Rites of Spring was an American emocore band from Washington, D.C. Although… Read Full Bio ↴Rites of Spring was an American emocore band from Washington, D.C. Although they were only together from the spring of 1984 through the winter of 1986, they helped define the Revolution Summer sound along with Dag Nasty and Embrace, among others.

Following the band's dissolution, singer and guitarist Guy Picciotto, guitarist Eddie Janney, and drummer Brendan Canty formed One Last Wish with Embrace alumnus Michael Hampton. The three later joined former Rites bassist Mike Fellows for a quasi-reincarnation of Rites of Spring named Happy Go Licky, releasing an LP/CD of various live concert recordings though never producing any studio work. Picciotto and Canty eventually teamed up with the former Embrace singer Ian MacKaye (owner of the band’s label, Dischord Records) in Fugazi.

Rites of Spring was the band’s self-titled debut album from 1985. Its twelve songs were recorded at Inner Ear Studios in February of 1985, and released on vinyl in June of that year as Dischord Records #16. The album was rereleased on CD and cassette in 1987, with an additional track from the same session, "Other Way Around", as well as the four songs from the Rites' follow-up EP, All Through a Life, Dischord #22. The CD and cassette originally retained the number "16" while the 1991 repress, as well as the 2001 remastered version of the same seventeen songs, were numbered "16CD" and given the new title End on End.

The band are named after Igor Stravinsky's famous ballet composition entitled The Rite of Spring/Le Sacre du printemps. The piece is widely dissonant and the context of the ballet is extremely bleak, revolving around pagan rituals.

In Silence/Words Away
Rites of Spring Lyrics

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Sometimes it's not the giving
When what's given is gone and for free
But in taking what it took from me
And I'm not living
In someone else's eyes I am lived
Recreated in expectation so once again I'm missed
And left

Far, far away from you

The only way out is through myself to you
With words that do no justice but what have I left to use?
Because I can't stand this silence, it speaks too loud for me
A song that fails and fails me once again denied release
And left

Words, words away from you
From where my heart wants to be

Is there a beauty in promises broken?

Overall Meaning

In Rites of Spring's song In Silence/Words Away, the lyrics contemplate the complexities of relationships and communication. The opening lines, "Sometimes it's not the giving, when what's given is gone and for free, but in taking what it took from me, and I'm not living" suggest that even when we give freely of ourselves in a relationship, there is still a cost when our emotions and vulnerabilities are taken without reciprocity. The next lines, "In someone else's eyes I am lived, recreated in expectation so once again I'm missed and left far, far away from you" illustrate the feeling of being defined by someone else's expectations and feeling distant from them as a result.

The chorus, "The only way out is through myself to you, with words that do no justice but what have I left to use? Because I can't stand this silence, it speaks too loud for me, a song that fails and fails me once again denied release and left, words, words away from you from where my heart wants to be" highlights the struggle to find a way to communicate effectively despite feeling like words are inadequate. The silence in a relationship can be deafening and painful, leaving one feeling disconnected from the other person and unsure of how to bridge the divide.

In the final line, "Is there a beauty in promises broken?" there is a sense of questioning whether the pain and broken promises in a relationship can still hold some level of beauty or value. The lyrics of In Silence/Words Away express the raw emotions and difficulties of navigating relationships and finding a way to communicate through the silence.

Line by Line Meaning

Sometimes it's not the giving
At times, giving is not the only solution

When what's given is gone and for free
When what's given is already used up or given away at no cost

But in taking what it took from me
But, taking what was taken from me

And I'm not living
And I'm not fully alive

In someone else's eyes I am lived
To someone else, I am just existing

Recreated in expectation so once again I'm missed
I am remade to fit someone's idea of me, and thus, I am once again overlooked

And left
And abandoned

Far, far away from you
Completely distant from you

The only way out is through myself to you
The only escape from this situation is to confront you and myself

With words that do no justice but what have I left to use?
Even if words fail to convey my message, what other choice do I have?

Because I can't stand this silence, it speaks too loud for me
I cannot tolerate this quietness as it is too deafening