The first band members were skinheads (although not white power skinheads). After a few years and lineup changes, the band and their style changed slightly. By 1996, Al Barr was the only remaining original member of The Bruisers. One notable release by the band was a 7" split with Barr's future band Dropkick Murphys in 1997. After 10 years, the band broke up in 1998. The Bruisers had a reunion concert on September 14, 2005 at The Roxy in Boston. The bill included local acts The Ducky Boys and Tommy & The Terrors, as well as The Casualties from New York City.[1] The Bruisers played a second reunion show on August 31, 2012 headlining the first night of the 2000 Tons of TNT Fest at the Webster Theater in Hartford, CT.
Till The End
The Bruisers Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
As I listen to a tale
Of a friendship that was won and lost
A long time ago
And I just can't pretend
That it doesn't hurt at all
You'll never see the Day
That I walk away
No fear good friends
Brothers till the end
That's what we said so long ago
No fear good friends
Brothers till the end
Means more to me than you will ever know
Do you ever think back
To the nights we swore it would last
You turned your back you lost your way
Forever that's what we said
Those dreams we had some are coming true
But I've done it all in spite of you
Till the end that's what we said
But where are you now
No fear good friends
Brothers till the end
That's what we said so long ago
No fear good friends
Brothers till the end
Means more to me than you will ever know
Call it fate call it what you like
But you stole away like a thief in the night
Once I called you my brother
And I just can't forgive
I blame you for the damage done
I never thought you'd turn and run
As though you never knew me
And you never will again
The Bruisers’ “Till the End” is a heartfelt song about the struggles and pain of losing a friendship. The song starts with the singer drinking ale and listening to a story about a lost friendship. The telling of the tale brings back memories of that deep and strong friendship that is painful to see it broken. The singer can't deny that it still hurts and that he will never turn his back on his friend, no matter how much distance is between them.
The chorus repeatedly reinforces the promise of brotherhood until the end. The lyrics speak of the dreams they shared, but the friend turned their back and lost their way. The singer has accomplished many things, but what he has lost is the friendship that he swore he would keep. The bridge talks about how the ex-friend stole away like a thief in the night, taking with him the brotherhood that was so important to the singer. He blames the friend for the damage it did and didn't believe the friend would run away and abandon him.
Line by Line Meaning
Drinking a Familiar ale
Starting off this reflection with a drink of a familiar ale.
As I listen to a tale
Listening to a story about a friendship that was lost a long time ago.
Of a friendship that was won and lost
The story is about a friendship that was both achieved and then lost.
A long time ago
This happened in the distant past.
And I just can't pretend
I cannot ignore or deny the pain and hurt I feel.
That it doesn't hurt at all
I cannot pretend that the loss of this friendship doesn't cause me pain.
You'll never see the Day
The day will never come when I abandon this friendship.
That I walk away
I will never leave or abandon this friendship.
I'll never turn my back on you
I will never betray or abandon my friend.
No fear good friends
We are a group of friends who do not fear anything.
Brothers till the end
We are more than just friends, we are as close as brothers and will remain so until the end.
That's what we said so long ago
We made this promise to each other a long time ago.
Means more to me than you will ever know
The bond we share means more to me than I can express.
Do you ever think back
Do you ever reminisce about the past?
To the nights we swore it would last
To the nights we made promises to each other that this friendship would last forever.
You turned your back you lost your way
You betrayed our friendship and lost your path in life.
Forever that's what we said
We had promised each other that our friendship would last forever.
Those dreams we had some are coming true
Some of the dreams we shared are starting to come true.
But I've done it all in spite of you
I have achieved my dreams without your help or support, despite your betrayal.
Till the end that's what we said
We promised each other to remain friends until the end of our lives.
But where are you now
But now you have disappeared and I don't know where you are.
Call it fate call it what you like
Whether you call it destiny or coincidence, what happened is inevitable.
But you stole away like a thief in the night
You left without notice or warning, just like a thief in the night.
Once I called you my brother
I used to consider and call you my brother.
And I just can't forgive
I cannot forgive you for betraying our friendship and disappearing without a trace.
I blame you for the damage done
I hold you responsible for the harm and pain caused by your betrayal.
I never thought you'd turn and run
I never imagined that you would abandon or betray our friendship.
As though you never knew me
It feels as though our friendship never existed, as though you never knew me.
And you never will again
Our friendship is over and you will never be a part of my life again.
Contributed by Jackson C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.