Annotations for Desert Song

Lyric: Well tonight
 Will it ever come?
Annotation:
This lyric has multiple interpretations: 1. Refers to the band, and how Gerard Way wondered if they would ever “make it.” The song was written during an incredibly bad moment in their life, and the line could be him wondering if any of their efforts in the band would be worth it. 2. Death. Will death ever come? The narrator wonders when they will die, and wonders if they should do it themself. They could also be referring to the person they can “see awake,” wondering when it will be not “in their head.” this could also refer to dying, as the person could be dead and the narrator wishes to join them.

Lyric: All fall down
 Well after all
Annotation:
This being at the end of the song suggests that they did fall down. In the context of the Demolition Lovers, it ties with other lyrics: “All the ghosts that are never gonna catch me if I fall down” ( “The Ghost of You”) and “And we all fall down” ( “I Never Told You What I Do For A Living”). These songs talk about a slow descent into chaos and madness, along with physically going down to hell. In this song, “falling down” means dying, and the narrator realizes that did all fall at the end.

Lyric: Well tonight, well tonight
 Will it ever come?
Annotation:
Gerard is reminiscing about a brighter tomorrow, but it never comes and he cannot escape his depression and addiction. There is a heavy sense of hopelessness behind this lyric as he asks himself if it will ever get better.

Lyric: I can see you awake anytime, in my head
Annotation:
Contrary to the first time this line appears, here, with the context of the bridge, it could be understood as referring to a personification of his mental health issues. This could be a metaphorical demon that is always awake, trying to push him towards substance abuse and dark thoughts.

Lyric: Will it ever come?
 Spend the rest of your days rocking out
 Just for the dead
Annotation:
The context of changes when the lyrics of the bridge have just mentioned death (“from the Earth to the morgue”). Before, the verse talked about “finding some other way”, probably as a response to the line “we’ll lie another day” (which could either mean to not tell the truth, perhaps about his struggles with alcohol and suicide ideation, or it could be more literally about lying down because of the effects of the substances he abused). Here, the “will it ever come” no longer means the solution, the other way out of the cycle he’s caught in. It means death. Given the song was written when he was suicidal, this is a hard and somewhat ironic twist which does track with the reality of what it’s like to struggle with bad mental health. At time you think there might be a solution, another way, though you do not quite know what, and you wonder if it will ever come and then (and this can follow quite quickly) you wonder if there’ll ever be an end to the pain you feel in a more radical and permanent way. So the following lines are no longer about finding a way to “rock out” (keep making music, presumably) “for the dead” – either the fans that got old and possibly passed away, their audience dwindling, or a reference to the death theme in the band’s mythology – but it’s now about playing for all the people who are all dead in some kind of afterlife.

Lyric: We hold in our hearts the sword and the faith
 Swelled up from the rain, clouds move like a wraith
Annotation:
we believe in heaven, we hold faith in our hearts that there is a saviour and that you will go to heaven when you die. a wraith is a ghostly figure or image that appears shortly before or after death, this repersent our soul going to heaven or hell, and in this context “Swelled up from the rain” we can assume that you’re going to heaven.

Lyric: And through it all, we’ll find some other way
 To carry on through cartilage and flood
Annotation:
we all find ways to keep doing what we’re doing, justifying our actions, lying. Even if we are in-directly negatively affecting other people, even if we stop, but on the inside we all want to continue, because we all know, we dont care. Or this could mean we all keep fighting through to the end even if     we’re facing extreme obstacles, wether it be physical limitations, depression etc… but no matter what we keep fighting through pain and sadness just for a chance to experience the blissfull feeling of fullfillment and happiness.

Lyric: I can see you awake anytime, in my head
Annotation:
This lyric could suggest that the sight of a disinterested crowd could be mentally twisted as a way to encourage Gerard to keep going. This could mean even if he can see perfectly well people don’t care about what he’s doing, he will do everything in his power to keep himself believing they do, changing their image in his mind so they seem to care more.

Lyric: Well after all, we’ll lie another day
Annotation:
PROPOSED SUGGESTION: It gives the feeling of inevitability, whether that is lying (not telling the truth) or lying down, it represents acceptance of our actions and who we are, problems an all.

Lyric: Spend the rest of your days rocking out
 Just for the dead
Annotation:
They could play all they want, but there’s no point playing if nobody is listening.

Lyric: Did we all fall down
 Did we all fall down
 Did we all fall down
 Did we all fall down?
Annotation:
This line eerily references a children’s rhyme  “Ring-A-Ring O'Roses,” comparing it to the way one might literally fall down due to drug or alcohol influence, and in a metaphorical sense a fall from power (the phrase under the influence comes to mind here). This line hits especially hard when considering Gerard Way’s struggle with drugs and alcohol, and the  subsequent videos of him falling over. A reference to  “Ring-A-Ring O'Roses” can be seen again in  another My Chem song: And I said ashes to ashes, we all fall down I want to hear you sing the praise I said ashes to ashes, we all fall down We got innocence for days

Lyric: And did you come to stare or wash away the blood?
Annotation:
He asks if they came to only watch  him struggle or to help him recover. A similar idea can be found in the Bible. As described in the Gospels, Jesus had to carry his cross on his back with little help as crowds gathered around him, staring. But, one St. Veronica, moved by his struggle, wiped the blood from his face. Here, the singer could be saying that no one is helping him – so he’s wondering if the person he’s talking to will.

Lyric: From the lights to the pavement
 From the van to the floor
 From backstage to the doctor
 From the Earth to the morgue, morgue, morgue, morgue
Annotation:
With an almost poem like structure; this verse tells the possible story of what could have happened with Gerard Way during his struggle with alcohol. From the lights to the pavement: From the lights of the stage, the popularity and spotlight he received, to lying on the pavement. There’s a notorious clip in  LOTMS, where Gerard is followed through his alcoholic struggle, into the time period which his managed referred to as  “rock bottom.” Here, he’s filmed while drunk as he falls multiple times. He then goes to tell Frank of all the plants he’s killed.  From the van to the floor: From the exhaustion of touring to the floor of the stage. It was possible that while touring, the band had little time to rest in-between. Gerard could be describing how he had to tour from show to bus to show to bus, non-stop. From backstage to the doctor: From preparation for the show, to the doctor, to seek help for his addictions to drugs and alcohol. Gerard  mentioned how in the band’s early days, he got drunk before each show. It got to the point where he felt as if he couldn’t be himself on stage without the booze. After going sober, Gerard  said, One thing I noticed about quitting drinking and pills was all the free time I had off stage and on. […] I was consciously thinking to myself about how I could defeat the old Gerard, how I could defeat drunk Gerard. Every day I destroy that person a little more. From the Earth to the morgue: From being grounded to reality to being stolen by death. Gerard mentioned that—despite the outfits and albums dedicated to the fantasy—he used to be afraid of death. I was terrified of death. I used to wake up in the middle of the night having nightmares about my family. It took me a good five years to get over that. I was afraid to go to school because I’d thought I’d lose somebody.

