Hostages

Hostages
	;
Album	Bleed Out
Released	August 19, 2022
Length	7:10
Previous Track	"Guys on Every Corner"
Next Track	"Need More Bandages"

Hostages is the ninth song on Bleed Out.

Lyrics[]

There may come a day someday 
When we all look back and laugh
But there's lots of noise in the break room 
Nasty points on the graph

And they're breaking into the broadcast now
Special update from Action News!
Some of what you'll hear in the footage that follows
May not reflect our station's views

We may run out of bullets; 
We're never going to run out of hostages

There's disagreements on procedure
Vocal, bitter divisions
As is often the case in situations like this one
I'll be the one who makes the final decision

Some of you have been here before
Most of you have not
Some will dwell on the details in the future
Or work to keep it out of your thoughts

We may run out of bullets;
We're never going to run out of hostages

If there's one thing I love
It's an infinite resource
If there's one thing worth loving
It's a surplus of supplies

There's a team up on the rooftop
Good luck to the team
When you know you'll never make it out alive
You kind of get to live out your dream

Helicopters in the distance
Music of the spheres on the wind
It's gonna be a rough ride from here down to the exit
Some might look back and laugh at the end

We may run out of bullets;
We're never going to run out of hostages

Comments by John Darnielle About this Song[]

“That's my other favorite one after 'Extraction Point.' I like the ones that explore something and stick with the mood for a long time and see where it goes. Both are kind of like Grateful Dead jams—they're extensive. And I have to say, I think that's one of my best choruses ever. Because it leans in—if you're going to have a hostage drama, it should be extreme. I once heard it in some action movie or another where a guy says, 'Only an idiot takes hostages,' because there's no good way out of a hostage situation. It's one of the more explicitly cinematic songs that's not actually taken from a particular movie.” via https://music.apple.com/us/album/bleed-out/1622211546
"This is a song about how violence can't solve anything, but the threat of violence can solve a lot of things." - 2023-06-29 - Mercury Ballroom - Louisville, KY

Things Referenced in this Song[]

Live Shows this Song Was Played at[]

Videos of this Song[]

2023-08-08 - KEXP Session - Seattle, WA

Bleed Out
Track list: "Training Montage" • "Mark On You" • "Wage Wars Get Rich Die Handsome" • "Extraction Point" • "Bones Don't Rust" • "First Blood" • "Make You Suffer" • "Guys on Every Corner" • "Hostages" • "Need More Bandages" • "Incandescent Ruins" • "Bleed Out"