Chains
Gallows Lyrics


Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴  Line by Line Meaning ↴

North thaws, South disappears, East vanishes, West fades.
Cut the love out of my days. You'd see me in chains.
North thaws, South disappears, East vanishes, West fades.
Draw down the moon and walk away. You'd see me in chains.

l don't need another violent summer.
l don't need another violent summer.
l don't need another violent summer.
l don't need another violent summer.

Of sham youth, sham art, sham revolution, sham hearts, sham love, sham death,
sham lives, sham sex, sham rock and roll, sham rock and roll, sham rock and roll, sham rock and roll, sham rock and roll, sham rock and roll.

North thaws, South disappears, East vanishes, West fades.
Draw down the moon and walk away.
You'd see me in chains.

ln chains, you'd see me in chains.
ln chains, you'd see me in chains.

l don't need another violent summer of sham rock and roll, sham rock and roll.
l don't need another violent summer of sham rock and roll, sham rock and roll.




l don't need another violent summer of sham rock and roll, sham rock and roll.
l don't need another violent summer of sham rock and roll, sham rock and roll.

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Gallows's song Chains reflect a deep sense of disillusionment and frustration with the current state of society in general, and the music industry in particular. The recurring refrain of "North thaws, South disappears, East vanishes, West fades" suggests a world that is rapidly losing its stability and coherence, with cultural and political divisions becoming more pronounced and difficult to navigate. Against this backdrop, the singer expresses a desire to be freed from the trappings of a society that has become increasingly hollow and meaningless, with art and revolution reduced to mere facades.


The line "Cut the love out of my days. You’d see me in chains" can be interpreted as a rejection of the notion that love can somehow provide a solution to the problems facing society. The repeated phrase "sham rock and roll" further emphasizes this sense of disillusionment, portraying rock music as a genre that has become mired in inauthenticity and meaningless spectacle. The final lines of the song ("ln chains, you'd see me in chains") serve as a direct warning to those who would try to confine or constrain the singer, suggesting a resistance to the pressures of conformity and submission.


Line by Line Meaning

North thaws, South disappears, East vanishes, West fades.
The world is constantly changing and nothing lasts forever, everything eventually disappears or fades away.


Cut the love out of my days. You'd see me in chains.
If love is taken away from my life, I would feel trapped and chained.


Draw down the moon and walk away. You'd see me in chains.
If I am left alone and abandoned by those closest to me, I would feel trapped and helpless.


I don't need another violent summer.
I don't want to go through another difficult and traumatic experience.


Of sham youth, sham art, sham revolution, sham hearts, sham love, sham death, sham lives, sham sex, sham rock and roll, sham rock and roll, sham rock and roll, sham rock and roll, sham rock and roll, sham rock and roll.
Everything seems fake and inauthentic, from the youth culture to love and death, even rock and roll music.


ln chains, you'd see me in chains.
Repeating the idea that being trapped would make me feel powerless and trapped.




Contributed by Lillian O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
To comment on or correct specific content, highlight it

Genre not found
Artist not found
Album not found
Song not found
Most interesting comments from YouTube:

Starry&Bohemian

Vince Melgoza
Well well...sorry i missed your answer !
Just at ramdom i choose 1977, musically it could have been any other year between 1967 and 1979 ...
but 1977 is the year of "Star Wars" and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind"...so already spacy...
So here there is some more or less  PSYCHEDELIC tasty tune of this year... no hit singles in there...it would be too easy

 Bachdenkel "THE WHOLE WORLD"
 Journey "SPACEMAN" (before they became famous)
 Uriah Heep "ILLUSION"
 Prism "SPACESHIP SUPERSTAR"
 Mythos "TERRA INCOGNITA"
 Brian Eno "SPIDER AND I"
 Hawkwind "FABLE OF A FAILED RACE" (extended version)
 Blue Oyster Cult "I LOVE THE NIGHT"
 MICHAEL ROTHER "KARUSSELL"
 BJH  "TAKING ME HIGHER"
 (...etc...)

...So 10 songs... i mean i don't want you to listen them all (time run fast for all) but if you (or somebody else) can choose 2 or 3 and tell me what you think about it...or even hear samples...it would be cool

Most songs here are taking from my "Best of 1977 (No Big Hits!)" Playlist...



Lionel Gestell

Wolodymyr Pyndyk

North thaws,
South disappears, 
East vanishes, 
West fades. 
Cut the love out of my days. 
You'd see me in chains.

North thaws, 
South disappears, 
East vanishes, 
West fades. 
Draw down the moon and walk away. 
You'd see me in chains. 

Don't need another violent summer. 
I don't need another violent summer. 
Don't need another violent summer. 
I don't need another violent summer of sham youth, 
sham art, 
sham revolution, 
sham hearts, 
sham love, 
sham death, 
sham lives, 
sham sex, 
sham rock and roll, 
sham rock and roll, 
sham rock and roll, 
sham rock and roll, 
sham rock and roll, 
sham rock and roll.

North thaws, 
South disappears, 
East vanishes, 
West fades. 
Draw down the moon and walk away. 
You'd see me in chains. 
In chains. 
You'd see me in chains. 
In chains. 
You'd see me in chains.

Don't need another violent summer of sham rock and roll, 
sham rock and roll.



All comments from YouTube:

ChrisBstation

This is INCREDIBLE!  The video matches the song perfectly!  Very well shot.  Very interesting.  I loved everything about it.  Well done boys.  

James_Hembrow

Amazing tune and video! Gallows seem to me to be pure artists and bloody good musicians too! In this day and age a band like this should be applauded.

Dorie Bishop

Great song with a variety of styles...i love it's haunting nature and the video is wicked! I LOVE ya....hope to hear from you guys more please!

TrephineArtist

Excellent song and superbly shot video.

Punk, Metal, Core & More

This music video is brutal as the song is, great work Gallows!

Dead Gemini

First time listening to this band, but this song/video is frikkin awesome! Video is creepy and fits perfectly with the music, which is slow but still heavy. If this is the direction this band is going in consider me a fan.

Jose Hernandez

heard this on the radio. really digging it

punkwriter

love this band

Ton Rock

Great song, great video. Liked and shared.

Play It Again Sam

We hope you enjoy this gruesome & brutal video from Gallows new single, 'Chains'.  

More Comments

More Versions