Devils & Dust

To me i think the songs about trying to convice yourself out of suicide

He is litteraly this close to killing him self and is just reflecting on his past and what has got him to his low point in his life

The begenning of the song when he says

i look into your eye's theres just devils and dust

To me i think that one line is about how when he sees his own reflection in someone elses lies all he's is what a horrible person hes become.

I especially like the video for this song, he is performing in this giant hall with no one there, it's like the video is reaching out to you as an individual. I like that he is warning against fear. The question about what you do, killing the things you love, well that is a bit of a downer for a rock song this song seems like I could think for weeks and not quite get what he was saying.

Got my finger on the trigger But I don't know who to trust I look into your eyes There's just devils and dust

In wake of current events, and Bruce's support of the anti-war movement in the United States, it's clear from the beginning of this song that it is about war. I take the first line 'Got my finger on the trigger' to be a reference to the inclination of the deployment and use of war, and the second line 'Don't know who to trust' to be a reference to the popular saying that came out of the vietnam era, "Don't trust anyone over 30". More specifically the 3rd and 4th lines reveal this song to be about the Iraq War. when I analyze the title of the song 'Devils and dust', and the repeated reference to devils and dust throughout the song, the word devils is symbolic of man's inhumanity to man, or of the injustice of war; and dust is symbolic of Iraq. Thus, in line's 3 and 4 and througout the song, everytime he looks at himself, and his countrymen, or soldiers, in the eyes, or the heart, he sees Devils and Dust (war and Iraq). And where we once had good intentions in Iraq or God filled soul intentions, They are now filled with Devils and Dust (war and Iraq).

Got my finger on the trigger But I don't know who to trust I look into your eyes There's just devils and dust

I've got my finger on the trigger And tonight faith just ain't enough When I look inside my heart There's just devils and dust

If you take these two stanzas (1 from the beginning and 1 from the end) you can see how Bruce brings the song all together through the means of self-reflection. The song is obviously about war and the affect it has on human emotion. In the first stanza here Bruce is looking outward at others and he seems the evil and deception of Man. In the second stanza here Bruce looks inside himself and realizes that he IS what he sees. War, murder (devils and dust). He has become everything he hated by participating in this war.

As chilling of a realization this is, the most moving part of the song is in this stanza:

I got God on my side And I'm just trying to survive What if what you do to survive kills the things you love Fears a dangerous thing It'll turn your heart black you can trust It'll take your God filled soul Fill it with devils and dust

Bruce refers to God throughout the whole song putting much weight on the spirituality and importance of faith in Man. In this stanza Bruce comes emphasizes the horrible realization that life forces upon us. “What if what you do to survive kills the things you love” is the most important part of the song. Picture holding a man at gunpoint, someone you don’t even know. You love mankind and everything about it. And know you look at yourself and you are about to kill the thing you love in order to stay alive. The man represents mankind The rest of the stanza basically says that these actions have turned you into a hypocritical, dark, evil, person in which there is no escape, unless you are willing to die. Pretty powerful stuff and I’m sure things like this happens in the chaos of war.

In light of the war them of this song, the "Got God on my side" line is interesting. The worst, bloodiest wars are holy wars, and many people in these wars as well as other wars believe that God is on their side. The insurgents certainly believe they are on a jihad mission, and the U.S. is front-and-center involved in it. So Bruce is saying in this song that he does believe in God and the human race, but if he's not careful he could turn his belief in God into destruction against his fellow man. The main stanza of the song sums up the last idea:

I got God on my side We're just trying to survive What if what you do to survive kills the things you love Fears a powerful thing It'll turn your heart black you can trust It'll take your God filled soul Fill it with devils and dust

It makes you think, and also shows that the devil, or hate, fear and destruction, is not too far from a belief in God. The devil makes himself in the appear like God and his deeds, they say.

That is, the devil makes himself appear like God and his deeds, they say. It would be nice if we could edit our posts shortly after posting them.

does anyone think that this song has anything to do with the dark tower series by stephen king

no, and i think he's trying to be like bob dylan and it's not working

i got a question, who is this bobby guy he sings about? he's mentioned him in a couple of songs (like glory days) any ideas?? i love bruce!!!

never heard bruce but im downloading his albums