“Desert of Song”
Davis Chandler
Block 6
Between the Buried and Me
BACK
Desert of Song
The Radios stopped tuning.
The static is forbidden.
The chords quit strumming...
But we found our new home.
It will rain (falls so slow)
It will rain down here.
The drums quit thumping.
These tones are forbidden.
The throat can't stop singing...
The scarecrow is watching.
It will rain (falls so slow)
It will rain down here.
BACK
Here, we're awake in the desert of song.
The silence is broken.
Here, we're awake and the silence is broken.
Silence is broken.
Silence is broken.
Here...we...sing...
Sing with the fear.
Fear: the control tower,
The new sun comes by the hour.
Ghosts slowly disappear in the fog...
Silence: the suffering.
We've built back the age-old sound of song.
Here...we...sing...
Sing with the fear.
BACK
Here, we're awake in the desert of song.
The silence is broken.
Here, we're awake and the silence is broken.
Silence is broken.
Silence is broken.
Here...we...sing...
Sing with the fear.
CITATIONS
BACK
Literary: Anaphora

“Silence is broken” is repeated twice
during this chorus, and is repeated other
at other times during the song.
BACK
Literary: Hyperbole

“The silence is broken” is literally untrue
because, silence being abstract, cannot
literally be broken into pieces. The
meaning is that the a group of people
are playing music, which is not silence.
BACK
Literary: Mood

In the second to last stanza of the
paragraph, the song creates a mood of
positivity; that in the face of adversity
(the aliens/government) people will still
find a way to make themselves happy
through, in this case, music.
BACK
Literary: Theme

Desert of Song is apart of a semi-conceptual
album called The Great Misdirect. This
album’s theme is based upon several topics
including the future, and aliens taking over
earth. (Lymangrover).
BACK
Literary: Alliteration

The “scarecrow” refers to Big Brother from
George Orwell’s book 1984. In 1984 Big
Brother was refereed to as the government
surveillance system watching the conduct of
the citizens.
BACK
Literary

This “new home” is the relief from the
control of the outside force. The relief is
music that is made against the strict
rules of the government.
BACK
“The new sun comes up by the hour”

These lyrics are referencing from a past
album from Between the Buried and Me,
Colors, and specifically the song “Sun of
Nothing.” There are other references to
Colors in some of the other songs in The
Great Misdirect.
BACK
Sing with the fear.

As the song ends, one can hear ocean
waves crashing on the shore which then
leads to an 18 minute song about a man
who is searching for a purpose (Swim to
the moon), the same man that plays
music in Desert of Song against the
rules of the government (Shields).
BACK
The Radios stopped tunning,

The first two stanza’s of Desert of Song
are sung by lead guitarist Paul
Waggoner (interview with Waggoner),
whom has been in Between the Buried
and Me since the beginning. He has
also been in Prayer for Cleansing along
with Tommy Rogers.
http://www.fourteeng.net/photos2k6/the_tru
th/truth_btbam11.jpg
BACK
The drums quit thumping,

These next two lines are sung by
Tommy Rogers (interview with Rogers),
lead singer of Between the Buried and
Me. Along with Paul Waggoner, he was
in the band from the beginning and also
played guitar for Prayer for Cleansing.
http://weliveinthecity.com/wordpress/wpcontent/uploads/2008/03/20080313_btbam_044.jpg
BACK
“It will rain…”

This quote is a reference to the middle
part of an earlier Between the Buried
and Me song, “Backwards Marathon.”
This song has similar structure to Desert
of Song (especially in the middle) and
shares the same lyrics, “it will rain.”
“Backwards Marathon” is also one of
Between the Buried and Me’s most
popular songs.
BACK
Citations






"Between The Buried And Me Profile Page: Biography, Interview, and Album
Reviews." Music Emissions. Music Emissions, n.d. Web. 14 May 2010.
<http://www.musicemissions.com/artists/
Between+The+Buried+And+Me#biography>.
Lymangrover, Jason. "allmusic (((Great Misdirect - Overview))) ." allmusic.
N.p., n.d. Web. 21 May 2010. <http://www.allmusic.com/cg/
amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:kvfoxzqaldte>.
"Prayer for Cleansing - Free listening, videos, concerts, stats and pictures at
Last.fm." Last.fm. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 June 2010. <http://www.last.fm/
music/Prayer%2520for%2520Cleansing?ac=prayer%20for%20cleans>.
Shields, Brian. "Between the Buried and Me 'The Great Misdirect' on White Noise
Metal - White Noise Metal Video." White Noise Metal. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 June
2010. <http://whitenoisemetal.typepad.com/white_noise_metal_video_p/2010/
04/between-the-buried-and-me-the-great-misdirect-on-white-noise-metal.html>.
"BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME LYRICS - The Great Misdirect (2009)." DarkLyrics.
N.p., n.d. Web. 1 June 2010. <http://www.darklyrics.com/lyrics/
betweentheburiedandme/thegreatmisdirect.html#5>.
Slevin, Patrick. "Interview with Paul Waggoner of Between the Buried and Me:
Still Digging." The Aquarian. N.p., 19 Jan. 2010. Web. 1 June 2010.
<http://www.theaquarian.com/2010/01/19/
interview-with-paul-waggoner-of-between-the-buried-and-me-still-digging/>.

"Between The Buried And Me (Tommy Rogers) - 3/11/2009 :: Metal Obsession."
Metal Obsession. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 June 2010.
<http://www.metalobsession.net/
between-the-buried-and-me-tommy-rogers-03112009>.

(pictures on slide 1 and 2 came from site)