After the music video was nominated for the MTV Video Music Awards' Best Video with a Message award, McIlrath revealed that "Make It Stop (September's Children)" was also based on his nephew's gay best friend, who had committed suicide in December of that year.
Make It Stop
Rise Against Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Bang bang go the coffin nails, like a breath exhaled,
Then gone forever.
It seems like just yesterday, how did I miss the red flags raise?
Think back to the days we laughed.
We braved these bitter storms together.
But on his feet he died.
What God would damn a heart?
And what God drove us apart?
What God could make it stop?
Let this end.
Eighteen years pushed to the ledge.
It's come to this,
A weightless step.
On the way down singing,
Whoa, whoa.
Bang bang from the closet walls,
The schoolhouse halls,
The shotgun's loaded.
Push me and I'll push back.
I'm done asking, I demand.
From a nation under God,
I feel it's love like a cattle prod.
Born free, but still they hate.
A born me, no I can't change
It's always darkest just before the dawn.
So stay awake with me, let's prove them wrong.
Make it stop.
Let this end,
Eighteen years pushed to the ledge.
It's come to this,
A weightless step.
On the way down singing
Whoa, whoa.
The cold river washed him away,
But how could we forget.
The gatherings hold candles, but not their tongues.
And too much blood has flown from the wrist,
Of the children shamed for those they chose to kiss.
Who will rise to stop the blood.
We're calling for,
Insisting on, a different beat, yeah.
A brand new song, whoa, oh
A brand new song, whoa, whoa, whoa
(Whoa) Make it stop.
Let this end,
This life chose me, I'm not lost in sin
(Whoa) And proud I stand, of who I am,
I plan to go on living
(Whoa) Make it stop.
Let this end,
All these years pushed to the ledge
(Whoa) But proud I stand, of who I am,
I plan to go on living
The lyrics to "Make it Stop" by Rise Against addresses issues of bullying, marginalization, and suicide in the LGBTQ+ community. The song begins with powerful imagery of coffin nails, signifying death and the fleeting nature of life. The questions posed in the next lines express the confusion and sorrow of not recognizing the warning signs that could have prevented the subject's untimely demise. The chorus chants "Make it Stop" repeatedly, a clear demand for the senseless violence against the marginalized to cease.
The second verse delves deeper into the reasons behind the bullying and the pain inflicted on those in the LGBTQ+ community. The reference to a "nation under God" highlights the hypocrisy and discrimination that religious beliefs can perpetuate. The tone becomes more assertive in the latter part of the verse, with the singer demanding change and not asking for it anymore. The bridge reinforces the idea that it is always darkest before the dawn and expresses a call to action to stand strong and prove those who persecute others wrong.
The final verse touches on the aftermath of the suicide, with references to the gathering holding candles and the cutting of wrists. The chorus repeats, providing a sense of urgency and desperation for change to happen. The song closes with an inspiring message of self-acceptance and standing tall despite the adversity faced.
Line by Line Meaning
Bang bang go the coffin nails, like a breath exhaled,
The sound of death is a fleeting, momentary thing.
Then gone forever.
But its impact lasts forever.
It seems like just yesterday, how did I miss the red flags raise?
We often ignore warning signs, only to be shocked when tragedy strikes.
Think back to the days we laughed.
Memories of happier times intensify the pain of tragedy.
We braved these bitter storms together.
Facing adversity as a community can help us endure hardships.
Then brought to his knees he cried,
Even the strongest can be vulnerable to the harshness of life.
But on his feet he died.
But they also possess immense resilience and strength in the face of adversity.
What God would damn a heart?
The singer questions how a higher power could allow such suffering and tragedy.
And what God drove us apart?
He further questions how this higher power has created divisions among people.
What God could make it stop?
He calls for an end to all the pain and tragedy.
Let this end.
He pleads to bring an end to this suffering.
Eighteen years pushed to the ledge.
The years of hardship have brought him to the brink.
It's come to this,
The pain has become overwhelming.
A weightless step.
Even the smallest of actions can have the heaviest consequences.
On the way down singing,
Even in the face of darkness and despair, we can still find moments of hope and light.
Bang bang from the closet walls,
The sound of violent death is all around us, even in unexpected places.
The schoolhouse halls,
Schools that should be a safe space can be breeding grounds for tragedy.
The shotgun's loaded.
The potential for violence and destruction is always present.
Push me and I'll push back.
There is a limit to how much someone can take before they fight back.
I'm done asking, I demand.
The time for pleading and asking for help is over; more proactive steps must be taken.
From a nation under God,
Even in a country that is supposedly guided by a higher power, terrible things still happen.
