Winners Never Quit

Wow, some of you people read too much religious meaning and not enough human/moral meaning into this album!

To me, as pointed out by others on this site, this album clearly tells a story of 2 brothers. One was always considered the 'good brother'. He is a politician who uses religion as his political platform and believes himself to have a special place [a mansion] reserved in heaven. But he also buys his political power and buys sex, and he ignores the plight of those around him, including his brother.

The second brother was always thought of as 'the bad brother'. He is an alcoholic who has never been able to 'stay on the straight and narrow'. He tries hard, he doesn't want to be the one to disgrace his politician brother or his family, but still, he gets arrested for driving drunk.

While his brother is in jail, the politician comes to a breaking point and ends up killing his wife and then committing suicide. The politician sees the murder of his wife as justified because she no longer believed in his cause - which he sees as being on the side of god. He also sees himself as a martyr for God's cause.

The second brother gets out of jail to go to his brother's funeral. He watches his father despair because he has lost 'the good son', and because bad things should not happen to good people in a world where there is a god who cares about us personally and who, if we just worship him, will intervene on our behalf. So the father questions god, asking how he could let this happen when both the father and the good son went to church etc.

Which brings us to this last song. I think it's contrasting the brother who never quits (the politician) with the brother who must quit (the alcoholic). The brother who succeeds in this story IS the one who quits, not the one who keeps on going with an eye on the finish line [see 'Never Leave a Job Half Done']. The second brother should be thankful that he wasn't the 'good brother', that he was enough of a failure that he now has the chance to redefine himself, without the good brother to be compared to and without the 'bad brother' stigma from his parents. He has a second chance.

There is nothing overtly religious in this second chance if you ask me. Nor is the albumm a glowing recommendation for religious furvour. I think it is a deep and wonderful examination of the gray area of moral rightness, and that it clearly questions blind faith or how faith can be used as an impetus to do horrific things. Or if not an impetus, at least an excuse. No, Bazan doesn't question the existence of God, since God smiles and looks the other way, but he does clearly question the idea that humans have any idea what He wants, if anything. And he questions the idea that the religious amoung us are more moral than those of us who are struggling or those who arent religious.

This is a perfect example of how an album should end. David is a great song writer and composer, but I just don't get the meaning of this song. It's titled Winners Never Quit, but later says "count it a blessing that you're such a failure." My best guess is that every one is a loser and a failure in God's eyes, but he forgives us all if we ask for it. "Your second chance might never have come," i think, means that he was forgiven but cam close. That would be my best guess, and I feel totally wrong.

well the title "winners never quit" pretty much explains what the song is all about and i think if we are going to win in the long run, we have to keep trying and trying. and i think in david's case the prize is heaven, and how sin is the failure. and jesus will aways forgive us ang give us chances. i dont know, im probably wrong...just what i think...hmm what do YOU think??

i think it's a story, with lots of narrators. when he's saying count it a blessing that you're such a failure. it's going back to protect the family name, if the hadn't been such a failure, he may have ended up in the same boat as his brother, who didn't get his second chance. yay irony.

"count it a blessing that your're such a failure your second chance might never have come" I feel like the narrator is saying to all those people that have gone from the top and drop to the bottom, to count it a blessing because if would have never fallen you might have never realize how muh you need Christ.

winners never quit, as potrayed in the cd booklet, is an allusion to suicide. the character was such a failure that he killed himself, it's satircal, david is saying that it's just as well that the character killed himself because he was so far gone that he probably wouldn't have had a second chance anyway

I think its about the human race. That last line is saying that because we were so deep in sin, God sent Christ. So count it as a blessing that you were a sinner, because otherwise Jesus might not have come to save you.

To me it is about someone who has been trying too long and got tired of that. "count it a blessing that your're such a failure your second chance might never have come" I like this part, because it tells to him it's a good thing, that failing helps you to see life is too hard to live. He doesn't know if everything will get better, so he can quit living since there's no hope.

i know that the line "count it a blessing that your're such a failure..." got a lot of people but what really got me was "save your applause for the end of the show" it reminded me of when you do something really grate you get applause and this is reminding you that the show isnt over yet wate untill its done even if there isnt any grand ending its still the ending and we should wate untill the show/our is over.

Like behind0eyes, I believe this song is written from the perspective of one the two brothers. he is an alcoholic and the shame of the family. his brother kills and wife and is convicted of murder and goes to jail. so the brother who was the bad brother is now the good brother, because even though he is an alcoholic drug addict he looks good compared to the murderer. somehow the fact that his brother turned into such monster gives him a chance to be redeemed.