Behold a new Christ
Behold the same old horde
Gather at the altering
New beginning, new word

And the word was death
And the word was without light
The new beatitude
"Good luck, you're on your own"

Blessed are the fornicates
May we bend down to be their whores
Blessed are the rich
May we labor, deliver them more

Blessed are the envious
Bless the slothful, the wrathful, the vain
Blessed are the gluttonous
May they feast us to famine and war

What of the pious, the pure of heart, the peaceful?
What of the meek, the mourning, and the merciful?
All doomed
All doomed

Behold a new Christ
Behold the same old horde
Gather at the altering
New beginning, new word

And the word was death
And the word was without light
The new beatitude: "Good luck"

What of the pious, the pure of heart, the peaceful?
What of the meek, the mourning, and the merciful?
What of the righteous? What of the charitable?
What of the truthful, the dutiful, the decent?

Doomed are the poor
Doomed are the peaceful
Doomed are the meek
Doomed are the merciful

For the word is now death
And the word is now without light
The new beatitude:
"Fuck the doomed, you're on your own"


Lyrics submitted by EternalTearsOfSorrow, edited by brian, DeltaModz, gobbolinocat

The Doomed Lyrics as written by William Howerdel Maynard James Keenan

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

The Doomed song meanings
Add Your Thoughts

21 Comments

sort form View by:
  • +13
    General Comment

    Folks, MJK is here reversing the contents of Christ's Sermon on the Mount, (Matthew 5-7) to reflect our morally impoverished state - the original Sermon included a series of 'beatitudes' such as 'Blessed are the meek, they will inherit the Earth'. Therefore the lyrics are not 'newbie attitudes' but 'new beatitudes'.

    gobbolinocaton October 26, 2017   Link
  • +11
    My Interpretation

    To me this song speaks to the hopelessness that the poor/sick/ less fortunate often feel. How cast aside they become and how rich/ wealthy are often hailed as kings and treated often better then actually deserved to be. They become hailed as the new Christ while the less fortunate and/or weaker souls are forced to hide in the shadows and are even in some cases shamed.

    EternalTearsOfSorrowon October 18, 2017   Link
  • +5
    General Comment

    This may actually be the most Christian song APC has ever put out. It condemns those fake people who calls themselves Christians while simultaneously ignoring or attacking the actual values Jesus taught. The new god in this song is clearly Trump, and people like him: demagogues who use the Bible to gain followers but twist the message of it to their own ends. Trump is far closer to the Anti-Christ than to anyone godly, and everything he represents is a slap in the face to true Christianity. And yet those people practically worship him. Meanwhile, the people really represents those values of peacefulness, helping the poor and downtrodden, etc.--some may call themselves Christian, but many do not--are doomed because they always get trampled by the hateful demagogues, the warmongers, the greedy wealth hoarders, etc. This is the perfect song for the Trump era.

    Starwatcher23on October 20, 2017   Link
  • +4
    My Opinion

    It's hard not to see the parallels with what is going on in the U.S. right now.

    Many thought things would be different this time, and they are, but as it turns out, they're not different in the way they might have hoped.

    Crazy that Maynard and APC are still putting such deep and well put together stuff out after all these years. Glad to hear new APC.

    ibedaveon October 19, 2017   Link
  • +4
    General Comment

    Tool and APC have a heavy anti organized religion stance. This song is typical of Maynard's complex tendency to point out hypocritical dogma. Schism comes to mind. These verses come with similarities to the Holy Bible.

    It has undertones of religion glorifying sinners, while casting out those with attributes associated with Christ. Religion is used to justify gluttony, greed and other sins contrary to the teachings of Christ.

    Behold a new Christ Behold the same old horde Gather at the altering

    New Christ / Same old horde is reminiscent of the papal schisms, Spanish Inquisition, The Crusades and other holy wars. Religious extremism justifying sins that are condemned by the Holy Bible, and those that do follow the teachings of Christ are "doomed" to be the victims and prey of the sinners.

    jeremy1102on October 20, 2017   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    This song is about capitalism - the moral values it creates and the moral values it erases.

    Christech1on October 26, 2017   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    "In light of this current difficult and polarized social, spiritual and political climate, we artist types need to open our big mouths and share the light a little louder." – Maynard James Keenan

    This song is literally a reflection of the times we have lived, we're living and we're going to live as humans; this cannot be centered only in one aspect nor in one country.. is much more complex than that. Think of humans as a whole

    FacuCbaon November 21, 2017   Link
  • +3
    My Opinion

    A few things stand out:

    • This song is a condemnation of the current US political regime. Not unlike APC's earlier song "Pet" (an obvious jab at GWB for his warmongering ways), "The Doomed" criticizes Trump and all of his pals for their love of wealth, their materialist attitude, and their efforts at lawmaking that benefits the rich and shafts the poor.

    • Additionally, "The Doomed" is an interesting and literal response to WB Yeat's poem "The Second Coming" (google it). Yeats believed that every 2000 years, there was a "changing of the gods". This song is an answer to the question posed in the last two lines of "The Second Coming":

    "And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
    Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?"

    • Technically, "... you're on your own" is a curse and not even remotely a 'beatitude', which Bible scholars literally define as beginning with some form of the phrase "Blessed is/are" (ie, "Blessed are the meek, for they ..."). The "Doomed are ..." lines are obvious "anti-beatitudes" and might best be thought of as maledictions: curses backed by seriously evil intent. (Also the brand name of the most popular cigarette in Hell :)
    misterpickleon November 21, 2017   Link
  • +3
    My Interpretation

    Since most people are missing the meaning behind a key part of this song, what is referred to as "The Beatitudes" from Jesus' sermon on the mount., I will back up the others who have pointed this out with a more detailed explanation.

