Riot On Broad Street
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones Lyrics

My father once told this to me
My father shared with me the gritty history of Boston.

Boston's gritty history
Turbulent and difficult times in Boston's past.

Another ruthless battle
Violent conflict in Boston's history.

in a useless holy war
Conflict based on discrepancies in spiritual beliefs.

Handed down discrepancies
Passing on disagreements and tension between generations.

and tensions that'll never ease
Long-standing animosity with no resolution in sight.

One early afternoon on Broad street
A specific event in Boston that took place on Broad street.

It blew up down there for sure
The situation on Broad street became very intense and possibly violent.

Broad street's just not broad enough
The issues and conflicts in Boston are growing and spilling over into physical space.

and you just don't love God enough
The opposing side's spiritual beliefs are not in line with our own, fueling anger and tension.

and if that isn't odd enough
The situation is so strange and volatile that it defies comprehension.

We've taken too much crap
Our side has borne the brunt of the conflict for long enough.

You've pushed us round the sod enough
The opposing side has exerted their power over us for too long.

We'e scrapped and rapped and jawed enough
We've exhausted all other means of communication or conflict resolution.

poked, provoked and prod enough
The opposing side has instigated and taunted us for too long.

Something's gonna snap
The situation is reaching a breaking point.

Riot down on Broad street
Violent conflict has erupted on Broad street.

Hand me a brick, a stick, a picket
We are willing to use anything at hand to fight back against the opposing side.

Bottle, axe or cobblestone
The violence has escalated, and we are prepared to use deadly force to protect our interests.

And if I'm going down
Even if I am defeated, I will not submit quietly.

Hell, I'm not going down alone
I am prepared to drag others down with me if necessary.

The Boston fire fighting volunteers
A reference to a group of Boston firefighters.

On their way to fight a fire somewhere
The firefighters had a mission to perform elsewhere in the city.

Met with a funeral procession
The firefighters encountered a funeral procession while en route.

proceeding way too slow
The procession impeded the firefighters' progress.

A brownstone burns out of control
A building was on fire and could not be contained by the firefighters.

We need to lay to rest this soul
The tragic death of a person in the building needs to be mourned and recognized.

Loggerheads on broadstreet
Opposing sides locked in a fierce battle on Broad street.

Eye to eye and toe to toe
No quarter given or taken; the struggle is intense and personal.

And when the fight was over
When the conflict was resolved in some way.

they retired to the Clover,
A reference to a specific bar or pub in Boston.

Silver Dollar, Thirsty Scollar
Names of other pubs or bars in the city.

Whatever pubs they had back then
An acknowledgment of the fact that the specific pub names may not be remembered accurately over time.

The Brownstone was in ashes
A building that was central to the conflict on Broad street was completely destroyed by fire.

Broken Bones and bloody gashes
The high cost of the conflict included injury and pain for both sides.

and a casket sat on Broad street
A reminder of the personal cost and tragedy of the conflict.

'til the sun came up again
The night passed, and the reality of the aftermath remained for everyone involved.

There's a Riot down on broad street (x 4)
Reinforcing the idea of the violent conflict that has erupted in this specific place in Boston.