East Jesus Nowhere

What an AMAZING song! Easily my favorite song on the album! I love how it pretty much mocks religious fanatics and "missionary politicians," I couldn't agree with it more.

and the verse...

I want to know who's allowed to breed All the dogs who never learned to read Missionary politicians And the cops of a new religion

...one of the best Billie Joe has ever written...in my opinion, at least :)

Oh how I hope they make a music video for this song!!! :D

An absolutely scathing take on organized religion in America.

To me, this is Christian mocking well, Christianity. This is a huge song on the album. The first act was introducing Christian and Gloria and establishing some background on the two. This is Christian's revolution finally coming to fruition - he fully believes that church and state are hopelessly intertwined and is determined to start there. They are in the middle of some kind of attack, but Christian can't help but utter the most smarmy, cruel comments while it's happening. It's actually a really funny song with some great lines.

Raise your hands now to testify Your confession will be crucified

that could be about, when at church, some people will "want" to hear your confessions, but when u do confess, they say, "no, thats not clean enough, go away, you can't be one of us anymore".

Stand up! All the white boys Sit down! And the black girls You're the soldiers of the new world

that could be a stab at racism and the 1970 separation of black and white peoples. the first line, stand up all the white boys, is like saying "you are white, and a man, you can fight in this war because you are fit enough", and sit down all the black girls could be like saying "your black and a girl, you practically can't do anything".

Put your faith in a miracle And it's non-denominational Join the choir we will be singing In the church of wishful thinking

this could be about church again. to put your faith in a miracle could be about putting your faith in the "wonders and flashes, and big lightning bolts" side of God. Its basically like expecting a miracle, but when you never get one, you get angry. Non-denominational is like when you don't obey the ruled of a certain religion, so when you put your faith in "that" side of God, its non-denominational. Join the choir we will be singing in the church of wishful thinking could be about the same context. wishful thinking, or wishing for a miracle and thinking like that all the time.

A fire burns today Of blasphemy and genocide The sirens of decay Will infiltrate the faith fanatics

basically about how todays society is all about blasphemy. like "oh my god", thats an example of blasphemy. not sure about the genocide bit. The sirens of decay... well, that could be about one of two things. a "siren" is a mythical greek creature that, when it sings, it makes you want to run towards them, and therefore, you would het eaten by them. so the sirens or decay might be about sirens calling you towards a horrible part of life, like drugs and sex and booze. the second thing it could be about is a siren warning us bout the "decay". And the sirens of decay will infiltrate the faith fanatics could be talking about how the faith fanatics are hearing the sirens and hearing the warning, but not listening to it, b because they are convinced that Jesus will come to save them.

Oh bless me Lord for I have sinned It's been a lifetime since I last confessed I threw my crutches in "the river of a shadow of doubt" And I'll be dressed up in my Sunday best

Its basically asking for God to bless him, because its been a lifetime since i last confessed. this is taking another stab at christianity. not christianity in general, just particular type of christian thoughts. its saying that they think that to be saved from the pits of hell, all they have to do is confess everyday, and you'll be ok. but to get out of hell, you need to believe in jesus, because he died for us. I threw my crutches in the shadow of doubt could be about him throwing all the help he has away, and relying on god to make everything ok. but god doesn't work like that. and ill be dressed in my Sunday best is probably about him dressing up in church to make him look good, not going there for gods glory, but just to make himself look good in the eyes of humans.

Don't test me Second guess me Protest me You will disappear

this could be his take on what God is saying to him through the bible. Its basically him believing about the "i am the all powerful God, and if you break one of my commandments, ill turn you into a cheeseburger".

Say a prayer for the family Drop a coin for humanity Ain't this uniform so flattering? I never asked you a god damned thing

This could be about the preacher or the head paster saying "say a prayer for this poor, poor family here, they need all the help they can get", when they could just ask God themselves for help. drop a coin for humanity, i think (as in THINK) this is about him trying to look good by putting some money in the offering box at church, or giving to charity. Ain't this uniform so flattering is definitely about him trying to impress others by dressing up for church. I never asked you a god-damned thing might be about him asking for, again, a miracle, but never getting one, so he's questioning him and saying "what the hell, man! I ask you to do one little thing for me, and all i get is this?"

I want to know who's allowed to breed All the dogs who never learned to read Missionary politicians And the cops of a new religion

no freaking idea what this means.........

thats my take on this song..... so yeah....

According to a somewhat recent interview with the band, Christian is the "Silence" of the generation, as mentioned in the song "Know Your Enemy", and this song is about what Christian wants to say, while Gloria is actually out saying it. The two are actually enemies, not lover's, because of their differences in their ideals.

This song is clearly about the hypocrisy of American protestant Christianity which wants to control U.S. government and politics.

this song reminds me a bit of foxboro hot tubs..

Anti-religion. I always wanted to write a song like this one! How religion and politics inevitably intertwine, and sometimes lead to war and genocide.

it pretty much about organized religion how he feels they force their beliefs onto people who choose not to be apart of it

The 'Don't test me' part sounds a bit like Rage against the Machine. Anway, awesome song.

It's every conspiracy theory I'm addicted to all wrapped up in a song with a pretty bow. Magnifique.