Fault Line by Silverchair

Album: Frogstomp (1995)

License This Song

lyrics

Songfacts®:

The Silverchair boys grew up in Newcasle, NSW, Australia. That town is built right on top of a fault line. This means Newcastle experiences several earthquakes a year. During a particularly destructive one, a young boy was trapped in a collapsing building and tragically killed. This young boy was a friend of Silverchair frontman Daniel Johns, prompting him to write this, with the lyrics, "You'll never see the boy, You'll never see him open his eyes." >>>
Suggestion credit:
Dave - Ipswich, Australia

Comments: 6

Kan from NswThis was not written about a friend of the band. It was just something Daniel was thinking about at the time. Newcastle is on a fault line and there was an earthquake in 89 that killed 13 (but silverchair were only kids) and another minor earthquake nearby in 1994….but no one died…
Ness from AustraliaThere's exactly ZERO chance that Daniel Johns lost a friend in the Newcastle Earthquake. He was 10 the day the earthquake hit. There was no trapped child in the rubble who died. The youngest person to die that day was 30, and he wasn't a local. The next youngest person to die was in their 50's. Daniel Johns did NOT write this song about a friend who died.
Lynny from Adelaidedo you honestly think in the 25 years Silverchair has been around they created & accomplished more than Nirvana in their 6 years?
Rebecca from Newcastle AustraliaI live in Newcastle Australia where Silverchair is from. We don't experience several earth quakes a year. Rather this song is about a particular earthquake that happened in 1989 which was one of Australia's greatest natural disasters. In fact I don't think we have had an earthquake (outside of mining areas) since this event.
P from Z, United Statesin the book about silverchair called "tommorow never knows" it qoutes Daniel Johns as saying that the lyrics were not about anyone he knew and this was about an earthquake he saw on the news. so your sources may be faulty
Zach from Norman, Oki love this song, but i never had a clue as to what it was about until now. silver chair is amazing. way better than nirvana

see more comments

More Songfacts:

E.T.Katy Perry

Katy Perry's song "E.T." came from a beat originally intended for the rap group Three Six Mafia. When her producer accidentally pulled up the beat, Perry asked to use it.

Forget YouCeeLo Green

The dirty version of Cee-Lo Green's "Forget You" contains 16 F-bombs. He recorded a clean version as an afterthought, "just in case."

This Is How We Do ItMontell Jordan

"This Is How We Do It" by Montell Jordan was the first hit to mention a designated driver in the lyric. Before he gets "faded," Montell gives the DD the keys to his truck.

AfricaToto

A key line in "Africa" is "I seek to cure what's deep inside, frightened of this thing that I've become," which is about drifting away from what you really want in life. Toto keyboard player David Paich, who wrote the song, felt his work was consuming him.

KokomoThe Beach Boys

"Kokomo" gave The Beach Boys their first #1 hit in 22 years. They picked the title because it sounded tropical.

Bang!AJR

The voice is that says "here we go" in the AJR song "Bang!" belongs to Charlie Pellett, the announcer on the New York City subway ("stand clear of the closing doors, please").