I feel it's love like a cattle prod.
Society's view of love can sometimes be painful and oppressive.
Born free, but still they hate.
Even if someone is supposed to have certain rights and freedoms, they can still face discrimination and hate.
A born me, no I can't change
People are born a certain way, and they can't and shouldn't have to change for society to accept them.
It's always darkest just before the dawn.
There can be glimmers of hope and light even in the darkest moments.
So stay awake with me, let's prove them wrong.
The singer urges listeners to remain vigilant and not give up hope in fighting against the tragedies of the world.
The cold river washed him away,
The river represents the passage of time, and how tragedy can wash away someone's life in an instant.
But how could we forget.
The singer reminds people not to forget the victims of tragedy and to continue fighting for justice.
The gatherings hold candles, but not their tongues.
Despite holding vigils, too many people remain silent in the face of tragedy and injustice.
And too much blood has flown from the wrist,
The song acknowledges the tragedy of suicide and self-harm among young people and how they can be deeply impacted by hate and discrimination.
Of the children shamed for those they chose to kiss.
Children and teenagers facing discrimination for their sexuality or identity can be at a higher risk for depression and suicide.
Who will rise to stop the blood.
The song ultimately appeals to the listener to take action, to stand up and help prevent tragedies from happening again.
We're calling for,
The singer and the community are asking for change and for society to recognize that we need to change our ways.
Insisting on, a different beat, yeah.
They want society and its values to change, to march to a different rhythm, a more inclusive and loving one.
A brand new song, whoa, oh
The singer imagines a future where love and acceptance are the norm, and everyone can live their lives freely and authentically.
Make it stop.
The song repeats its plea for the violence and tragedy to end.
This life chose me, I'm not lost in sin
The singer affirms that they were born a certain way and that they shouldn't be condemned for it.
And proud I stand, of who I am,
They refuse to be ashamed of their identity or their experiences of pain and tragedy.
I plan to go on living
The song ends on a hopeful note, with the singer pledging to keep living their life and fighting for a better world.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: BRANDON BARNES, JOSEPH PRINCIPE, TIMOTHY MCILRATH, ZACH BLAIR
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Sarah Naiman
Please don’t give up hope! It also brought me to tears and means more than I can describe... Your words are incredibly important to me and I’m so grateful you are still here to offer them, too. Thank you for sharing and I hope you might be interested in helping out with a project I’ve been working on for years.
This song and message is very powerful and I hope to show the positive impact it’s had on not only my life but so many others... it was in part inspired by a letter I wrote to the band.
If you love the band Rise Against and what they stand for, we’re hoping to hear how music has created an impact in people and the world around them.
Like frontman Tim Mcilrath says, “Like us still believes in the power of music to change lives — to change everything.”
We’re looking for people to answer these questions for a new project in progress:
Q: How has Rise Against influenced you?
Q: How are you trying to make positive changes in your community?
Please submit your answers to the following link:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdbTBW9qx8WPg6gO_b9Zs0DeOiZ_MqxF0nfm6iDbsDhIHV24w/viewform?usp=sf_link
Thank you!
@PostPositiveMedia
postpositivemedia.com
Hayden Dutton
Words can never and will never express just how much this song means to me, how it saved me and how it has been a symbol of strength and hope for so many people in the LGBT community who go through so much pain struggling to find acceptance and equality, to be treated with some level of respect for their very existence, all because they just love somebody.
It hits me hard, I lost my ex-boyfriend to suicide. He was happy with me, he truly was, but his life...I knew he was struggling so hard. His parents never accepted him or us, his Dad abused him and his Mum just let it happen, she was indifferent, she just didn’t care at all. They were horrible people, I hated them, I wanted to get him away from them but at the time I didn’t have the power to. He was severely bullied at his school, most of the time he would hide out somewhere and sit there, he’d have anxiety attacks in class, nobody helped him, nobody cared. They just kept hurting him and he would always wonder why.
Then one day he sees me and we spend some time out in a park together, he seemed happy, he just kept holding me and wishing we could stay in the park forever, like that. If I knew that’d be the last day I would ever see him I would’ve taken him and ran, I would’ve done anything to save him. I didn’t see the signs at the time, I didn’t know. So when we parted ways and went back home, I didn’t know that would be the last time I got to hold him, to know him, to see him breathing, to see his smile.
He killed himself by jumping off of a building, he didn’t die straight away, he didn’t get the luxury of a painless death. He was in hospital overnight with broken legs and multiple fractures but the thing that brought him into shock and eventually into a coma where he passed away was head trauma. He had internal bleeding in the head and moments before he fell into a coma he went into violent convulsions, screaming, frothing out the mouth before going into silence.
