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Last Will & Testament Lyrics

Here in the few remaining moments we have left, just what do you propose we say in our defense? That much was decided before any one of us were born? That we were nothing more than objective observers to the madness and throw up your hands in sadness? “We’re powerless to change anything anyways.” So just lay back upon your death bed and gaze idiotically back up the chain of command from which we receive our directives. I guess it’s just common sense to preach what ought to be but ensure it never is in the present tense.
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Cover art for Last Will & Testament lyrics by Propagandhi

This is my favorite Propagandhi song.

@Quankers It's hard to pick a favourite Prop song, but great choice. The long instrumental beginning is great, also incredibly difficult to learn to play for the bassist and drummer! Such countertimes. It's very depressing but sometimes a depressing song is what takes all my blues away for some time anyway.

Cover art for Last Will & Testament lyrics by Propagandhi

also rhythmically the intro is so weird, I can only make sense of it by counting 16+4 over 2, then 10 over 2 in the little chords before the songs starts in earnest. It must have been a pain to write :)

My Interpretation
Cover art for Last Will & Testament lyrics by Propagandhi

I'm pretty sure this song is about people who complain about how the world is but don't try to change it, hence the quotation of "We're powerless to change anything anyways", which is used to justify not doing anything to achieve what they believe should happen. And the closing line backs this up as well:

'I guess its just common sense to preach what ought to be but ensure it never is in the present tense.'

Pretty much. Shades of Purina Hall Of Fame ("There's nothing we can do…"), but no guitar solo to hint to the very unperceptive listener that sarcasm is being used! The lyrics make one realise how self-fulfilling and pathetic such excuses are, and that's obviously Chris's intention. Great instrumental intro too.

Cover art for Last Will & Testament lyrics by Propagandhi

At the end of mine, it has a secret song about Astaroth, and the lines Come come come to the sabot come to the sabot Satan's there

Apparently that's a cover of Come to the Sabbat by Black Widow (some obscure proto-metal band I never heard of :P)

Cover art for Last Will & Testament lyrics by Propagandhi

"I guess it's just common sense to preach what ought to be but ensure it never is in the present tense."

Can anyone tell me what this line means exactly?

This song is amazing.

It means most people talk about how the world should be, the things we need to do to change it to make it right "preach what ought to be" yet we do so little in our lives to actually make those changes. We are all guilty of this and I feel it is a deeply personal and reflective song as well. Propagandhi does a lot of introspective speaking and a far amount of preaching in their songs about how people should live to make the world not such a shit-hole. And so many of us, not just punks but everyone...

@TheFeesh It means that 99% of people who speak what should be (real justice, no fucking with the environment and dangerous tech that hasn't been researched enough before being applied, reparations, removal of all armies, strangely what so-called libertarians do not see as government waste, when it's the biggest waste and danger of all that we're at a point that the next second humanity might slip and fall and take all living life with it...)....but not doing a damn thing so that it happens.....it's quite basic, although maybe you don't know what you want, which means, pick up a book...

Cover art for Last Will & Testament lyrics by Propagandhi

That was already explained in the first comment, can't you read?

Cover art for Last Will & Testament lyrics by Propagandhi

@TheFeesh, It's representative of people who want change but aren't willing to go out and actually do anything about it. "To preach what ought to be, but ensure it never is in the present tense." Basically saying how things should be but not doing anything about it and ensuring that it doesn't happen or isn't in the present tense.

My Interpretation
 
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