I agree with some of what you said StephenY. This song is about religious people and themes, and this is what I thought the first time I heard the song. Clearly the song is questioning religious people, although I find the criticisms quite simplistic. I really like the album, and this song is great, but some of the lyrics are pretty cliche and narrow-minded. For example, when M. Shadows sings:
"All hail the mighty father,
but love will keep you blind."
and
"Same questions we keep asking,
Won't hear the answers
cause we're scared of what we'll find"
For me, these lyrics (and some others) just don't do justice to the complex and divisive discussion that is the debate about religion, God, evolution, etc. And I realize that it's a rock song on a Slash album, so maybe I'm asking too much, but the lyrics are nothing special. They aren't NEARLY as good as the music for this song IMO.
Also, M. Shadows is singing both from the perspective of the theist and atheist throughout the song. Sometimes he sings "I" and "We", and sometimes "You." And while this could be due to poor lyric-writing, it may also mean that the song isn't a simple anti-religion rant.
Perhaps he's not only criticizing religion, but also pointing out how human nature, and the flaws of imperfect people screw up the real message that any given religion is SUPPOSED to listen to and live out. He's no Bible-thumper, but he may just be saying WAKE UP to all of the people who call themselves religious, but don't fully think about their beliefs. When he sings the chorus (which actually has better lyrics IMO):
"And still we march further away,
Singing our songs of yesterday.
While so much still stands in our way,
Voices with nothing to say."
... I take it as a criticism of the religious people, or more specifically, ORGANIZED religious. The religious messages aren't being attacked, just hypocritical people who have forgotten who they sing songs for, and what those songs are about. There are times when religious people should be condemning the actions of others: War, racism, and corruption for example (and notice that I said actions. I'm not talking about condemning or judging the people themselves). And then there are the issues that organized religious people would rather discuss: Gay marriage, evolution, and the building of mosques.
My interpretation of the chorus:
Getting further from the real message;
singing some old songs of bygone eras;
while important/urgent issues need to be addressed;
these people have nothing important or constructive to add to the debate
That's a fair point, and reading it through and looking at the song again I completely agree. Your analyzation is much more in depth than mine. xD I especially like your version of the chorus; it fits so perfectly it could've been said by Slash himself.
That's a fair point, and reading it through and looking at the song again I completely agree. Your analyzation is much more in depth than mine. xD I especially like your version of the chorus; it fits so perfectly it could've been said by Slash himself.
I agree with some of what you said StephenY. This song is about religious people and themes, and this is what I thought the first time I heard the song. Clearly the song is questioning religious people, although I find the criticisms quite simplistic. I really like the album, and this song is great, but some of the lyrics are pretty cliche and narrow-minded. For example, when M. Shadows sings:
"All hail the mighty father, but love will keep you blind."
and
"Same questions we keep asking, Won't hear the answers cause we're scared of what we'll find"
For me, these lyrics (and some others) just don't do justice to the complex and divisive discussion that is the debate about religion, God, evolution, etc. And I realize that it's a rock song on a Slash album, so maybe I'm asking too much, but the lyrics are nothing special. They aren't NEARLY as good as the music for this song IMO.
Also, M. Shadows is singing both from the perspective of the theist and atheist throughout the song. Sometimes he sings "I" and "We", and sometimes "You." And while this could be due to poor lyric-writing, it may also mean that the song isn't a simple anti-religion rant.
Perhaps he's not only criticizing religion, but also pointing out how human nature, and the flaws of imperfect people screw up the real message that any given religion is SUPPOSED to listen to and live out. He's no Bible-thumper, but he may just be saying WAKE UP to all of the people who call themselves religious, but don't fully think about their beliefs. When he sings the chorus (which actually has better lyrics IMO):
"And still we march further away, Singing our songs of yesterday. While so much still stands in our way, Voices with nothing to say."
... I take it as a criticism of the religious people, or more specifically, ORGANIZED religious. The religious messages aren't being attacked, just hypocritical people who have forgotten who they sing songs for, and what those songs are about. There are times when religious people should be condemning the actions of others: War, racism, and corruption for example (and notice that I said actions. I'm not talking about condemning or judging the people themselves). And then there are the issues that organized religious people would rather discuss: Gay marriage, evolution, and the building of mosques.
My interpretation of the chorus:
Getting further from the real message; singing some old songs of bygone eras; while important/urgent issues need to be addressed; these people have nothing important or constructive to add to the debate
That's a fair point, and reading it through and looking at the song again I completely agree. Your analyzation is much more in depth than mine. xD I especially like your version of the chorus; it fits so perfectly it could've been said by Slash himself.
That's a fair point, and reading it through and looking at the song again I completely agree. Your analyzation is much more in depth than mine. xD I especially like your version of the chorus; it fits so perfectly it could've been said by Slash himself.