We do also speak politics to you today
Leviathan, yeah we all want one.
Obedience, consent, accept death.
Brutalness, this life is short.
A Damp refusal, you will be caught.
Leviathan, in disguise.
Leviathan, in all your eyes.
Worship denied on your knees and pray.
This simple expectation to save this day.
Dictators or democracy,
Obey the price to make us free,
Angels, devils, and some more charade
Give us a pain, a god without shame.
Leviathan, in disguise.
Leviathan, in all your eyes.
Worship denied on your knees and pray.
This simple expectation to save this day.
Reprobates, and MPLA
Patty Hearst, oh, they're all the same,
Baader Meinhof and Medusa touch
Leviathan, I am your son.
Worship denied on your knees and pray.
This simple expectation to save this day.
Worship denied on your knees and pray.
Leviathan, yeah we all want one.
Obedience, consent, accept death.
Brutalness, this life is short.
A Damp refusal, you will be caught.
Leviathan, in disguise.
Leviathan, in all your eyes.
Worship denied on your knees and pray.
This simple expectation to save this day.
Dictators or democracy,
Obey the price to make us free,
Angels, devils, and some more charade
Give us a pain, a god without shame.
Leviathan, in disguise.
Leviathan, in all your eyes.
Worship denied on your knees and pray.
This simple expectation to save this day.
Reprobates, and MPLA
Patty Hearst, oh, they're all the same,
Baader Meinhof and Medusa touch
Leviathan, I am your son.
Worship denied on your knees and pray.
This simple expectation to save this day.
Worship denied on your knees and pray.
Lyrics submitted by Songmeaningsuser
Leviathan Lyrics as written by Nicholas Jones James Bradfield
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Hobbes was writing during the English civil war, where the country was effectively in a state of anarchy and he saw all manner of horrific things happen due to the lack of order. In Leviathan, he argued that effectively, without someone to punish people for harming others, humans have no reason to trust each other and given their legitimate self-interest in wanting to remain alive, there is no reason for every person to not fear being murdered by every other person all the time.
This scenario without a "sovereign" (in Hobbes' terms) was referred to as the "state of nature". Hobbes believed that as all human life was in danger all the time in this state, humans should accept a "sovereign" under any conditions because it was still necessarily better than the alternative.
There was enormous backlash to the idea of allegiance to any ruler, regardless of how oppressive, both at the time (as seen in John Locke) and recently, especially when events of the 20th century have strongly called into question Hobbes' contention that even a despotic ruler is better than lack of rule.
The Manics are referring to this idea of unconditional obedience to any leader with contempt with most of this song, especially "dictators or democracy, obey the price to make us free".
The songs featured on 'Help! A Day in the Life', the new War Child album...
One more thing to mention ... Iraq is a brilliant example of the state of nature, maybe Hobbes was right to be scared