The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
Truth serves them embrace
And defend her case
Part flattery, part threats
"For those who cling to this
Dominion will partake in its fall"
With his silence, he passes the
Judgment over them
"With your feverish signs of force
You'll make them and yourself to
Believe that he still retains his full power"
As a platform for divine foundations,
You want to make them suck
Shallowness and beauty
Was all that concerned her body
But the soul, her divine guest
Were thrust to the bottom
Surrendered to the sect
That has risen from its womb
"For those who cling to this
dominion will partake in its fall"
And defend her case
Part flattery, part threats
"For those who cling to this
Dominion will partake in its fall"
With his silence, he passes the
Judgment over them
"With your feverish signs of force
You'll make them and yourself to
Believe that he still retains his full power"
As a platform for divine foundations,
You want to make them suck
Shallowness and beauty
Was all that concerned her body
But the soul, her divine guest
Were thrust to the bottom
Surrendered to the sect
That has risen from its womb
"For those who cling to this
dominion will partake in its fall"
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This song is about the fall of religion in general. I cannot go through line by line to prove this because much of the song is unexplainable by me. It is safe to assume that the religion in question is Chrisitanity because of a number of reasons: 1) Europe is mainly Christian oriented, and is most likely the religion the band has been exposed to the most. 2) The nameless single god passes judgement, a strong case for either Christianity, Judaism or Muslim... although all three religions believe in the exact same god. 3) "Womb," although not referring to Mary, is generally associated with Mary, (mother of Jesus).
I am gonna say this is an AWSOME SONG! I LOVE IT I LOVE THE GUITAR SOLOS AND THE LYRICS AHHH ITS AWSOME
i dont know what this song means id kinda like to find out but i love this song the guitar in it is just amazing
best song in the world..
The title is also reminiscent of Kevin Anderson's RESURRECTION, INC., a novel set in the far future where the dead are "resurrected" by advanced technology, their memories of their lifetime completely wiped out so they can be sold (for quite a sum of money) to be Servants. And then one day...a Servant is created, and he remembers...
Even if there's nothing in common between this book and this song, they're both still quite cool.
This song is about media and it's affect on the world. "Zombie Inc" refers to people trying to be as indiffrent as everyone else as possible, and blindly following trends set på fashion magazines and such.
"shallowness and beauty was all that concerned her body but the soul, her divine guest were thrust to the bottom" Pretty obvious, yes? The "she" in question follows fashion blindly, doing what others want and ignoring what she wants.
"with your feverish signs of force you´ll make them and yourself to believe that he still retains his full power" Simple again - "they" in question think they are in control, but no - the media controls them.
though i have no idea what this song is about, i have to ask: DID ANY ONE ELSE THINK THAT THIS SONG HAD THE BEST FREAKING GUITAR SOLO EVER??????
xJotunx - this song has the best guitar solo ever, hands down.
As for the meaning, I have to agree with Dray...it's probably religion. The "shallowness and beauty" verse is possibly another refernce to Mary. Maybe it's In Flames' way of saying Mary was boinked by a Roman soldier because she was a ditzy lil' flirt, and then, ~9 months later, the "divine soul" (Jesus) "were thrust to the bottom" of the manger by a series of uterine spasms. I think we can all agree that In Flames' way of saying it sounds a little better.
Rather than being about the fall of religion in general, or even Christianity, I think it may be about the decline of Catholocism. I think the quote "'with your feverish signs of force you´ll make them and yourself to believe that he still retains his full power'" in the 2nd verse refers to the pope. "...and defend her case part flattery, part threats" in the first verse might refer to the Church's divinization of Mary, where they flatter her and threaten others who don't hold her in the same high regard.
to me this song has nothing to do with religion i believe it is more from the angle that men cling to women just for sex making themselves zombies that only hurt themselves being that basing everythign on sex will crumble overtime and the part where its stated
"with your feverish signs of force you´ll make them and yourself to believe that he still retains his full power"
i believe is refered to the fact everyone would like to believe they are in control of a situation. meh kickass song cant get enough of them
Judging from the title, it is obvious that this song is about somekind of powerful group/dominion/religion/ government/whatever..
"shallowness and beauty was all that concerned her body but the soul, her divine guest were thrust to the bottom"
seems to be pretty straightforward about people in general loosing touch with their spirituality and caring more and more about the physical appearance of everything.
"with his silence, he passes the judgement over them "with your feverish signs of force you´ll make them and yourself to believe that he still retains his full power""
by having a "him" in this verse, it seems they are establishing a contrast or similtude to the "she" of the previous verse. This might be unimportant though. Anyway, this verse is about some kind of authority trying to retain it's power, which it seems to be loosing. I think In Flames didn't have any specific authority in mind when writing this. It's for YOU to decide.
"surrendered to the sect that has risen from it´s womb "for those who cling to this dominion will partake in it´s fall" "
The authory previously mentioned (Zombie Inc) is being toppled by a new "sect", which seems to suggest this song is about religion.
"as a platform for divine foundations, you want to make them suck"
This reinforces the religious idea, though it might just be metaphors. Zombie Inc might be a religious authority, which is "making people suck", i.e. weakening, blinding or hurting people.
"thruth serves them embrace and defend her case part flattery, part threats "for those who cling to this dominion will partake in it´s fall" "
Hard to decipher, but generally this is a description of Zombie Inc. and a warning to those who are a part of it.
Overall, this song is about authorities being toppled, and a warning to those who are a part of the authority.. "for those who cling to this dominion will partake in it´s fall".. This song is somewhat obscure at times IN ORDER for YOU to apply this song to something you see fit. Typical In Flames.