    First, what is the song referring to with the lyric "The new Beatitude: Good luck, you're on your own"?

    There is a part of Jesus's sermon on the mount which is called the Beatitudes which describes certain values and character traits that God and Jesus seem to think highly of. So highly in fact, that each has their own reward for upholding them.

    From Matthew 5:3-12

    Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn,for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers,for they will be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

    As you can see here, the song is one big giant reference to the Beatitudes from Jesus' sermon on the mount. Maynard turns the whole thing on it's head to reflect the apparent Christianity of modern times as evidenced by their support for Donald Trump, a man who embodies the 7 deadly sins more than he does the teachings of Jesus.

    "Behold a new Christ" He starts the song out with the claim that there is a new Christ. (Trump)

    "Behold the same old horde" But it's the same group of people who were following Jesus. (Specifically the Evangelical Christians)

    "Gather at the altering" "New beginning, new word" Rallies, debates, town halls, interviews. Every platform Trump has use to get his "word" out.

    "And the word was death" "And the word was without light" Trump's rhetoric is completely devoid of the teaching of Jesus, therefore it is the word of true death of the soul and it is without the light of God.

    "The new beatitude:" "Good luck, you're on your own" Trump's own personal philosophy: There's the weak and the strong. You're either the predator or the prey.

    Maynard replaces Jesus' Beatitudes to reflect the apparent modern day Christian values in the Trump era with these lyrics in the frame of them being new Beatitudes.

    Blessed are the fornicates May we bend down to be their whores Blessed are the rich May we labour, deliver them more Blessed are the envious Bless the slothful, the wrathful, the vain Blessed are the gluttonous May they feast us to famine and war

    Fornication (adultery), wealth (greed), envy, sloth, wrath, vanity and gluttony. All of which (sloth could be debatable) can easily be applied to Trump and he would have no problem telling you otherwise.

    He follows this verse up by asking what happened to the values that were reflected in Jesus' Beatitudes.

    What of the pious, the pure of heart, the peaceful? What of the meek, the mourning, and the merciful? What of the righteous? What of the charitable? What of the truthful, the dutiful, the decent?

    And the conclusion he comes to is not an optimistic one as reflected by the lyrics at the end of the song.

    Doomed are the poor Doomed are the peaceful Doomed are the meek Doomed are the merciful For the word is now death And the word is now without light The new beatitude: "Fuck the doomed, you're on your own"

    The poor, the peaceful, the meek and the merciful. All seen as weak fools in the eyes of people who think like Trump and by continuing to endorse him to the point of delusion after everything he has done, they are basically claiming he is perfect and can do no wrong. They have made him their new Christ and adopted his values by proxy without realizing they are worshiping the literal definition of an Antichrist and they unknowingly took the mark of this beast.

    Oblique9043on April 29, 2018   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    I see this more as critique of how we glorify all the cardinal sins due to a lack of an objective right and wrong. The modern left pushes the idea that morals and truth are subjective and therefore all lifestyles are valid and beneficial to society. This has led to a massive deficit in morality that leads people to glorify all that is a detriment to a functioning society. We glorify adulterers, the self absorbed, the prideful, the gluttonous (body positivity), the lazy (welfare and wealth redistribution) instead of promoting voluntary charity and cooperation. All of those in the spotlight, i.e. celebrities, are the role models for our nation so it isn't surprising that we have no hope left. The decent and the reasonable individuals amongst us are silenced while the extremes are amplified leading to an extreme division in everyone's minds and hearts. This division will lead us all to our doom.

    Christech1on October 28, 2017   Link

Add your thoughts

Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.

Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!

More Featured Meanings

Album art
Techno Ted
Audioslave
Techno Ted may be a person who caused Chris incredible emotional pain & trepidation as well as moments of peace & happiness but now is removed and awaiting his fate. Darling may be a different person who is also free of him and can live her life free of Ted's tyranny. "In between all the laughing, and daydreams ... lies: a desert of truth" Lies are like a desert or the omission of Truth: Where there were Lies then Truth was absent. The song, "Techno Ted", may be a cathartic celebration of the downfall of this person.
Album art
The Night We Met
Lord Huron
This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines: "Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet" So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other: "I had all and then most of you" Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart "Some and now none of you" Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship. This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
Album art
I Can't Go To Sleep
Wu-Tang Clan
This song is written as the perspective of the boys in the street, as a whole, and what path they are going to choose as they get older and grow into men. (This is why the music video takes place in an orphanage.) The seen, and unseen collective suffering is imbedded in the boys’ mind, consciously or subconsciously, and is haunting them. Which path will the boys choose? Issac Hayes is the voice of reason, maybe God, the angel on his shoulder, or the voice of his forefathers from beyond the grave who can see the big picture and are pleading with the boys not to continue the violence and pattern of killing their brothers, but to rise above. The most beautiful song and has so many levels. Racism towards African Americans in America would not exist if everyone sat down and listened to this song and understood the history behind the words. The power, fear, pleading in RZA and Ghostface voices are genuine and powerful. Issac Hayes’ strong voice makes the perfect strong father figure, who is possibly from beyond the grave.
Album art
When We Were Young
Blink-182
This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
Album art
Just A Little Lovin'
Dusty Springfield
I don't think it's necessarily about sex. It's about wanting to start the day with some love and affection. Maybe a warm cuddle. I'm not alone in interpreting it that way! For example: "'Just a Little Lovin’ is a timeless country song originally recorded by Eddy Arnold in 1954. The song, written by Eddie Miller and Jimmy Campbell, explores the delicate nuances of love and showcases Arnold’s emotive vocals. It delves into the universal theme of love and how even the smallest gesture of affection can have a profound impact on our lives." https://oldtimemusic.com/the-meaning-behind-the-song-just-a-little-lovin-by-eddy-arnold/