Prayer of the Refugee

There is a song that I enjoyed listening to but never understood what the lyrics meant. (Mostly because I couldn't understand half the words being sung but nevertheless when i googled "Songs about Immigration" Rise Against's "Prayer of the Refugee" (Written by Tim McIlrath) was one of them. After reading the lyrics i realized "Wow this song is directly about immigrants in this country." Here are the lyrics to the song:

Warm yourself by the fire, son,
And the morning will come soon.
I'll tell you stories of a better time,
In a place that we once knew.

Before we packed our bags
And left all this behind us in the dust,
We had a place that we could call home,
And a life no one could touch.

Don't hold me up now,
I can stand my own ground,
I don't need your help now,
You won't let me down, down, down!

Don't hold me up now,
I can stand my own ground,
I don't need your help now,
You won't let me down, down, down!

Down!

We are the angry and the desperate,
The hungry, and the cold,
We are the ones who kept quiet,
And always did what we were told.

But we've been sweating while you slept so calm,
In the safety of your home.
We've been pulling out the nails that hold up
Everything you've known.

Don't hold me up now,
I can stand my own ground,
I don't need your help now,
You won't let me down, down, down!

Don't hold me up now,
I can stand my own ground,
I don't need your help now,
You won't let me down, down, down!

So open your eyes child,
Let's be on our way.
Broken windows and ashes
Are guiding the way.

Keep quiet no longer,
We'll sing through the day,
Of the lives that we've lost,
And the lives we've reclaimed.

Go!

Don't hold me up now,
I can stand my own ground,
I don't need your help now,
You won't let me down, down, down!

Don't hold me up now,
I can stand my own ground,
I don't need your help now,
You won't let me down, down, down!

Don't hold me up...
(I don't need your help, I'll stand my ground)
Don't hold me up...
(I don't need your help)
No! No! No!
Don't hold me up!
(I don't need your help, I'll stand my ground)
Don't hold me up!
(I don't need your help, I'll stand my ground)
Don't let me down, down, down, down, down!


In the second verse it says "Before we packed our bags And left all this behind us in the dust, We had a place that we could call home, And a life no one could touch." This is the Immigrant explaining that before they moved to the U.S. their lives were there own and no one controlled them. He then says "We are the angry and the desperate, The hungry, and the cold, We are the ones who kept quiet, And always did what we were told." This explains the conditions these immigrants are in our country and how they keep to themselves harming no one. Finally he says "But we've been sweating while you slept so calm, In the safety of your home. We've been pulling out the nails that hold up Everything you've known." This explains that while the ignorant people in this country live their easy lives, everything they use has probably been made by an immigrant. We don't realize how much of use immigrants our in this country and yet we discriminate them so much. It's disgusting to see these people who are just trying to support themselves (like we all are) get trashed almost like they are not human. It's terrible and this song has helped me realize how much immigrants do for us citizens.