| Green Day – Holiday Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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Following the whole theme of the parallels between current US policy and that that took place in Nazi Germany, I would imagine that the line "Bang bang goes the broken glass" would be a reference to November 9th, 1938, otherwise known as Kristallnacht or the Night of Broken Glass. One that night, thousands of synagogues and Jewish businesses were burned and looted throughout Germany. Dozens of Jews were killed in the chaotic riots and 30,000 Jews were arrested the morning after only for being Jewish. It is now widely considered that Hitler and his propaganda minister Goebbels orchestrated this whole charade so as to focus and utilize the discontent of the German people to their advantage. Hitler set the spotlight on the Jews and their supposed crimes, this infuriated and drove the German people to action. In the process they rallied behind their leader. If one wanted to examine parallels between President Bush and Hitler, one could look to Bush's 2004 reelection strategy. In this instance, Bush following the advice of his senior political advisor, Karl Rove, decided that he could mobilize large segments of his base by drumming up homosexual issues, with special emphasis on gay marriage. By focusing attention on something that he knew his followers disliked (gay marriage) he was able to drive them to the polls. In this way, George Bush was able to draw attention to a particularly unpopular portion of the population in order to bolster his power. This is reflected in the line following "Bang bang goes the broken glass" which is "Kill all the fags that don't agree." For those not in the know, fag is a derogatory slur meaning homosexual. And language like "kill all the fags" I would imagine to be drummed up so as to make the link more visible. I would like to point out that the actions taken by George Bush in no way compare to those of Hitler and the Nazi Party. While there may be reoccuring themes, these are as different as a toy gun and an Uzi. So, I urge you to consider that while the approach or methods may be similar, there are immense degrees of separation between looting, jailing, and killing Jews and talking tough about gay marriage. |
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| Green Day – Holiday Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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Following the whole theme of the parallels between current US policy and that that took place in Nazi Germany, I would imagine that the line "Bang bang goes the broken glass" would be a reference to November 9th, 1938, otherwise known as Kristallnacht or the Night of Broken Glass. One that night, thousands of synagogues and Jewish businesses were burned and looted throughout Germany. Dozens of Jews were killed in the chaotic riots and 30,000 Jews were arrested the morning after only for being Jewish. It is now widely considered that Hitler and his propaganda minister Goebbels orchestrated this whole charade so as to focus and utilize the discontent of the German people to their advantage. Hitler set the spotlight on the Jews and their supposed crimes, this infuriated and drove the German people to action. In the process they rallied behind their leader. If one wanted to examine parallels between President Bush and Hitler, one could look to Bush's 2004 reelection strategy. In this instance, Bush following the advice of his senior political advisor, Karl Rove, decided that he could mobilize large segments of his base by drumming up homosexual issues, with special emphasis on gay marriage. By focusing attention on something that he knew his followers disliked (gay marriage) he was able to drive them to the polls. In this way, George Bush was able to draw attention to a particularly unpopular portion of the population in order to bolster his power. This is reflected in the line following "Bang bang goes the broken glass" which is "Kill all the fags that don't agree." For those not in the know, fag is a derogatory slur meaning homosexual. And language like "kill all the fags" I would imagine to be drummed up so as to make the link more visible. I would like to point out that the actions taken by George Bush in no way compare to those of Hitler and the Nazi Party. While there may be reoccuring themes, these are as different as a toy gun and an Uzi. So, I urge you to consider that while the approach or methods may be similar, there are immense degrees of separation between looting, jailing, and killing Jews and talking tough about gay marriage. |
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| Rise Against – Blood Red, White, and Blue Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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What I found rather interesting is that the "Your position of mass starvation and blind air strikes" is referencing what took place during Bill Clinton's term in office (not to say that this happened exclusively with Clinton). A legacy of the first Gulf War was the sanctions on Iraq which lead indirectly (with the help of their leader) to the starvation of hundreds of thousands of Iraqi citizens, an exceptionally large portion of which were malnourished children. Also during this time were missile strikes taking place in the War in the Balkans. Despite increased use of 'smart missiles,' most missiles the Americans used in this time were dumb missiles without advanced targetting technology. Naturally, this lead to the death innocent civilians and some rather unintended targets, like an asprin plant and the Chinese Embassy. I always took to interpret "Hold them all to words they can't take back" as a call to defend the Constitution. Perhaps my favorite thing about my song is that at the shows I've gone to, Tim will encourage people to register to vote and then dedicate the song to those who have. |
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| Rise Against – Halfway There Lyrics | 20 years ago |
| For the majority of the song, it seems as though the opposition is directed towards government or authority, but the last few lines are clearly directed at a personal friend. It just doesn't seem right to me. It makes me think I've been looking at this song the wrong way or that I've missed something. | |
| Rise Against – 401 Kill Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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This song fits in quite well with themes put forth in other Rise Against songs. Touched upon frequently is the contrast between enjoying life as you live it and slaving away throughout life for material gain. This is highly visible in the lines: "You're running circles around my slow pace / You've reached the finish line only to realize there was no race." The band offers a more laid back approach to life, whereas the other person hustles throughout life to come to the realization that all of his effort has not brought him much. The name of the song touches upon this theme as well. 401K retirement plans are highly representative of putting off enjoyment today for a payoff near the end of your life. As the alteration to '401 Kill" would suggest, Rise Against apparently does not find this path very worthwhile as such fruits of your labor could be used to make your life happy in the present. |
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| Rise Against – Rumors Of My Demise Have Been Greatly Exaggerated Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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On the Random Fact: It was once accidentally reported in a newspaper that Mark Twain had passed away. Being the all time king of snappy one-liners, when asked about the mistake, Mark Twain replied with "Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated." The line that means everything to me in this song is: "The time that we give keeps us alive." While I don't know or particularly believe it was the intention of the band, but this perfectly reflects my outlook on the meaning of life. Life does not necessarily have any particular meaning, but through your actions you can bring meaning to life. For me, the time that I give to help others reaffirms my purpose in life. The time that I give keeps me alive. Again, that's just me. |
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| Rage Against the Machine – New Millennium Homes Lyrics | 20 years ago |
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The central meaning of this song I feel can be best found in the lines: "Cell block livestock The bodies they're buying Old South order New northern horizon" I believe this directly references to the increasingly popular practice of private corporations hiring prison labor to manufacture they're products or provide their services. Prison labor circumvents minimum wage laws. What results is effectively an 'outsourcing' of American jobs to prisons, which skirt a good deal of workplace regulations. Thus the presmise of this song being the desire of the (for want of a better word) corptocracy to get more people in jail wheras to increase the workforce. Note: Corptocracy being the collective effort of the American government and Multi-National Corporations. The bond is referenced in the line: "Convictions fit the stock profile" What the song is getting at is that this equates to modern day equivalent of slavery. This is the corporate (new northern horizon) version of (old south order) slavery. Poor people are disproportionately targetted by the judicial system, spend more time in jail, and get minute reward for their labor. If you look at the song through the lens of modern day slavery, many lines that would otherwise seem nonsensical begin to gain meaning. |
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