Father's Son

About the self destructive nature of people perhaps and the self fulfilling prophesy that we do become our parents. In the end it leads to corpses...war. lol just a guess, her lyrics are also so cryptic.

I like how songs are cryptic, so who knows, but bits and pieces can be taken and applied to your own situation.

This song is about the war in Iraq and the war on terror in general, about a war in which each side is supposedly motivated by religious conviction, (God vs God), and the fact that hate and fear and prejudice is taught anew to each generation.

I agree this is about self-destructive human nature, each generation becomes the same as the last, just as ignorant, just as clouded with unfounded hate (probably because of religious views... depressing to see illustrated so accurately how stubborn and fatally monotonous human life is

I think it relates to the war in Iraq, definitely, but the father's son is George W Bush, following in his father's footsteps with the war. I love the first verse - "Bread can feed a few, so can some cartoons" - some people take their nourishment and life force (physical, spiritual, emotional and mental) from appropriate things, things that will genuinely feed them, while others sate their appetitie with consumer culture and 'fast food' which will leave them unfulfilled. As spoken from the father's son's perspective, it could mean that some people will only be satisfied with the truth (the bread), while others can be distracted by pop culture and don't see any further. The third verse draws the distinction between the Bush father/son and God/Jesus - 'watch them pray, to you I suspect' - the message that you follow in the path of those who went before you, whether you are mortal or deity.

daneypops, that is an amazing analogy! I had an alternative idea, though... I thought, either the cartoons were the 'offensive' ones of the prophet Muhammad, which caused so much anger to some of the muslim community, thereby just perpetuating this divide within society - or they're political cartoons, which are always rife in times of war, and do provide solace to pissed off people.

I definitely think it's about Iraq, or just war in general, and yes, the 'father's son' is probably Bush... but also, it seems to me to be about patriarchy - it's handed down, father to son, not really mother/daughter. Tori doesn't tend to comment on father/son relationships, she's more about mother/daughter, and she is very positive about that side of it. But the male (?) narrator is talking to a female: 'Steady girl on your feet'. To me that sounds like something patronising, something you might say to someone who you think is getting much too self-righteous and angry about something. 'You and your wonderings' - again, condescending... like saying 'what are you like?'

'If you keep my flesh firm, I'll ready those sacraments.' - I think this is saying, if you keep ME safe, I'll be willing to keep doing this in your name. It's about selfishness and naivete.

Thanks Cornflakz. I think you're probably right about the cartoons referred to being the religious ones, that fits more with the song. All I thought of for the 'keep my flesh firm' part was that the song talks about these people who die for their beliefs, who will go to war and die because of their faith, (whatever that faith may be) and then there are other people who talk about it light-heartedly. I think she's talking about those people obsessed with youth, surgery, anything they can do to stay young. If God keeps them youthful, keeps their flesh firm, they'll mention his name. People who would say 'Oh my God, a wrinkle' or 'Thank God I had my make up'- they use the term in such a different way to those who are spoken about in the rest of the song. For them, God is someone who is supposed to do them a favour, and if he doesn't they'll be up in arms, which is a contrast to those mentioned at the start of the song.

I think song has to do with Christian dogma. First of all, Father's Son resonates with Jesus, son of the Father, God. Bread can feed a few goes with the breaking of the bread. Catholics feed upon the bread every mass, the bread being the body of Christ. The virgin gun is Mary. A gun can also be a feminine symbol, not just a phallic one. A gun can be loaded with bullet, the same way a woman is filled with the seed and "loaded" with baby. Mary is the gun and Jesus is the bullet because under His and His father's name, people have started wars and death, thus the birth of Jesus is compared to the firing of a gun. The Gods fighting ringside is the many aspects of God (Christian God, Jewish God, Allah) and the wars between the people who believe in each aspect. The boy addressed later in the song is Jesus; "steady boy watch them pray, to you I suspect." This song is about Jesus, what him and his mother stand for, but also how we humans have taken this and twisted it for our own human/selfish needs: war, debauchery, etc.

I love this album but had never paid much particular attention to this song before.

Then, today, four days since the massacre of 49 LGBT souls in Orlando, this song randomly came onto my shuffle, and I heard it like never before.

I can't help but hear the message of homophobia being passed down from father to son, the seed planted in the next generation.

"God versus God ringside Littered with corpses neither God can forgive"

Neither Christianity nor Islam can forgive gay people for their "sins."

Both religions shun and punish them.

Nothing can change as long as fathers are passing this antiquated hatred down to their sons.

It hit home today like never before.