| Death Cab for Cutie – Styrofoam Plates Lyrics | 15 years ago |
| One day I'll play this at my father's funeral. | |
| My Chemical Romance – Heaven Help Us Lyrics | 16 years ago |
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Frankly, I see the song to clearly be about Jeanne d'Arc. Of course it fits in with the story of the Black Parade album, but Joan of Arc is the clear inspiration for the song. From a historical point of view, here's my take. "Hear the sound. The angels come screaming Down, your voice. I hear you've been bleeding. Make your choice. They say you've been pleading, Someone save us." Joan of Arc was born to a France in complete political chaos. The Hundred Years' War was going on, and most of France was under foreign control. Those loyal to the French crown were begging for someone to well... lead them back to glory. When Joan was twelve, she had a vision in a field while alone. She heard voices of saints telling her to drive the English out. She made a couple of military predictions, and bam. She started getting noticed. "Heaven help us now. Come crashing down. We'll hear the sound. As your falling down." Someone claiming to have spoken to dead saints is a big deal. When Joan was made a knight and put in charge of the army, that made this war a religious thing. If the king, Charles VII, was wrong, and Joan was just a heretic, his enemies could just call his rule "of the devil" and he'd be over with. They NEEDED her to be a "messenger of God" kind of person. "I'm at this old hotel. But can't tell if I've been breathing or sleeping. Or screaming or waiting for the Man to call. And maybe all of the above. 'Cause mostly I've been Sprawled on these cathedral steps While spitting out the blood And screaming 'Someone save us!'" This is where the band took it personal, as according to the things they experienced in the hotel they stayed in while writing the album. It drove them insane. I don't need to go into detail on that since it can be read in the book that came with the special edition of the CD. Or the line "waiting for the man to call" could still make sense. There was a point in time where Joan captured a fort without resistance. That night she learned there was a war council and everyone else had decided to wait for reenforcements before doing anything else, but no one invited her. Nice communicational skills, France. So she basically said up yours, and attacked a main English stronghold, took an arrow to the neck, but STILL came back for the final charge. Yeah, she won that. "And will you pray for me? Or make a saint of me? And will you lay for me? Or make a saint of me? 'Cause I'll give you all the nails you need Cover me in gasoline Wipe away those tears of blood again And the punchline to the joke is asking Someone save us" Eventually Joan was captured. They decided to try her for heresy. That basically meant torture and almost unquestionable death. They did everything to make sure she'd lose. But Joan was STILL brave and STILL defended her beliefs and actions. Even though she was sexually assaulted in jail and falsely accused. Joan was burned at the stake, with a cross she asked the clergy to construct placed on her dress. And a cross held in front of her by some friars. There's the gasoline and nails. "make a saint of me" ... There was a retrial after the war ended. Twenty five years after she died, the church declared her innocent. She's now a cannonized saint. I believe the rest is self explanatory based on what facts I've given. I don't think this is anti-religion. It sounds more of a struggle against sin and evil and begging for divine help. It's just what the title says... heaven help us. |
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