I had to find all of this out two days after it had happened because I didn’t know a damn thing about it. I found out through his school and then went to the hospital where the staff told me what had happened. I remember the overwhelming numbness I felt, this was my first experience with losing a loved one, I couldn’t bring myself to believe it. I thought it was a sick joke, a dream I would wake up from but the more hours that passed that day the more I realised this was actually happening. I couldn’t process it. I went to his house and his Mum came to the door and told me to “fuck off.” I was a nobody to them, I was unwelcome. I wanted to rip the door down and bash that bitch until she was dead, it should’ve been them, not him, that’s what I thought.
When I got home I sat in my room and stared at the roof, that’s when it all hit. The memories of us, every time he smiled, his voice, seeing his photo’s, our photo’s, his last statuses, everything, every footprint of his existence. He was gone and I was still here wondering why my heart was beating.
The first time I cried that day was when I went for a walk, my parents didn’t even know what was going on, I seemed normal to them. There was this open stretch of field I used to go to every time I walked, I went there and collapsed. That was when I screamed, that was when I cried. I sat there until it was pitch black and dark, crying, overwhelmed with it all. I didn’t want to go back home, I didn’t want to be in those four walls of my bedroom and sleep or live or eat dinner or do anything, I felt like I didn’t deserve to when he was dead, when he lost everything. I couldn’t handle it. In the coming days my parents found out and I had to go to therapy as I fell into a rapidly declining depression. I was stealing alcohol from my Dad and drinking it late at night in my room, I almost overdosed on my Mum’s sleeping pills because I wanted to die too. I wasn’t allowed to go his funeral because I wasn’t family, his parents didn’t want me to attend. I felt broken inside, completely broken.
A day after his funeral I went to his grave and held onto it, it was the closest I had been to him since losing him. Now he was in the ground, I didn’t even know if he was there in the coffin or if it was empty and they burned him into ashes and have him somewhere or just tossed him away. I remember the anger I had for his parents, the nerve they had even hosting a funeral like they ever gave a damn about him. I wondered if anybody even knew what they had done to him, the abuse he suffered, I wondered if anybody at his school even cared or pretended to “mourn” him for attention, posting fake “R.I.P” statuses and shit like that making people believe they were good people, they all contributed. Nobody did anything to stop his bullying, nobody stood up and said something. I was the only one who truly saw him for who he is and the only one who loved him and he knew that, that’s why he would say that to me. The only times he smiled were when he was with me. But sometimes...it’s not good enough because the pain is so great that they just want it to go away completely and they think they will never be able to escape it. All I could think was he was finally at peace, it was over, his pain was over. But he’d never exist again, he was gone, nobody else would ever know why he killed himself. I wonder if I’m the only one who actually remembers him the way he would want to be remembered all these years later.
I still mourn him, even though I moved on four years later and I’m living my own life, with my current partner, going one day at a time. I’ll never forget him and I’ll always have a place in my heart where he resides, I’ll always love him.
Because of love, these people lost their lives, he lost his life. Each life lost is like a knife to the stomach of all of us growing up being Gay, having these feelings, struggling with them. It guts me, every time I hear of another death it takes me back to my ex, the utter devastation of loss, someone with every right in the world to live, who could contribute so much to the world and shine so brightly, who could make someone so fucking happy one day...they never will. They never get the chance. Some of these people die believing they’re all alone, believing they’re worthless and have no future. They die sad, afraid, broken, empty...alone. I hate that part, dying alone, nobody deserves to feel all alone and like they are hated, that they don’t deserve to exist because a bunch of cunts said so.
All we do is love, it’s not a crime or a sin, anyone who says it is are pathetic and for every innocent life lost, they are the ones who deserved to take their place because they are the ones with the guns and every time they say this shit that hurts someone else, they pull the trigger and unload the bullets. They kill people, they should never be allowed to get away with it.
This song is a symbol that we stand in solidarity with the victims of hate crime, homophobia and bullying. It’s also a symbol of fighting against mental illness, depression and suicide, irrespective of sexuality or race or gender or whatever. This song is about equality and standing up for what’s right.
All I can say is thank you, thank you for making this. Words can never express how powerful this is and how much it means to us.
Aris Kristiawan
Woah, woah
Bang, bang go the coffin nails, like a breath exhaled
Then gone forever
It seems like just yesterday, how did I miss the red flags raised?
Think back to the days we laughed
We braved these bitter storms together
Then brought to his knees he cried
But on his feet he died
What God would damn a heart?
And what God drove us apart?
