I just downloaded the soundtrack to Dishonored from Itunes, and as I listened to "Honor for All" (the end credits theme) I began searching on Google for the official lyrics for the song. I found pastebin files for the lyrics, as well as lyrics posted in youtube video descriptions, but as I read these lyrics while listening to the song I found that I disagreed greatly on what the lyrics actually were compared to what was transcribed by whoever had posted the lyrics. I have not found any lyrics that have been posted which I can vouch for sounding exactly as the lyrics sound to me in the song, on top of which, some of the grammatical mistakes made by those who posted the lyrics seemed... well, I'm an English major, and they were grammatical mistakes. It was terrifying.

As such, I decided to take one set of lyrics as transcribed by some schmuck and "fix" them, as best as I could. If the official lyrics by Dan and John Licht can be found anywhere, I would love to be directed to them, but for the sake of the English language and to give this song the clarity it deserves, I give you my interpretation of "Honor for All," with some footnotes. Enjoy.




"Oh well, honor for all*
Of the big and the small
Well, the taller they stand
Well, the harder they fall

We live for today but we die for the next
with blood in our veins and the air in our chest
Oh, we step into war with our hearts on the line
The dirt on our boots, it shakes free over time**

The music, it fades, the violin slows***
The darkness, it rises, as the sun goes

Love is a distant aroma at best,
A withering smile that's stuck deep in your vest.
The night air it wraps its fingers around,
Your body, it shakes from the now distant sound,
Oh, the sound of her voice - a sweet symphony,
Played over and over until you are free.

The music, it fades, the violin slows
The darkness it rises, as the sun goes

Can you feel the new day rising,
Climbing up the east horizon?

They can't hold us****
Down we'll fight through*****
Each and every
One will start new******

Well, we shall not stumble
No, we shall not fall
We shall not crumble
No, we shall stand tall

Well, death, it will come
As sure as the night*******
We will not run
No, we live but to fight

Oh, with blood on our hands
And dirt on our knees
We tear at the ones,
Who brought the disease********

The music, it fades, the violin slows
The darkness, it rises, as the sun goes

Can you feel the new day rising,
Climbing up the east horizon?

They can't hold us
Down we'll fight through
Each and every
One will start new"


* Most places had this as "Along us for all." Seriously? Explain to me just what exactly that phrase would mean. How do you manage to get the title of the song wrong? >_<

** It sounds to me as though he says "The" before "dirt," some places had "the" omitted.

*** This one, I'm not so sure on. But elsewhere, it's universally been written as "violence slows," which seems entirely wrong to me. If darkness is rising, why would the violence slow? Wouldn't it increase? When I first heard this song I thought the line was "violent souls," but now I'm convinced "slows" is correct, and as I don't hear a "t" at the end of "violin," I can only assume the song is still referencing the fading of the music.

**** In some places, this line was transcribed as "they controlled us." The last time this part is sung in the song, it is sung slower and with backup vocals. You can clearly hear the singers as they sing "they can't" and then "hold us," each two syllables. "They cont" followed by "rolled us" is just strange.

***** "Now we'll fight through" is how this was written before. When I listen, I hear the distinct consonant "D" in "Down."

****** A couple things here. First off, other transcriptions placed "one" on the line above, following "every." Now, technically, if the term were "everyone," all one word, this would be correct. However, there is a clear pause between "every" and "one," and the original transcription had a space between these words, already acknowledging them as being separate. I placed "one" on the last line because if you look, each other line there has four syllables. Placing "one" below gives it four. On an unrelated note, I'm not entirely convinced that "start new" is correct. "Start anew" would work better grammatically, but has an extra syllable. On the other hand, it might not be "new" at all. If anyone can clear this line up for me, it would be greatly appreciated.

******* Originally said "a night." Night is often referred to as a single entity, especially when being described. No, I did not capitalize "night," because it's not necessarily a pronoun, unless I am mistaken. I'm pretty sure "the" is there rather than "a."

******** This used to say "a disease." I throw up my hands in annoyance and frustration, and ask, "WHY?!?!"

And now the lyrics without my ugly notes, for copy/paste purposes:


"Oh well, honor for all
Of the big and the small
Well, the taller they stand
Well, the harder they fall

We live for today but we die for the next
with blood in our veins and the air in our chest
Oh, we step into war with our hearts on the line
The dirt on our boots, it shakes free over time

The music, it fades, the violin slows
The darkness, it rises, as the sun goes

Love is a distant aroma at best,
A withering smile that's stuck deep in your vest.
The night air it wraps its fingers around,
Your body, it shakes from the now distant sound,
Oh, the sound of her voice - a sweet symphony,
Played over and over until you are free.

The music, it fades, the violin slows
The darkness it rises, as the sun goes

Can you feel the new day rising,
Climbing up the east horizon?

They can't hold us
Down we'll fight through
Each and every
One will start new

Well, we shall not stumble
No, we shall not fall
We shall not crumble
No, we shall stand tall

Well, death, it will come
As sure as the night
We will not run
No, we live but to fight

Oh, with blood on our hands
And dirt on our knees
We tear at the ones,
Who brought the disease

The music, it fades, the violin slows
The darkness, it rises, as the sun goes

Can you feel the new day rising,
Climbing up the east horizon?

They can't hold us
Down we'll fight through
Each and every
One will start new"

If you think I made any mistakes here, let me know, or if you know of an official posting of the actual lyrics. If you can, spread my corrected version around, it pains me to see this song misrepresented.