The Geats (/ˈɡiːts/, /ˈɡeɪəts/, or /ˈjæts/) (Old English: gēatas, [ˈjæɑ̯tɑs]; Old Norse: gautar [ˈɡɑu̯tɑr]; Swedish: götar, [ˈjøːtar]), and sometimes Goths) were a North Germanic tribe inhabiting what is now Götaland ("land of the Geats") in modern Sweden. The name of the Geats also lives on in the Swedish provinces of Västergötland and Östergötland, the Western and Eastern lands of the Geats, and in many other toponyms.
The earliest known surviving mention of the Geats appears in Ptolemy (2nd century A.D.), who refers to them as Goutai. In the 6th century, Jordanes writes of the Gautigoths and Ostrogoths (the Ostrogoths of Scandza); and Procopius refers to Gautoi. The Norse Sagas knows them as Gautar; Beowulf and Widsith as Gēatas.
The modern English form Geat (Old English Geatas, from the Proto-Germanic * Gautaz, plural *Gautōz) is related, although not identical, to the etymology of the name tribal Goth (*Gutô, plural *Gutaniz) and they are both derived (specifically they are two ablaut grades) from the Proto-Germanic word *geutaną, meaning "to pour". This means according to the mainly accepted etymology "men", a heiti of the men in the tribe, see further in Goths (etymology). It could also allude to watercourses in the land where they were living.
Ice on the road, blood on the rail
A myth in the making newspapers sell
Another one falling
And no one is calling our names
Our names, our names
Treasonous treasures these towers of steel
Nothing so broken, nothing so real
The seasons keep turning
The sunshine is burning away
Away, away
I know it donít make it right
But once there was so much light
And here was the center of it all
Hard to believe a motherís dream
The most beautiful thing youíve ever seen
Thatís why we stay
In Cabrini-green
Damned in the doorways seeking their fill
Another brother spreading his will
I sing for my supper and pray for my mother today
Today, today
Out on the tarmac the boys and their ball
Scribble their fates up on the wall
Of silence and sirens a semblance of liars is born