Fear and Trembling
Gang of Youths Lyrics

There's a moosehead hanging From a wall at a bar at a Nondescript part of the street
The singer observes a moosehead hanged in a bar situated in a dull, uninspiring spot on the road

There's a long-haired boy Making eyes at a john By the lamp-lights hung from the beams
A young man with lengthy hair exchanges glances with a male customer under the lanterns suspended from the ceiling beams

We're at the stumbling phase Of the midnight waltz At a bookend to the weirdest of weeks Me and Arnold walk Pretty hammered and crying "Hey, I'll miss you man, when you leave"
The singer and his friend, Arnold are drunk and emotional, missing each other before they have even parted ways, and this occurs at the end of the strangest weeks they've had

"Yeah, I'll miss you when you leave"
Reinforce the idea of missing someone when they have left

‘Coz there are feelings that are strong And there are ones that are mixed At the dawn of my young life's eclipse I was a boy once, now; I'm a kind-of-adult Catching up on the cool shit I missed
The writer reflects on how they have changed from a boy to a semi-grown up and realizing that some feelings are incredibly strong while some come with mixed emotions. The writer is catching up on the things they missed in life because of various reasons

‘Coz we were raised where the pastors They danced in the aisles With a moshpit up front full of youths So if faith is to lose The mind to win God Then I guess I got nothing to prove
The singer grew up in a religious community where pastors were fun and energetic, but now they aren't sure what to believe in, and the concept of losing their mind to find faith doesn't resonate with them

"I guess I got nothing to prove"
The singer feels no obligation to prove anything or anyone regarding faith

I was waiting on the future But the future only came In the form of greying matter In my only father's brain
The artist was anticipating the future, but it arrived in the shape of aging dad's decaying mind

I'm not afraid of acquiescing To the trials of his old age But of missing all the humanness He'll show when I'm away
The artist isn't scared of the challenges that come with his father's old age but is afraid of forfeiting his father's humanity, he won't be able to see it whenever he is away

And the part of me unspoken And the part that's self-assured Are belligerents divergent In a psychic civil war
The writer's inner-persona that is secure and the one that hasn't been expressed are in a disruptive divergence that creates a war within the mind

But I'm a crier and a fighter Not a faker and a fraud So if losing my religion Is the way to finding God
The writer sees himself as someone who fights and weeps truthfully, not someone who fakes their way through life. For the writer, if losing adherence to his beliefs is a route to find God, he's willing to take it

Then light it up The shadow in my blood "Oh, a weary heart", they say "It shatters it all" So light it up It's bound to be much worse When you get get get get back to the summer If you get get get get back to the summer at all
If the issue is inside him, the writer believes there's no point in staying in the darkness. Light it up, let the light get into his 'shadow' and break his weary heart even if it means things may be worse when they get back to reality

There's an omen now of frailty Hanging heavy from my face A kind of existential loneliness That struts and frets a stage
The writer is feeling a sign of weakness displayed all over his face, and it represents the loneliness manifested by the meaninglessness of existence

And disappears unsatiated by The rhythms of the day Still illuminating nothing But the love I turn away
The writer's loneliness never goes away despite the daily tasks that occupy his time, and the only thing that is illuminated is the love he rejects

And I still care about the present And the weight of circumstance To the muckraking of cowards And a symphony of sass
Despite everything happening, the writer cares about now, concerns from the environment, and other's opinions

While I have questions of mortality The clear and present vast They just yell the words "pretentious" "With no clarity or class"
The writer has several concerns regarding death, and when he tries to express them, he gets labeled as pretentious and lacking essence

So light ‘em up Their shadows in my blood "Oh, a weary heart", they say "It shatters it all" So line ‘em up It's bound to be much worse Oh, when you get get get get back to the summer If you get get get get back to the summer When you get get back to the summer If you get get get get back to the summer at all
Once again, the writer suggests lighting everything up to see the shadows in his blood, and even though things may seem worse when they get back to reality, they should light everything up.

I feel everything Yeah, I feel it all And I feel it in my bones and in my fucking skull I feel everything Yeah, I feel it all And I never look back Oh, and I feel it in my heart attack
The writer claims to feel everything, whether it's joy or pain, and feels it in his bones and the skull. Everything he feels, he feels it all and never looks back, and it's evident by the feeling in his chest

And I waited on forever But forever never came Just a latent sense of loyalty To the things I love in vain
The writer was waiting for a long time, but what came never arrived, and all he got was a hidden loyalty sense to something that he loved but can't seem to get

And now I'm terrified of loving ‘Coz I'm terrified of pain And of missing out on human things By cowering away
The writer is scared of loving because he's afraid of the heartbreak that comes with it and wants to avoid missing out on anything human by hiding away.

So light ‘em up Those shadows in my blood "Oh, a weary heart", they say "It shatters it all" So light ‘em up It's bound to be much worse Oh when you get get get get back to the summer If you get get get get back to the summer When you get get back to the summer If you get get get get back to the summer at all
The writer's solution is to light everything up and destroy the shadows in his blood, even though it may seem worse when they get back to the summer.

"Then light ‘em up Their shadows in my blood "Oh, a weary heart", they say "It shatters it all" So line ‘em up It's bound to be much worse Oh, when you get get get get back to the summer If you get get get get back to the summer When you get get back to the summer If you get get get get back to the summer at all"
Reiteration of line 11 and 16 combined to the end of the song