wrote:When did he actually say that he wanted Waters Rising to be the popular single of the album?
Sorry I should have been more clear. He said he wanted The Things I've Seen to be the popular one. It was at a show in Colorado Springs when he said that. If anybody on here went to that show then they know what I'm talking about.

Also, I know that people interpret songs in different ways and that songs effect everybody differently. My question is.. What is MARK talking about? What experience of his is being talked about? And like a said before, the lyrics are a little too vague to even relate anything to it (excluding the chorus, that's pretty straight forward). Now that I'm think of it, 'Leave it Alone' is the same way. A lot of 'its' in it. Anyone know what exactly the song The Things I've Seen is about? Or anyone care to comment on Mark's style of writing (lyrically)?

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Re: What is 'it' in 'The Things I've Seen' and 'Waters Risin

Post by anguyen92 »

I believe "The Things I've Seen", from Mark's perspective, was about the negative side of the music industry and I think was about negative aspects of his relationship with Wind-Up records. I don't remember.

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Re: What is 'it' in 'The Things I've Seen' and 'Waters Risin

Post by Andy92 »

Troops4Tremonti wrote: Waters Rising:

"The earth has provided the means to burn it down"
I thought the it here was just referring to earth itself. Basically meaning the earth contains the tools needed to destroy itself.

The Things I've Seen is just open for whatever you want it to mean. "It" could be depression, anxiety, a fear of something, or whatever. But like Kev said, Mark has said that song was about greedy record labels.
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Re: What is 'it' in 'The Things I've Seen' and 'Waters Risin

Post by AB4Lyfe »

anguyen92 wrote:I believe "The Things I've Seen", from Mark's perspective, was about the negative side of the music industry and I think was about negative aspects of his relationship with Wind-Up records. I don't remember.
I remember him saying it was about the negative side of the music industry. I don't particularly remember the part about Wind-Up, but I didn't read all that much about this record so you're probably right.
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Re: What is 'it' in 'The Things I've Seen' and 'Waters Risin

Post by mitch103 »

I agree with what the guys above said. In waters rising you could change the lyric to be: "The earth has provided the means to burn ITSELF down" But that wouldn't sing very well, so he just left it as IT.
As for the things i've seen, the word "IT" refers to different things at different points in the lyric. Here is how I would potentially rewrite the lyrics literally: "It takes you in and tears it all out" = "greed/fame/success/money takes you in and tears your family/friends/personality/morals all out". Hope this helps

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Re: What is 'it' in 'The Things I've Seen' and 'Waters Risin

Post by mitch103 »

The tricky part for me in the things i've seen is trying to understand the second part of the chorus: "and don't claim that you know why, when you know eveything, when you've seen things for what they are"

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Re: What is 'it' in 'The Things I've Seen' and 'Waters Risin

Post by One Drew Remains »

Did anyone else read "it" in the title of this thread and start singing the last part of Faith No More's Epic?
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Re: What is 'it' in 'The Things I've Seen' and 'Waters Risin

Post by ToNsOFuN88 »

Troops4Tremonti wrote:Hello all,

Every time I listen to The Things I've Seen, I'm completely lost to what he's talking about. What is 'it'??? (and I'm not giving a jeopardy answer lol)

The Things I've Seen:

"It takes you in and tears it all out, it tears it all out"

"It takes your life, turns you into someone"

"Inside you feel it taking over
It's taking over
When you feel it most
It draws you in and tears it away
It tears it away"

Waters Rising:

"The earth has provided the means to burn it down"

Mark said he wanted/expected that song to be the popular single of the album and I think that didn't happen because I, for one, can't relate to something if I don't know what he's talking about. Maybe I'm over-critiquing but I think when writing lyrics, before you refer to something as 'it', you should first state what 'it' is so that people can better follow along.
I think everyone had pretty good interpretations. Just wanted to add to "The Things I've Seen". When you're trying to interpret lyrics and you think of "it" don't forget about the song title itself. "It" could mean the things he's seen, and the things he's seen, like the others stated, relate to the negative things he's seen from the music industry. Having said all that I do remember Mark saying in an interview that he is more concerned with vocal melody, and writes his lines to fit that melody. So, some of his stuff might not fit into the message of the song exactly, but might just be filler lyrics to fit the vocal melody he came up with. Hard to say.

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Re: What is 'it' in 'The Things I've Seen' and 'Waters Risin

Post by ToNsOFuN88 »

Not to say you can't take anything from those lyrics. That's the beauty of it, different people interpret and relate to lyrics differently. That's why "Show Me A Sign" is one of my favorite songs by AB, yet many people on here, I have found, don't really care for it. I just relate to that song, (the whole album actually) lyrically, so it holds a special place in my heart. Got me through a tough time in my life. Anyway, got a little off topic haha..

