In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
We are not the sons of God
We are not his chosen people now
We have crossed the path he trod
We will feel the pain of his beginning
Shadow fingers rise above
Iron fingers stab the desert sky
Oh, behold the power of man
On its tower, ready for the fall
Knocking heads together well
Raze a city, build a living Hell
Join the race to suicide
Listen for the tolling of the bell
Out of the the universe
A strange love is born
Unholy union
Trinity reformed
Yellow sun, its evil twin
In the black the winds deliver him
We will sleep to souls within
Atom seed to nuclear dust is riven
Out of the the universe
A strange love is born
Unholy union
Trinity reformed
Out of the darkness, brighter than a thousand suns
Out of the darkness, brighter than a thousand suns
Out of the darkness, brighter than a thousand suns
Out of the darkness, brighter than a thousand suns
Out of the darkness, brighter than a thousand suns
Out of the darkness, brighter than a thousand suns
Burying our morals and burying our dead
Burying our head in the sand
E equals MC squared, you can't relate
How we made God with our hands
Whatever would Robert have said to his God
'Bout how he made war with the Sun?
E equals MC squared, you can't relate
How we made God with our hands
All nations are rising
Through acid bells of love and hate
Chain letters of Satan
Uncertainty led us all to this
All nations are rising
Through acid veils of love and hate
Cold fusion of fury
Divide and conquer while ye may
Others preach and others fall and pray
In the bunkers where we'll die
We're the executioners, they lie
Bombers launched with no recall
Minute warning of the missile fall
Take a look at your last day
Guessing you won't have the time to cry
Out of the the universe
A strange love is born
Unholy union
Trinity reformed
Out of the darkness
Out of the darkness
Out of the darkness, brighter than a thousands suns
Out of the darkness, brighter than a thousands suns
Out of the darkness, brighter than a thousands suns
Out of the darkness, brighter than a thousands suns
Out of the darkness, brighter than a thousands suns
Holy Father, we have sinned
We are not his chosen people now
We have crossed the path he trod
We will feel the pain of his beginning
Shadow fingers rise above
Iron fingers stab the desert sky
Oh, behold the power of man
On its tower, ready for the fall
Knocking heads together well
Raze a city, build a living Hell
Join the race to suicide
Listen for the tolling of the bell
Out of the the universe
A strange love is born
Unholy union
Trinity reformed
Yellow sun, its evil twin
In the black the winds deliver him
We will sleep to souls within
Atom seed to nuclear dust is riven
Out of the the universe
A strange love is born
Unholy union
Trinity reformed
Out of the darkness, brighter than a thousand suns
Out of the darkness, brighter than a thousand suns
Out of the darkness, brighter than a thousand suns
Out of the darkness, brighter than a thousand suns
Out of the darkness, brighter than a thousand suns
Out of the darkness, brighter than a thousand suns
Burying our morals and burying our dead
Burying our head in the sand
E equals MC squared, you can't relate
How we made God with our hands
Whatever would Robert have said to his God
'Bout how he made war with the Sun?
E equals MC squared, you can't relate
How we made God with our hands
All nations are rising
Through acid bells of love and hate
Chain letters of Satan
Uncertainty led us all to this
All nations are rising
Through acid veils of love and hate
Cold fusion of fury
Divide and conquer while ye may
Others preach and others fall and pray
In the bunkers where we'll die
We're the executioners, they lie
Bombers launched with no recall
Minute warning of the missile fall
Take a look at your last day
Guessing you won't have the time to cry
Out of the the universe
A strange love is born
Unholy union
Trinity reformed
Out of the darkness
Out of the darkness
Out of the darkness, brighter than a thousands suns
Out of the darkness, brighter than a thousands suns
Out of the darkness, brighter than a thousands suns
Out of the darkness, brighter than a thousands suns
Out of the darkness, brighter than a thousands suns
Holy Father, we have sinned
Lyrics submitted by loc4485, edited by panayiotist
Brighter Than a Thousand Suns Lyrics as written by Bruce Dickinson Adrian Frederick Smith
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Ironed Maidens: There is no Robert in the Bible. The name originated in proto-Germanic.
"Robert" is most likely Julius Robert Oppenheimer, who headed the team who designed the first nuclear test and was greatly troubled by what he was doing.
The title of the song comes from a line from the Bhagavad Gita that Oppenheimer said he recalled as he watched the Trinity explosion: "If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendour of the mighty one". He also quoted "Now I have become Death, the destroyer of worlds".
Seems the concept of "playing god" with nuclear weapons is based on Oppenheimer's ideas.
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I think it's "raze [destroy] a city" not "raise a city", but if it is "raise" then I think it refers to the large-scaled mockups of cities that were built for later tests to see what the Bomb did to buildings. Some of these even had human-shaped dummies inside - really creepy.
Also, might "We will feel the pain of his beginning" be about the vengeful old-testament God?
The line "We are not his chosen people now" is also a reference to Oppenheimer since he was Jewish.