Prayer of the Refugee

"Prayer of the Refugee" is the second single from Rise Against's album The Sufferer and The Witness, and was released worldwide in 2006. The song was originally titled "Diaspora", with advance copies of the album using that title instead of "Prayer of the Refugee".

The song is featured as a re-recorded bonus track in the video game Legends of Rock. The song is also featured in Slednecks 9 DVD. It is used in "The Compound" segment of the movie.

The album version of the song is available as DLC for the Rock Band series along with "Savior" and "Re-Education ".

Song Meaning

The song begins with a conversation between a refugee and his son. The refugee talks about the good life he, and his people, once had, but no longer do. The chorus is the refugee calling out, saying not to help him, as carrying himself is all he has left. He says that all those who have tried to "help" in the past have merely let him down again.

The next verse is about how these refugees are quietly trying to change the world in the background, in subtle ways. In the final verse, he tells the son to step out and change the world for the better.

Music video

Directed by Tony Petrossian, the video moves from scenes of the band playing and walking around in a warehouse to scenes of young children and foreign people making and packaging goods such as shoes, bananas, jeans, and remote controlled cars. It ends with scenes of the foreign...
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