July 12, 2016

Individuality and not just following blindly along.

Song: Henchman
Album: No Control
Year: 1989

Lyrics:
Stranded In a life in which your struggle for acceptance
Is a never-ending chore
Upbraided For your actions past and present and rewarded for the ideas
Of the future's bright open door
The henchman Is the human analogue of the suffering multitudes
Who like good dogs sit and lick for their reward

So what good advice have I got for you
To insure against your likely metamorphosis into this reprobate?
Don't be a henchman
Stand on your laurels
Do what no one else does and praise the good of other men
For good man's sake
And when everyone else in the world follows your lead
Although a cold day in hell it will surely be
That's when the entire world shall live in harmony

----



Song: Individual
Album: Stranger Than Fiction
Year: 1994

Lyrics:
Individuals run for cover
For the multitudes of thoughtless clones have reached a critical mass
Individuals hide in fear, under cover
Sheltered by the wafer thin veil of intelligence
Individuals, nowhere to be seen
Urbana is oozing like a bloated carcass
With maggots cooking in the desert heat
Oozing, with progeny writhing and desperate
For input from someone more determined

Congregating in invisible circles
Half apart and half apart
All too aware of the insignificance
Pushing on with soul and heart

Individuals don't pray for forgiveness
When pinned up against the wall under siege of persecution
Individuals command exception
And accept dichotomy
Maybe you can't choose anymore
Procreation without gain or purpose
Languid wills and torpid minds
Catapulted ever faster by the arrow of time

-----

To me, both of these songs talk about the wisdom of not following along with the crowd, albeit from slightly different perspectives. The earlier song (Henchmen) is more of a guide for how not to just fall in line with common opinions and be different, while the latter (Individual) is more about how rare and hard it is to actually be that individual.

I find the perspectives fascinating and accurate to a large degree. It's not easy blazing your own path. If you don't follow societal norms, or rules, you run the risk of being shunned.

Anyway, food for thought. I'll probably break down more Bad Religion in the future as I believe there is value in their music.

July 12, 2016

Bad Religion - Mixing music with philosophy

I used to listen to a lot of Bad Religion in my youth. I didn't appreciate it nearly as much then as I do now that I'm a bit older but there's a lot of great ideas tucked away in their music.

The following thread will include bits and pieces from some of my favorite Bad Religion songs. Some of these songs touch on the same ideas in various ways.