All great things have humble beginnings and ABANDONED BY BEARS is no except… Read Full Bio ↴All great things have humble beginnings and ABANDONED BY BEARS is no exception. Sharing the same love of music, bass player Gustav Eriksson and singer Fredric Andersson met in early 2012 with a mutual passion to create energetic, aggressive yet fun, digestible music. “We started to play with the intention to mix the dynamics from hardcore and metal music with the tone and feel you get from pop punk,” mused Gustav about the ideas that lead to the bands formation out of Gothenburg, Sweden.

With the fusion of electronics and classy pop-punk, ABANDONED BY BEARS were not limited by the frames music is typically written. “We don't follow the norm or what is right or wrong, we follow what we think sounds good. Our songwriting process is very unorthodox in a way, since we record everything ourselves, we can basically decide when we want to record and that gives us a type of freedom which shines through in the songs. All of us have the ability to play and understand each others instruments, so everyone writes, whether it’d be melodies, lyrics, guitar leads or drum fills.”

Better Than Never

Fredric - Vocals
Leon - Vocals
Alex - Guitars
Jake - Guitars
Gustav - Bass
Zeb - Drums

Hazard Pay
Abandoned By Bears Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Now sit down and enjoy your fucking silence.
When everything gets conflated,
we'll see who stands against the violence.
I hope we'll make it out before it all breaks down.

I'll swallow my pride and have the nerves to tell you off.
Now listen close you fuck while I show you that enough is enough.
Show you that enough is enough.

I can't wait to get this off my chest,
like I should've done a million times before.
Everything builds up around me,
nothing seems to hold on to be.
All these things, all these things that we always looked up to are gone.

Get it through your fucking head.
They are gone.
I hope you learn to face reality,
play your cards right,
and get some clarity.

All I knew back then,
nothing was as hard to explain,
but it's been such a long time now,
I thought I was fine.

All I knew back then,
nothing was as hard to explain,
but it's been such a long time now,
I thought I was fine.

You are the reason that the hate is spread.
You should be glad I left those words unsaid.

Why ever try?
When nothing works out for you in the end.
Ain't I right?

I can't wait to get this off my chest,
like I should've done a million times before.
Everything builds up around me,

nothing seems to hold on to be.
All these things that we always looked up to...

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Abandoned By Bears's song, "Hazard Pay," tackle the issue of speaking up against violence and injustice. The opening line, "Now sit down and enjoy your fucking silence," sets the tone for the confrontational message to come. The next lines, "When everything gets conflated, we'll see who stands against the violence. I hope we'll make it out before it all breaks down," suggest that the singer is urging their audience to take a stand against the societal problems that are causing everything to break down. The use of the word "conflated" is particularly interesting, as it suggests that many issues are being combined or confused, making it difficult to address each problem individually.

The chorus continues the bold message, with the singer claiming that they will "swallow [their] pride" and tell their audience off, insisting that "enough is enough." The following lines express frustration about holding in feelings for too long, implying that the singer has been silent for too long and needs to express their emotions: "I can't wait to get this off my chest, like I should've done a million times before. Everything builds up around me, nothing seems to hold on to be." The repetition of the phrase "all these things" at the end of the chorus drives home the idea that there are multiple issues at play causing the problems they are facing.

The second verse shifts to a more personal tone. The use of the phrase "All I knew back then" suggests that the singer is reflecting on a time in their past when things seemed simpler or easier to understand. However, the repetition of the line "it's been such a long time now, I thought I was fine" suggests that the singer has since realized that things are not as simple as they once seemed. The final lines of the song maintain the overall message of the song, with the singer insisting that the audience needs to "face reality" and find "clarity" in order to address the problems they face.

Line by Line Meaning

Now sit down and enjoy your fucking silence.
Be quiet and listen.

When everything gets conflated, we'll see who stands against the violence.
When things get complicated, we'll find out who's against aggression.

I hope we'll make it out before it all breaks down.
I hope we'll escape before everything falls apart.

I'll swallow my pride and have the nerves to tell you off.
I'll humble myself and confront you.

Now listen close you fuck while I show you that enough is enough.
Pay attention while I demonstrate that we've had enough.

I can't wait to get this off my chest, like I should've done a million times before.
I'm eager to express what's been bothering me for so long.

Everything builds up around me, nothing seems to hold on to be.
Stress accumulates and nothing seems to stay stable.

All these things, all these things that we always looked up to are gone.
Everything we admired is gone.

Get it through your fucking head. They are gone.
Realize that they're gone.

I hope you learn to face reality, play your cards right, and get some clarity.
I hope you confront the truth, make smart decisions, and gain clarity.

All I knew back then, nothing was as hard to explain, but it's been such a long time now, I thought I was fine.
In the past, I didn't have difficulties explaining things, but it's been a long time and I thought I had it all together.

You are the reason that the hate is spread.
You're the cause of hate being spread.

You should be glad I left those words unsaid.
You should be grateful I didn't say what I wanted to say.

Why ever try? When nothing works out for you in the end. Ain't I right?
Why bother trying when nothing works out? Don't you agree?

All these things that we always looked up to...
Everything we admired...

Contributed by Penelope H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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