beggars

I just discovered that one of my favorite bands has released a new record. Thrice is an amazing group - musically inventive with lyrics that center on issues of justice, humanity, courage, and faith. I didn't think anything could top their last two studio releases, Vheissu and The Alchemy Index, but I've got hope Beggars may reach even farther.

Thrice is the kind of band whose songs make you feel like they create music in order to make sense of the violence and suffering in this world. As they play, they seek understanding, and by the end of the song, you, the listener, have gained a bit of clarity and hope, as well. You feel as if the horrors you perceive in the world do exist and that there are other people who recognize these tragedies and injustices as well, and yet believe that there is another way. You feel as if others believe there is a better way, and that it is coming, that it is something in our hands.

It is this theme of resistance, hope, and compassion in Thrice's music that made me do a doubletake when I found the following lyrics in a song called All The World Is Mad (which is actually quite a lovely track - Dustin Kensrue's vocals remind me a great deal of Muse frontman, Matt Bellamy, on this one).

we can't medicate man to perfection again

we can't legislate peace in our hearts

we can't educate sin from our souls, it's been there from the start

If these lyrics are true, Thrice, what then?

I'm sure there is something more to be done or to believe in. With Thrice, there always is.

In Exile

Thrice | MySpace Music Videos

My heart is filled with songs of forever

The city that endures when all is new

I know I don't belong here

I'll never call this place my home, I'm just passing through