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To build temples everywhere
Not in space but in time The Shondes – I Watched the Temple Fall
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The influence of famed Jewish philosopher Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel’s writings on Jewish ritual as architecture of time is especially apparent in these lines.
Singer Louisa Solomon has discussed the relationship of his work to this song.
Heschel marching with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama in 1965:
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This idea connects to the “punch a hole into the sky” lyric in the chorus. Singer Louisa Rachel Solomon explains:
I kept saying, “You’re basically living in The Bell Jar, and you need to let some light penetrate the space you’re living in.” I know for that person, that’s not what it feels like; it feels like the light’s not there. But I kept thinking: I wish I could punch a hole into that false sky you’ve constructed for yourself. Again, I know that for people that suffer from depression, it’s not that simple. But, I wanted to write a song that talked about the position of feeling so much love for someone and wanting to say, “I hear you that you feel totally contained in this dark, tiny place. Together, we can hopefully transform that.”
I have to melt the ice inside him
I will show him dirt and blood
I will prove that even he wants to be loved
He’s just so good at being alone
And as soon as you touch him he’s gone
I will fight for his attention
And you know that I will force the connection The Shondes – Dr. Manhattan
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Singer Louisa Solomon says:
I’m not a comic book nerd, but it just so happens Dr. Manhattan strongly resembles many of my ex-boyfriends. In that song I’m referencing Dr. Manhattan (the character from Watchmen) because he’s perfectly emblematic of a particular kind of emotionally detached masculinity. He’s so focused on obligation and isn’t really able to connect with other human beings. There’s this one scene in the book where he’s able to simultaneously be sleeping with his girlfriend and conducting experiments in the lab, and that struck me as so ultimately horrible. Like, intimate connection with his partner was on the same level as everything else he had to complete on his list of tasks. I’ve certainly had this experience, feeling more like a hologram than a full human being, and I feel like many other people have, as well."
There's a brave new world that's raging inside of me Against Me! – FUCKMYLIFE666
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One of the more overtly hopeful lyrics on the album, describing moving forward from the past. While it references Aldous Huxley’s famous dystopian novel, the more relevant reference may be the Shakespeare quote from which that book takes its name.
O wonder!
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,
That has such people in’t.
— The Tempest, Act V, Scene 1
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What is this?
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Grace says this line was inspired by her father:
…definitely with the chorus, and the imagery of wanting to piss on the walls of your house and chop those brass rings off your fat fucking fingers, I was just really trying to get across that feeling of anger and those were the two most illustrative things I could think of. The line “I wanna piss on the walls of your house” was inspired by my father actually. My mother told me that when I was too young to remember, my dad used to come home drunk and piss on the walls of the house, so that’s where that line came from"
Your fat fucking fingers
As if you were a king-maker Against Me! – Black Me Out
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Some fans have speculated that this song is a response to Against Me!’s experience being signed to Sire. The major label released two of their records, New Wave and White Crosses, whereas Transgender Dysphoria Blues is self-released. Grace denies that this was the motivation behind the song.
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In the course of this verse, the singer feels the despair that leads her to thoughts of suicide, then she considers suicide methods, and finally envisions one of those methods.
In her memoir, Tranny, Grace recalls times when she thought that she would die by suicide, or didn’t care if she was alive or dead. In a 2014 interview, she explained that her decision to transition was a matter of life or death:
[I]t’s scary; I’m not gonna lie. It’s really frightening feeling like there’s so much uncertainty, and … it wasn’t really a decision because it was based on [this realization]: “Either I’m going to kill myself, or I need to address this.”
Where there is fear and misunderstanding of trans people, trans suicide risk is high. In the United States alone (where Grace has lived for most of her life), 41% of respondents to the 2014 National Transgender Discrimination Survey reported that they had attempted suicide. Among trans people who had suffered abuse, bullying, family rejection, or homelessness, the rates were even higher.
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