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Re: What is 'it' in 'The Things I've Seen' and 'Waters Risin

Post by Grizzly9773 »

Troops4Tremonti wrote:Waters Rising:

"The earth has provided the means to burn it down"

Mark said he wanted/expected that song to be the popular single of the album and I think that didn't happen because I, for one, can't relate to something if I don't know what he's talking about. Maybe I'm over-critiquing but I think when writing lyrics, before you refer to something as 'it', you should first state what 'it' is so that people can better follow along.
Ok this one I can chime in on. I'd have to find the interview or video evidence for it, but here is what I remember hearing or reading.

Waters Rising was originally supposed to be sung by Myles, and it was written totally by Myles. 'Bleed it Dry' was written by Mark (I'm pretty sure). Both Myles and Mark were going to write separate songs and when they compared notes, they were like, shit, we wrote basically the same song, which has to do with an apocalypse or relating to the world ending.

'Now all the fields are burning, it blocks out the sun
I see all the water rising, to drown everyone
This is tomorrow's way to end our days
Watch as the clouds they gather now and wash us away'

Clearly he's talking about the end of the world, here. The interpretation I got too was the verses and chorus are kind of 'calm before the storm' as the name of the song is Waters Rising. Clearly this has to be about some gigantic flood and the end of days- which I extrapolated from the chorus, as seen above.
Then, the pre-bridge, when Myles starts singing, you can see the clouds gathering and are aware of the impending doom. The little back and forth quiet riff Mark is doing while Myles says "The water is rising...coming to...wash it all away" kinda sounds like thunder, doesn't it? Like now the clouds are gathering and you hear the thunder and know what's about to happen.

Then all you hear is Scott doing 'ts ts ts ts' on the cymbal before the really loud riff comes in when Myles starts screaming before the bridge. I interpret that as the first few drops of rain, and when the heavy riffs begin, that's like when the downpour starts.

"So now the end of times everything is realized
Crying out it's much too late nothing we can do..."

This are the first bridge lyrics- he realizes what is happening and realizes this is the end.

Anyway, Myles didn't really feel the singing part, so Mark stepped in and sang it and they kept it.

So I disagree strongly that this song has no meaning. It's easily my favorite song of the album- lyrically it's strong, I love Mark's vocals, and it has an awesome bridge and good solo.

Whew! I rambled. But i've always had this theory on this song, and am curious as to what other people think of it.

Take a listen and see what I wrote. I feel like it makes sense

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NySJ3XXZtxY
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Re: What is 'it' in 'The Things I've Seen' and 'Waters Risin

Post by AllC392Was »

makes sense
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Re: What is 'it' in 'The Things I've Seen' and 'Waters Risin

Post by Ubik »

Good post there Grizzly, Waters Rising lyrics were written by Mark though (other than the bridge, which was Myles - you can tell this as it has "deny" in it :D), and Myles wrote Bleed It Dry.
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Re: What is 'it' in 'The Things I've Seen' and 'Waters Risin

Post by Timotheus »

Grizzly9773 wrote:Then all you hear is Scott doing 'ts ts ts ts' on the cymbal before the really loud riff comes in when Myles starts screaming before the bridge. I interpret that as the first few drops of rain, and when the heavy riffs begin, that's like when the downpour starts.
This is where I imagine a huge tsunami. The silent part on the hi-hat is like the slowmotion part in a movie where everybody realises they're fucked and give eachother the farewell-looks before impact :D

I don't think anybody is denying he's singing about an apocalypse by the way. That doesn't mean the song can't be about something entirely different. The apocalypse is a metaphor, and it's for us to interpret what it stands for.
Last edited by Timotheus on Sun Mar 22, 2015 1:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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anguyen92 wrote:
Oh well. Deal with it.

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Re: What is 'it' in 'The Things I've Seen' and 'Waters Risin

Post by Fish Tacos »

Timotheus wrote:The apocalypse is a metaphor, and it's for us to interpretet what it stands for.
You can't say that for every song ever!
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No! A lot of artists are being literal in their lyrics and can alternate between songs. Without a footnote next to each title, eventually that statement will be wrong.

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Re: What is 'it' in 'The Things I've Seen' and 'Waters Risin

Post by Andy92 »

Whether or not the artist intended for the song to be interpreted literally or not doesn't really make a difference. The listener can always decide how he/she wants to interpret something regardless if it's different from the original artist's viewpoint or not.
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Re: What is 'it' in 'The Things I've Seen' and 'Waters Risin

Post by Fish Tacos »

That's true, but it doesn't make the interpretation accurate. A lot of metaphors were used in older novels to reflect political environments or class struggles of the time. If in English 201 Suzy says she thinks the pigs in Animal House represent ISIS, she'd be wrong.

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