We'll Be Here (When You're Gone)

i bet you john wrote this song in buffalo when he went back to his old house where he grew up with his family...he said that going back to buffalo was his main source of inspiration for "let love in"

so i was thinking that in this song maybe he's talking about his family? "we missed our chance but not for long" maybe during in his childhood with the death of his parents his family might have fallen apart a little but he's saying in this song that in his heart his family will forever be strong..even when the people around him are gone

Okay I don't really know what this song is about yet and I'm going to sound like a crazed maniac but so far I decided that... This song could possibly be about the state of the world and the war etcetera. For example: 'The ones who fight and die are the truth inside the lie' meaning the soldiers have good intentions and are fighting for something they belive in, which is just a big lie from the Government. Maybe the voice no one could hear were the protestors and those who voted against the Government who couldn't be heard because they were elceted and doing whatever they desired and everyone was just standing by...but not for long. I did read that John was a big news buff and Robby's blogs are very polotical, anyway insult me all you want...

I absolutely love this song! But I too am not sure what it is about. I think it's about the Dolls music career. Like when it says "we missed our chance but not for long", I think it's talking about they we're given an offer to tour with some or something of the sort, but the declined and missed out on alot, but shortly after got another chance. And then the part that says "Then one day we realized/That they couldn't hear our voice" I think it's talking about their beginning career and no one heard of them...just what I think though

It's about Buffalo, and if you're from Buffalo, it's obvious.

John said during the Darien Lake concert on July 22nd that it was about Buffalo, and "it is our song and no one else's".

boynamedgoo is right. btw, how kick-ass was that show at Darien? they were so on! as always! :-D

Okay, so maybe this song is definitely and definitively about Buffalo, but I'm going to post my interpretation anyway. :-P The first time I heard it, it immediately reminded me of Native Americans.

And through the fence I see a ghost Of a place that used to breathe You know it choked away the sun But we still had food to eat

This used to be our land, land that used to live, land that used to give us life...

And now everyone is gone To a place that won't be home Can they keep their family strong? Will they make it on their own?

...but now we've been pushed far away from it, to a reservation. Can we keep our culture and families together, even though we've been forced from our home?

And we'll be standing when you're gone And we'll be heard again We missed our chance but not for long I know somehow we will hold on we'll be here When you're gone

When your unsustainable civilization finally collapses, we'll still be here to rebuild what you couldn't completely destroy, if we can only hold on until then.

The following verses also fit this theme, but they're a little obvious, so I don't want to waste space by reprinting them here. Just scroll up and re-read the whole song with this interpretation in mind, and you'll see what I mean.

one of the better ones off let love in ..

One of the better ones? No offense man, but to me Let Love In was a return to greatness for them in my opinion. Sure it didn't get a lot of praise critically, but fuck the critics. Their best album since Dizzy Up The Girl.

This is about how the steel mills closed down in Buffalo and when that happened, so did the jobs. A lot of people moved out of the city because of that. He's talking about how the city is resilient and will become better and stronger.

John has explained this before, I've seen it on YouTube.

I know this song was written about Buffalo, but listening to it in 2022 makes me think of Ukraine and the incredible and resilient Ukrainian people struggling and fighting for their freedom and their identity in the face of the Russian invasion.