Straight Line Stitch is an American metalcore band from Knoxville, Tennesse… Read Full Bio ↴Straight Line Stitch is an American metalcore band from Knoxville, Tennessee, formed in 2000. They issued an EP and a demo album before adding female vocalist Alexis Brown from Clarksville to the band in 2003. Brown sang on their self-released 2006 album To Be Godlike and then on an EP entitled The Word Made Flesh for which they filmed a video for the single "Remission". The video's director, Dale Resteghini, owned the production company Raging Nation Films; in 2007 he formed a subsidiary label of Koch Records called Raging Nation Records, and Straight Line Stitch became the label's first signing. Their first nationally distributed album, When Skies Wash Ashore, appeared on the imprint in 2008, with another album, The Fight of Our Lives, arriving in 2011. The Fight of Our Lives reached No. 5 on the Billboard Heatseekers chart and No. 34 on the Top Independent Albums chart. On July 26, 2014, during The Dog Days Of Summer Tour, Straight Line Stitch released their self-titled EP while announcing they are still working on a full-length album. In 2016 bassist Jason White and Alexis Brown had a baby.

Sound of Silence
Straight Line Stitch Lyrics

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My plight has have fallen on deaf ears
But you don't hear
In shallow graves we lay
Living as we all decay

I bury all remarks
But they lay waiting in the dark
I feel your hands around my throat

I feel your hands around my throat

I can't live life
I can't live life this way, I can't carry the weight
I can't live life
I can't live life this way, I cannot compensate

Your oppression cuts me to the bone
I've always known
I'm not heard but there are
Only so many words

I bury all my remarks
But they lay waiting in the dark
I feel your hands around my throat
I feel your hands around my throat

I can't live life
I can't live life this way, I can't carry the weight
I can't live life
I can't live life this way, I cannot compensate

You can't hold me down
I stand my ground, yeah, yeah

My plight have fallen on deaf ears
But you don't hear
In shallow graves we lay
Living as we all decay

I bury all remarks
But they lay waiting in the dark
I feel your hands around my throat
I feel your hands around my throat

I can't live life
I can't live life this way, I can't carry the weight

I can't live life
I can't live life this way, I cannot compensate, compensate

Overall Meaning

In "Sound of Silence," Straight Line Stitch paints a vivid picture of oppression and lack of agency. The lyrics center around the idea that the singer's "plight" has gone unnoticed and unheard. They are living in "shallow graves" as they continue to decay, feeling buried and silenced by their oppressor's actions. The lines "I bury all remarks / But they lay waiting in the dark" further emphasize the sense of being silenced and repressed. But despite the weight they carry and the hands around their throat, they refuse to succumb to this oppression. The lines "I can't live life this way, I can't carry the weight" convey the overwhelming feeling of helplessness and their inability to cope. The powerful chorus, "You can't hold me down / I stand my ground, yeah, yeah," offers a glimmer of hope and resilience to the situation.

Overall, "Sound of Silence" speaks to the experience of feeling oppressed, unheard, and powerless. The lyrics convey the desire to be seen, heard, and ultimately free from the shackles of oppression. The imagery of the shallow grave, the waiting darkness and the hands around the throat reminds us of the physical and mental impact of oppression, while the repeating chorus is a powerful affirmation of strength and perseverance.

Line by Line Meaning

My plight has have fallen on deaf ears
My cry for help has been ignored by those around me

But you don't hear
You fail to listen and understand my struggles

In shallow graves we lay
We live superficially and without purpose

Living as we all decay
We are all slowly losing our humanity

I bury all remarks
I push down my thoughts and feelings

But they lay waiting in the dark
But they still remain, waiting to resurface

I feel your hands around my throat
Your oppressive actions make me feel suffocated and trapped

I can't live life
I cannot continue to exist in this way

I can't carry the weight
I cannot bear the burden of these struggles alone

I cannot compensate
I cannot pretend everything is okay

Your oppression cuts me to the bone
Your actions hurt me deeply on a personal level