What God could?
Make it stop
Let this end
Eighteen years pushed to the ledge
It's come to this
A weightless step
On the way down singing
Woah, woah
Bang, bang from the closet walls
The schoolhouse halls
The shotgun's loaded
Push me and I'll push back
I'm done asking, I demand
From a nation under God
I feel its love like a cattle prod
I'm born free, but still they hate
I'm born me, no I can't change
It's always darkest just before the dawn
So stay awake with me, let's prove them wrong
Make it stop
Let this end
Eighteen years pushed to the ledge
It's come to this
A weightless step
On the way down singing
Woah, woah
The cold river washed him away
But how could we forget?
The gatherings hold candles, but not their tongues
And too much blood has flown from the wrists
Of the children shamed for those they chose to kiss
Who will rise to stop the blood?
We're calling for
Insisting on, a different beat, yeah
A brand new song
Whoa, whoa
A brand new song
Make it stop
Let this end
This life chose me, I'm not lost in sin
And proud I stand of who I am
I plan to go on living
Make it stop
Let this end
All these years pushed to the ledge
But proud I stand, of who I am
I plan to go on living
D2εαW
Woah, woah
Bang, bang go the coffin nails, like a breath exhaled
Then gone forever
It seems like just yesterday, how did I miss the red flags raised?
Think back to the days we laughed
We braved these bitter storms together
Then brought to his knees he cried
But on his feet he died
What God would damn a heart?
And what God drove us apart?
What God could?
Make it stop
Let this end
Eighteen years pushed to the ledge
It's come to this
A weightless step
On the way down singing
Woah, woah
Bang, bang from the closet walls
The schoolhouse halls
The shotgun's loaded
Push me and I'll push back
I'm done asking, I demand
From a nation under God
I feel its love like a cattle prod
I'm born free, but still they hate
I'm born me, no I can't change
It's always darkest just before the dawn
So stay awake with me, let's prove them wrong
Make it stop
Let this end
Eighteen years pushed to the ledge
It's come to this
A weightless step
On the way down singing
Woah, woah
The cold river washed him away
But how could we forget?
The gatherings hold candles, but not their tongues
And too much blood has flown from the wrists
Of the children shamed for those they chose to kiss
Who will rise to stop the blood?
We're calling for
Insisting on, a different beat, yeah
A brand new song
Whoa, whoa
A brand new song
Make it stop
Let this end
This life chose me, I'm not lost in sin
And proud I stand of who I am
I plan to go on living
Make it stop
Let this end
All these years pushed to the ledge
But proud I stand, of who I am
I plan to go on living
LordofWolves92
I think if I ever met this band face-to-face I would just break down crying. Every song a miracle, every verse a prayer.
Cesar Castillo
I was always comfortable in my own skin but knowing Tim McIlrath and his friends were behind me and my siblings gave me that extra boost in High School to announce my homosexuality to the entire student body on Tues October 11 2005 (National Coming Out Day). I was literally listening to them while I was in front of the entire school on my iPod. While some were jerks to me afterwards you should’ve seen the jocks attack those bullies for me. I wasn’t a jock myself but they invited me to sit at their table from then on for having the courage to out myself.
ZenoAkameBeats
@TheUnderDog get lost with that shit attitude. People can interpret music differently. If he so chooses to see rise against lyrics as his own form of prayer who are you to say anything about it. Go back to the gutter you neckbeard. Let people enjoy things.
TheUnderDog
Get lost with that religious crap
ZenoAkameBeats
I was literally left speechless when i met them. I had everything planned thay i wanted to say and when i was face to face with Tim especially i just froze with the dumbest happiest expression in my face. They werent allowed to take pictures because of the time constraints but they said screw that and did it anyway. I love all of them. Been my inspirations in life and music since i was 8 years old.
Mikiah Storm
"Every song a miracle, every verse a prayer." Yes
Trixie Lulamoon
Thinking about this song again after the at this time recent Colorado shooting. Feels like while the open minded have become more accepting, those who aren't have just become more rabid with how much they hate LGBT people.
It was really nice to have a band like Rise Against in 2011 release a song that unapologetically says "It's ok to be gay". It was really appreciated by young adults like me at the time. I still appreciate it at age 30.
Any young people out there, it does get better. Take care of yourselves and love those who love you regardless of your identity.
MinnesotanSyrup
10 years and this song is still relevant. When will people learn?
theytookmyname666
Hate has been a part of humanity for all of human history. There will be bad days, but there will be good days. There will be awesome days. It's always darkest before the dawn.
Joshua
its propaganda man ... Media pushin always got a narrative