Talking To Ourselves

Rise Against aren't aren't here to entertain. They're here to provoke, to question, to drive change. But sometimes, especially during festivals when they're the only punk rock act on the bill, they feel like their message is getting lost, like they're just talking to themselves. "This song was an accidental way of not only talking about Rise Against, but also anybody that does something like we do, anyone who feels like they're standing in a crowd, trying to get everyone to pay attention and no-one's doing it," lead singer Tim McIlrath told Kerrang!. "Either they're not doing it, or they're just placating you, like, ?'Oh, how adorable, he's angry!' Sometimes you end up just feeling like an entertainer, like, ?'Oh, I guess this is just a transaction - this is your Friday night.' When it feels like that, it's so sad, it's like, ?'That's not why I got into this, this isn't punk rock - why didn't I just become a magician or juggler? This is supposed to be something more.'"

The video was directed by Brian Roettinger, who did the visuals for the Nowhere Generation album. The videos and album art use the same look: black and white with banks of monitors to imply both surveillance and an overload of mindless entertainment.