Before You Die

As far as the meaning of this song, this seems to be the typical, "you've only got one life to live, so do something with it" BR song. Although, I love the imagery and the language in this song. The "porcelain and alabaster" gives you the impression that there are people so fake, and so deprived of living that they are doll-like, perhaps lost to the memory of a better day, or just in their own hopes for eternity.

No, none of the songs on New Maps Of Hell deal about the Bush administration. Graffin said it himself: "We have one of the least popular presidents of all time, but it's just not interesting to comment on it anymore, and it certainly isn't artistically intriguing. I think bands that talk about that type of stuff miss the boat, so now we've gone back to something I think we've improved upon over the years, and that is being more metaphorical. That's a style of writing that takes a dedication to your craft to get better at it. So I think this album has some of our best writing ever."

I think this song is indeed about doing something with your life, inspiring people, doing something significant. This song definitely has an existentialistic flavour to it. And "scare up some hope", because if you don't it you might destroy yourself (see: Lost Pilgrim).

Yes, that religious aspect fits perfectly but I don't think it was directed straight towards that;

Like most people above saying do something with your life...

To me, this song is Greg Graffin leaving his legacy.. (this song needs to be blasted over the heartland, ultra and neo-conservatives, and moral majority by the way)..

some people(I need not mention..again) and others just go through life following the conventional directives and because of that, they never even.... think..to look past those... the term think outside the box comes to mind.... but the people Gregs singing of are the masses of people that.. aren't even in the box...

like he's trying to put it as simply as he can... "wake up...please.."

alot of people he's singing of are the ones who might have faith in God..

another comment above was good... how Religious people out of desperation and fear, conclude that through God everything is already pre-concieved and pre-determined anyway.. so they can just live without the affliction of having to face the truth and finally think about things..

Hold on... correct lyrics, first:

Porcelain and alabaster, decaying ever faster unaware of imminent disaster open up your eyes. As you ruminate the hopeless sands of time, did you wander out your days lost and refined? Or recreate the universals in your mind? Everybody is a bastard; my world is like plaster crumbling apart like pressure from the blaster Waiting for a sign And the momentary pleasures take their turn as a wistful boy runs out of things to learn, The episodes of yore are never to return. Scare up some hope, you're gonna need it just to cope you are the decision, numbers don't lie. When you bite the dust, was it for purpose or for trust? You'll never relive it, think before you die. Yeah think! Think before you die. Deficit and depravation--in the wake of desperation Rewrite the morals, rectify the nation. Now may be your time. As you ruminate the hopeless sands of time, do you wonder how your life has been refined? You know eternity can't ever change your mind. You know eternity can't ever change your mind So think! Think Before you die. Think before you die.

Yeah, I agree. This song is about making something out of life and make a difference. Besides, i think this is the best song off "New Maps" because of the awsome HARMONIES of the song! Great work especially in "Scare up some hope..."

I think actually Greg and Brett are still criticizing Bush and his administration with the double meaning of it affecting everyone.

you know .... with the whole honest goodbye coming next

To me this song is all about religion and how religious people sit and condemn or ponder on how horrible the world is but "don't need to really think" and never make much of an effort to understand it or change it cause it's all predetermined anyway by god to them having an excuse to do nothing. "You know eternity can't ever change your mind" would fit with this.

I can really relate to this song in certain aspects. I think I have the best answer here, although I respect your ability to disagree.

"Porcelain and alabaster, decaying ever faster" Explains how fake people are and how such a lifestyle would be self-destructive

"unaware of imminent disaster open up your eyes." These people blindly led by god knows who. Not Bush really, because all presidents are puppets no matter what wing of this corrupt 2 party system they represent. Pretty much following like the sheep they are and they can't see whats coming.

"As you ruminate the hopeless sands of time, did you wander out your days lost and resigned?" As you keep retracing your steps in a depressed stupor, did you wander aimlessly and give up?

"Or recreate the universals in your mind?" Or change your perception of every variable in the universe to come back to some higher power, or at the very least some kind of understanding of things. Mind you the mention of a higher power does not mean that Greg believes in it, you crazy Atheists.

"Everybody is a bastard; my world is like plaster crumbling apart from pressure by the blaster, Waiting for a sign" Explains itself. Everyone's an asshole and they're responsible for destroying this world I love so much because they're waiting for something rather than taking action.

"And the momentary pleasures take their turn as a wistful boy runs out of things to learn, The episodes of yore are never to return." All the material shit we hoard turn on us and lose their luster. For me personally this was bud. Whenever I blazed I would literally think of (most) of the same shit that BR wrote about. I wasn't listening to BR at this point in time mind you, nor had I remembered their lyrics. I'd think really deeply about everything going on personally and in the world and soon I just ran out of shit to think about and had reached a dead end. I thought that I'd never get the years I've wasted back. This part is more subjective because I'm making it a little personal, but I think it still fits.

"Scare up some hope, you're gonna need it just to cope you are the decision, numbers don't lie." Stop being a pussy, or you're not going to survive in the end. And you better respect it if not fear what is to come. You are the winning faction because you have power in numbers. 99% vs. 1%? Not a great analogy, but the shoe still fits.

When you bite the dust, was it for purpose or for trust? You'll never relive it, think before you die. When you die, did you live to find purpose or companionship? You can't go back so quite literally think before you die. Don't necessarily follow BR to hell, but actually think on your own before you die as a mindless drone. I love Bad Religion, but you cannot fully embrace the ideologies of few and expect to have the freedom of though. Yeah think! Think before you die.

Deficit and deprivation--in the wake of desperation We're broke and desperate after a huge cluster of f*** happened.

Rewrite the morals, rectify the nation. Now may be your time. Rethink the morals you grew so accustomed to so that you may create new ones to help fix the problem. The time to do so, obviously now.

As you ruminate the hopeless sands of time, do you wonder how your life has been defined? As you reflect on every little thing(A seeming hopeless act?) looking for truth, do you wonder how you got to the place you're at now.

You know eternity can't ever change your mind. You know eternity can't ever change your mind I'm not sure what he means by this. I've spent a lot of time thinking and I've changed my mind about a lot of things. I used to be a christian conservative, now I'm some weird hippie thing I cannot fully explain. Maybe it's that you don't need eternity to change your mind, only the time you have now.

So think! Think Before you die. Think before you die.

Hopefully this all makes sense to anyone as it does to me. I like this song a lot although I'm never too sure of the motives behind this band. They're up to something and I wish to know if it's good or bad. It's not like BR aren't somewhat commercial. I can't determine whether it's simply to get the message to more people or to create mindless drones that live for the cross buster. I've seen a lot of that on this site today.

Great song.

Anyone know what it's about?

by the way, yet another song basically saying I'm Greg Graffin and everyone else is fucking stupid..