Heroes and Martyrs Lyrics
Hot boots invested and cracked
Poor candidates jacked into gray light
An ultraviolent call summoning both poet and thrall
Sweet catalyst for the acolytes
Our Heroes and Martyrs
present two points of view
Which deity you’re praying to?
What’s the sense of heroes & martyrs?
Into a welter of night
Flack, rounds and roiling blight
Cracked vertebrates stacked by the wayside
An ultraviolent call summoning both poet and thrall
The inveterate blind seeking daylight
Our Heroes and Martyrs
present two points of view
Which deity you’re praying to
What’s the sense of heroes & martyrs?
The first thing to hit me when I heard this song, was the war in Iraq. Or the West Vs. East, Christians'/non-believers Vs. Muslims etc. etc..
The heroes are clearly the American soldiers and the martyrs are the suicide-bombers...Graffin's atheist point of view shines through in the last line of the song: "What's the sense of heroes and martyrs?"
The line "An ultraviolent call summoning both poet and thrall" could mean that their leaders are calling upon the heroes and martyrs to fight. Not sure about this one,though.... The next line : "The inveterate blind seeking daylight", to me this is BR describing the soldiers and martyrs. The are totally blinded by their beliefs and are unable to give even a bit of credit to the beliefs of the "enemy"! And they are seeking victory or answers, but due to their handicap (blind/ignorant), they will never find it...
And like Brett and Greg said, the last album was more about talking shit about the war in Iraq, on this album they're going to try to find some solutions to the problem and how we are going to fix it and get out of this shit!...
Once again, this is a brett song.
Greg could never write something this good.
first single off of \'New Maps of Hell\'. pretty good.
I'm no pro, just giving my impression, so here goes... The "Our Heroes and Martyrs/present two points of view/Which deity you’re praying to?" lyrics seem to infer that the respective deities are society (the heroes) and God (obviously, the martyrs). It also seems to me that they paint both in a negative light, Graffin being as he is both an atheist and a huge critic of those who live by their standing in society. As a Christian, however (yes, a Christian who listens to BR, thank you), one could also see the song as a "choose!" situation, wherein one would have to choose to serve the masses or God.
Why does everyone say he's an atheist? He's a naturalist.
Why does everyone say he's an atheist? He's a naturalist.
I'm a Naturalist.. and Atheism is pretty close in relation, the only real difference is a couple of distinctions as to the belief system. Atheism is simply not believing in a deity of any sorts.. Naturalism is believing all things that are possible can be proven scientifically and are able to happen naturally.
I'm a Naturalist.. and Atheism is pretty close in relation, the only real difference is a couple of distinctions as to the belief system. Atheism is simply not believing in a deity of any sorts.. Naturalism is believing all things that are possible can be proven scientifically and are able to happen naturally.
So being that no proof of any deity can be reached through science, all Naturalists have Atheistic beliefs. Calling Graffin an Atheist really isn't "wrong".. it just isn't specific and 100% correct.
So being that no proof of any deity can be reached through science, all Naturalists have Atheistic beliefs. Calling Graffin an Atheist really isn't "wrong".. it just isn't specific and 100% correct.
By the way, it is an amazing song, I'm hoping the rest of the album is this incredible.
I didn't actually think of it, but I think you hit the nail on the head Cormega.
^Hey! Somebody said it before I could! And I don't know... sometimes, Graffin writes a damn good song. "What Can You Do?" is my favorite Bad Religion song.
Basically, I think it's showing how one can be perceived as a hero or a martyr, depending on your point of view and beliefs. But... neither of them are exactly, "right."
I agree with Cormega, but Id like to point out that the entire "Empire" album was written BEFORE the Iraq war...more like prophecy
Is it just me or does Greg sound like he's rapping during the verses?
Don't know how related this is, but i just realised there's a howard zinn spoken word cd called "heroes and martyrs", hmmm.