What No Applause For Arson is about
One of the angriest songs on Built To Refuse. It refuses to make rebellion comfortable or presentable for an audience ("Don't clap, don't cheer"), and the fire in the title stands for anger that won't be managed, polished or turned into a slogan.
No Applause For Arson lyrics
I don’t want your future
It smells like rust and debt
Every dream you hand me
Has a price tag on its neck
You talk freedom like a slogan
Printed clean and sold in bulk
I learned mine in back alleys
Where survival wasn’t cute
Don’t clap
Don’t cheer
This isn’t made
For you to feel better
No applause for arson
No flowers for the flame
If it burns the right direction
Then it earns its name
No silence for the violent
No peace for the tame
If you’re scared of where this goes
You were never built for change
They say calm down, be reasonable
Like rage is some disease
But nothing ever changed politely
Nothing begged on its knees
I don’t trust a clean rebellion
Or a fist that’s raised for show
If your anger’s got a dress code
You’ve already fucking lost
Don’t quote me
Don’t frame me
I don’t want
Your version of this
No applause for arson
No cameras in my face
If the city starts to panic
We’re probably doing it right
No mercy for the measured
No prayer for the safe
I don’t want your controlled burn
I want escape
I don’t dream of better systems
I dream of broken locks
I don’t care who writes the history
I care who hits back
You want order
I want air
You want quiet
I don’t care
No applause for arson
Just sparks and smoke and sound
If it scares the comfortable
Let it burn down
No legacy, no message
No moral to explain
Just teeth, just noise, just friction
And the truth it leaves in flame