Get Lyrical: Rise Against's "Help Is On The Way"
posted in: Music News
With all the crazy world events taking place right now”the civil war in the Middle East, the tsunami in Japan”tragedies that occurred not so long ago, like Hurricane Katrina and the BP oil spill, can get lost in the shuffle. But while those disasters may be distant memories to many of us, Chicago rockers Rise Against aren’t letting go so easily. There’s still plenty of destruction in the Gulf region, as Rise Against frontman Tim McIlrath saw during a recent trip to the region. That’s what inspired “Help Is On The Way, the first single from their new album Endgame, which features the quartet sticking to their socially-conscious roots.
The track’s first verse is dedicated to the victims of Hurricane Katrina, an indictment of the slow government response to the storm’s devastating effects. The verse is written from the desperate point of view of those trapped in New Orleans during the flooding, and vocalist Tim McIlrath’s lyrics voice the panic and abandonment Louisianians must have felt. Can nobody save us? Will anyone try?/The bayou is burning, the severance is tight. Coupled with the song’s intense music video, which tells the story of a family trying to survive the disaster, this verse sets a scene of total havoc and desolation.
In the song’s second verse, Rise Against recalls the BP oil spill. Five thousand feet below/As black smoke engulfs the sky/The ocean floor explodes/11 mothers cry. The vivid imagery of the explosion combined with facts from the incident (11 people were killed when the barge blew up) make this verse a humbling reminder of the toll the disaster had on families as well as the environment.
And really, that’s what sets “Help is on the Way” apart. Sure, McIlrath calls out FEMA 
and BP’s failure to act during the chorus, singing “And all along they’re saying help is on the way.” And when the song crescendos and McIlrath howls “But it never came!” the full force of his words hit you like a punch to the gut. But the song’s sole purpose isn’t to point fingers and assign blame, it’s to remind us of the suffering that people endured. After all, amid all the political posturing, it’s easy to forget that there were real people, real families, destroyed by these disasters. But by humanizing these tragedies, by giving them a face, Rise Against ensure that we don’t forget so quickly.
You can check out Endgame on the band’s Web site, and if you’re ready for a good cry, watch the heartbreaking video for Help is on the Way.
Have an interesting story behind your lyrics? Let us know at pr@ourstage.com!