Turn on the Light

I think this song is about individualism. To "turn on the light" is to show stand tall and be yourself.

I love the part after the little bass solo (which is pretty badass) where he sings "and I'll burn like a roman fucking candle..." Kickass.

To me this song is about being motivated to change your life and be inspired. "Turn On The Light" (your mind) and make a difference.

I think this whole song is about hope.

i had a friend who kept a candle in his pocket he used to touch it when the wind was blowing high i guess it made him feel like he could buck the system and when it flickered out we laid him down to die

There was a man who had some hope and always counted on it when things were going bad. Having this hope, he felt like he could do anything, but he lost it and there was nothing left of him.

turn on the light turn on a million blinding brilliant white incendiary lights a beacon in the night i'll burn relentlessly until my juice runs dry

Turn on the light, give some meaning to your life, give yourself something to believe in. Something that, even in the darkest times, will guide you. Believe in it until you can't anymore.

i'll construct a rack of tempered beams and trusses and equip it with a million tiny suns i'll install upon the room of my compartment and place tinfoil on my floor and on my walls

Tinfoil is known for reflecting. Here he's saying that he will have his whole life full of hope, something good, some kind of meaning.

and i'll burn like a roman fucking candle burn like a chasm in the night burn for a miniscule duration ecstatic immolation incorrigible delight

But there is false hope. And here it says it, he will follow this hope but will destroy himself with it.

i think it's about giving your all to some sort of hope or dream - going for it like most people don't, realising your potential, that sort of thing, and how the people who are driven, who try to achieve so much in their lives often destroy themselves in the process.

i think the song is about faith, christianity, sacrifice, and death.

i had a friend who kept a candle in his pocket he used to touch it when the wind was blowing high i guess it made him feel like he could buck the system and when it flickered out we laid him down to die.

"I had a friend who kept a candle in his pocket" to me, this seems like the author is beginning with a quick metaphor and image of the candle to allude to the candles lit in a church when people pray for something in particular. catholic church along with many others, recognize a small monetary donation and the lighting of a candle for a special prayer... kinda like a Jesus-wishing-well.

"He used to touch it when the wind was blowing high" kinda illustrates my point. People pray and light candles when they are in rough times "wind blowing high".

"I guess it made him feel like he could buck the system" is doubting the friend. The system is nature and the laws of physics... which-of course-care none for the wishes and prayers of man.

"and when it flickered out we laid him down to die." the friend died... unsurprisingly to the world, but perhaps unsuspectingly of the friend... after all, he lit the damned candle right?

turn on the light turn on a million blinding brilliant white incendiary lights a beacon in the night i'll burn relentlessly until my juice runs dry

The chorus is the theme of the song. "Pray Pray Pray... when you don't understand something, don't worry and god will figure it out. Just have faith"... blind, dumb faith. Hell, you can pray that you are immortal... and when you finally die, it must've been because you just didnt have enough faith.

i'll construct a rack of tempered beams and trusses and equip it with a million tiny suns i'll install upon the room of my compartment and place tinfoil on my floor and on my walls

"i'll construct a rack of tempered beams and trusses" kinda saying something about faith again and how it must be super strong for these prayer jesus-wishing-wells to work.

"and equip it with a million tiny suns" a million powerful prayers, candles, hope, faith

"i'll install upon the room of my compartment" pretty self explanatory up to this part, if you have bothered to catch the overall theme.

"and place tinfoil on my floor and on my walls." reflective coating for the entire room, so the candles(prayers) will be the strongest ever conceived.

and i'll burn like a roman fucking candle burn like a chasm in the night burn for a miniscule duration ecstatic immolation incorrigible delight

Same overall theme, but the last two lines stand out the most.

"burn for a miniscule duration" relative to the universe, human beings and their gods, faith, prayers, luck, talismans, and jesus-wishing-wells are but a tick mark on a mile long time line. insignificant in the grand scheme of things.

"ecstatic immolation, incorrigible delight." to be happy that one is making this sacrifice, means that one must have dedicated, yet wasted their lives believing this... yet still people just don't seem to get it.

I love this site! Everyone has got a different take.

I take this song more literally than most interpretations here.

I hear it mocking survivalists.

I think when the survivalist friend touches the candle, when it looks like a climate catastrophe is coming, the friend is reassuring himself he'll be okay b/c he won't need electric lighting.

I believe this behavior, like so many BR mocks, is such a pitiful attempt at survival that it disgusts the singer, who has long ago put aside weak gestures like saving candles for doomsday and has ambivalently accepted the presence of electricity in his home. I think the "wreck of beams and trusses" is a not-so-hyperbolic way of describing a skyscraper. The "million tiny suns" refers to the millions and zillions of light bulbs we now use everyday to light up everything.

I believe the "miniscule duration" is a reference to the relatively small interval of human history in which fossil fuels will be available to power electric lights.

One really has to respect how well the lyrics and the music work together in most BR songs, and this one is a prime example!

i agree 100% with gzusonastick and clamum haha

after reading it I thought it was about being born. and how the whole system is constructing and turning on.

but after reading it, it very well could be about smoking

very well could be about hope.

I love Bad Religion.

But Pretentious Bullshit. One of my favorite songs.

I just heard it now like 10 times in a row and finally came to the conclusion that it could be about "always do your best"... like his friend didnt and died (pretty short explanation ;)

but what i don't get: for what reason did his friend die? and whats meant with that: ecstatic immolation?

sry, my english is not the best..