Operation Spirit (The Tyranny of Tradition)

I believe the song states the author's view on faith and religion, and not only those, but also culture and tradition. I also feel he believes only in himself and his heart and he does not need the strength of Jesus (being a metaphor for religion itself) to guide him through life. "but what a man was two thousand years ago, means nothing at all to me today" to me is a very powerful line, telling his zero interest in Jesus' endeavours and that now humanity has its own wars and battles - different to those in the time of Jesus.

Most of the songs on Mental Jewelry are based around the teachings of the spiritual philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti. He was more concerned with living through detachment from materialism, emotion and faith in religion as they cause personal sorrow. The message was simple - you are the only person who can create your own truths not a prophet, things you can buy or relationships. With this in mind it's a pretty self explanatory track.

On that same note, he's referring to spirituality in general, and the constant strive to improve oneself from the inside out. Given that so many who tried to take this path met difficulty due to the oppressive influence of organized religion, many have decided to just give up and stop the pursuit. Hence, the "did you let it go?"

It's also important to note that he says "let's get it back" and then makes a point to emphasis "together". I believe this is him signaling the call for a new spiritual revolution. It's not just time for us to get back our quest to make ourselves, but it's time that we rise up and do it together, as to remove difficulties that may have previously been relevant (but what a man was 2,000 years ago means nothing at all to me today) but are now obsolete and need to be swept to the side.

We need new society level spirituality, and we have to work toward the goal together to get it.

I can't believe no one has posted about this song! This was the first Live song that I ever heard. Seems pretty simple that this song is about losing faith when life gets painful....just my opinion. At the time this was first released I was a very angry teenager and thought that this summed up my feelings about religion prety well.....still a great song and it's the reason that I bought the CD

I think that it means that he WANTS to believe, but that life is too painful for him to grasp the more beautiful things in life. Also, I think that he could be trying to describe the state of the world today, that we've "let go" of what's important for the sake of our comforts and worldly posessions, and that it's much easier for us to drown in our own sorrows than it is for us to have that higher faith and belief. He's saying "let's get it back", meaning that we should let go of our earthly chains and embrace the spiritual within and around us all. That's my opinion, anyway.S

Traditional religion having a tyrannical monopoly over spirituality.

The view for me is very clear. When the singer writes:

"Heard a lot of talk about this Jesus A man of love, and a man of strength But what a man was two thousand years ago means nothing at all to me today"

He acknowledges the value of Jesus' teachings in what concerns the power Jesus has through his message of love. However, he casts doubt on the value of this teaching for himself today when he writes

"He could have been telling me about my higher self But he only lives inside my prayer So what he was may have been beautiful But the pain is right now And right here"

Even though it is uncertain what the writer understands by the ineffectiveness of Jesus'teaching on his "higher self" he feels it has no effect on delivering him form the pain he feels right now.

Here is the main point. Jesus message in the Scriptures is not a message that promises us delivery from trials and sufferings but of how to get the victory through the suffering. A reading from Matthew to Revelation shows exactly this.

The lesson is clear: However follows the skeptcism of the singer in his lyrics will not win.