Volatile Times

I'm taking a little less modern approach to this particularly because of: 'My European guilt, expecting instant fix'. I believe this could be a song about the guilt of a European for the mistakes their ancestors have made. Ever heard the phrase, 'white guilt'? The person is angry to an unhealthy level. You shouldn't feel guilty because of what your ancestors/people did in the past, but this is how the person in the song feels. Perhaps the singer.

Yup, the first verse doesn't fit in with this theory. Except for this: 'I am lost I was once a gentleman'. The person thought they were good before but they have studied history and are drawn to the conclusion that their people (the Europeans) weren't so good after all, and thus, they are also awful. (Again, this isn't true, but this is how this person seems to feel).

'Goodbye my friends, goodbye to the money Adieu to the fuckers that think that it's funny' The person's pissed off at everyone because they don't share views and instead think it's a big joke. People like to make jokes about tragedies in the past and this person hates them for it and wishes to cut them out of their life. 'Friends' is used sarcastically here. Goodbye to the money gained through their European privileges.

'I just want to turn the lights on in these volatile times': Society is messed up and some people are treated unfairly, yaddah yaddah. The person wants to shed light on this and remind everyone about the mistakes of the past and that hateful crimes towards non-European people (especially non-white) go on because of the things done to them in the past. They want to throw this into the faces of the self-involved people that whine about small things while ignoring the pain of those not granted the same privilege in society.

The entire verse beginning with 'Look at me in the apocalypse' is self-explanatory of this theory.

'I drove through countries like a marching funeral' isn't actually in a car, but rather, describing exploration in the past. A marching funeral...walking through, killing everyone, taking over. The 'drove' part because it was a smooth ride for them throughout, easy as cruising through. The part about slum religion and coca cola...obviously back then, coca cola wasn't invented. But there is such a thing as globalization, as you see with McDonalds: they started off in America and are everywhere now. Europe is obviously not America but most Americans came from Europe at some point. Slum religion: they forced their religion upon these people, and Christianity at that point in time was corrupt enough that you could kill someone if they wouldn't convert. Convert or die was the mentality in those times.

'Every book is read and I'm paralyzed Every fist is clenched, but I'm so tired' I see this more literally; every book as in every textbook. History textbooks in particular. The person studied this for a long time and is horrified by the atrocities committed by their people even though it's not their fault. They're paralyzed with the horror of it all and also angry, but they cannot do anything about it. They're tired of hearing about these atrocities, so angry towards their ancestors that it exhausts them.