Dead man lying on the bottom of the grave
Wondering when savior comes is he gonna be saved
Maybe you're a sinner into your alternate life
Maybe you're a joker
Maybe you deserve to die

They were crying when their sons left
God is wearing black
He's gone so far to find no hope he's never coming back
They were crying when their sons left
All young men must go
He's come so far to find the truth he's never going home

Young men standing on the top of their own graves
Wondering when Jesus comes are they gonna be saved
Cruelty to the winner, bishop tells the king his lies
Maybe you're a mourner
Maybe you deserve to die

They were crying when their sons left
God is wearing black
He's gone so far to find no hope he's never coming back
They were crying when their sons left
All young men must go
He's come so far to find the truth he's never going home

Welcome to the soldier side
Where there's no one here but me
People all grow up to die
There is no one here but me
Welcome to the soldier side
Where there's no one here but me
People on the soldier side
There is no one here but me


Lyrics submitted by haiduc, edited by NightfallGemini, Das70sKid

Soldier Side Lyrics as written by Serj Tankian Daron V Malakian

Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.

Lyrics powered by LyricFind

Soldier Side song meanings
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158 Comments

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  • +5
    My Interpretation

    let me first say that i am an atheist but will be interpreting this from a christian or jewish or what have you point of view.

    I think this whole song has to do with soldiers and how they are in God's eyes. When they say "Young men standing on top of their own graves" i believe it is because the second they take a life they have died in God's eyes, thus why they are standing on their graves. When "God is wearing Black" it is because he is mourning the "death" of all his sons.

    and everyone looks at this from the soldier's point of view which i believe is totally correct but they do it wrong. Soldier's see so many terrible things overseas. I'm not saying that there's tons being killed each day, it's the innocent children and people that are caught in the crossfire that really make the impact. When some village is bombed or something and the forces are walking through the ruins seeing rubble and bodies strewn all over, some of them think "God, what have i done, I caused this." the soldier's have gone so far overseas to fight some mysterious enemy they don't know much about just to see that there is no hope here, it's so so pointless, no one can really ever win, there will always be casualties on each side and casualties to the innocents caught inbetween. Sure, alot of them come back, but they are never really the same, they have seen horrible things, thus "They have gone so far to find no hope, they're never coming back." the person who comes back will never really be the same as the person who left, there will always be one little thing that's different that you just can't put your finger on.

    nleonardon February 03, 2009   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    if you look at it hes mocking christians. i was dumbstruck when i found out how much they mock christians in this song. if you listen to what he says their standing on their own grave (we are dead and wanting Jesus to come)wondering if we are going to be takin to heaven. thats just what i think the song means so dont tell me all of the crap that you have to say. p.s. would anybody have any idea of what religion system is- thanks

    pwampon December 14, 2005   Link
  • +1
    My Interpretation

    I dont know if anyone else has pointed this out, but I think there are some references to the movies "Full Metal Jacket" and "Apocalypse Now" movies that also deal with theme of war and soldiers. I'll show you.

    "Maybe you're a sinner into your alternate life" The movie Apocalypse now is based on a book called "Heart of Darkness", the main theme is the change within the main character as he travels into vietnam, and the further he gets in, the more crazy he becomes, ultimately creating an alternate life and becoming a sinner(raping women and killing people).

    "Maybe you're joker, maybe you deserve to die" The main character in Full Metal Jacket is a soldier who we follow from recruitment untill deployment in Vietnam and his name is "Joker" and much like the main character of apocalypse now he too becomes slightly more and more inhumane the further he goes in vietnam. The movie ends with him shooting a vietnamese woman hence the reason he might deserve to die.

    "He's gone so far to find no hope He's never coming back" Again a reference to the long distance the main character in Apocalypse Now has to travel up the river to find what he is looking for, in the meantime becoming more and more insane. And as we see in the movie, he doesnt return, hence the reason hes never coming back. Note: This is repeated throughout the song with a few variations.

    "Young men standing on the top of their own graves" This is an almost direct portrayal of a scene from Full Metal Jacket, where the soldiers are standing atop a mass grave.

    This could all be overinterpretation, but I find somewhat fascinating that there are so many lines that can work as references to these 2 hugely famous war movies. 2 war movies that much like this song ultimately criticizes war and the changes they create in the soldiers.

    egofiskon August 03, 2010   Link
  • +1
    Song Meaning

    First let's start with: SOAD members are not christians. They belive that god is not that important and many times in their songs they have emphasised this theory.

    The meaning of this song is that war is bad, so it is not about religion.

    First they start with they who got killed (bottom of the grave), who are waiting for god (any religion) but he will not come, at least this is what the band believes in. Even if their believe is not true, still being dead is bad since they might not go to heaven because maybe thay deserved to die.

    The refrein tells that men and children are going to war by thinking u gonna kill the bad guys, as media would make us believe, but when you go there, you find out that it is wrong. In war no one can find hope for a better life or truth about they being right about making the war. Even if a soldier comes home, he is not the same, so he will never come back.

    Second the one who killed (top of the grave), christians most of the times since most strong countries are susch, and the band points out as waiting jesus, should not wait for salvation since they have killed. Can't go to heaven with this...

    Welcome to the wold of a soldier, where you are alone. And people are grown up to send them to war. Sure the band puts the blame on governments.

    About the religion again; they are not christians, and there is nothing wrong with that. Everyone is free to believe in anything, as long as they don't bother others, and here they are not against any religion.

    E.S.on July 30, 2019   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I preferred the way they sang it on the Mezmerize intro, but still a good song.

    Still think it's about a soldier going off to a pointless war and not coming back. When you die you are always alone.

    kmk_natashaon December 04, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Some of these lyrics are wrong, for example:

    Dead men lying on the heart of the grave Wondering when savior comes, if he is gonna be saved Maybe you're a sinner and to your turn in life Maybe you're a joker, maybe you deserve to die

    Dead men lying on the bottom of the grave Wondering when Savior comes Is he gonna be saved Maybe you're a sinner into your alternate life Maybe you're a joker, maybe you deserve to die

    He's come so far to find no truth He's come so far to find the truth

    Holy to the little bishop, tells the king his lies Cruelty to the winner, Bishop tells the King his lies

    This song is great although I did like it better on Mezmerize. I especially like the "sort of" flamenco background they put on the song. The meaning of the song is really not that hard to figure out. It about how a soldier has no hope whatsovever in returning once he or she goes to war.

    Pepison December 04, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I think this song is sung from the perspective of a dead soldier.

    MrTragedyon December 05, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Ok Inniscor, first of all this is songmeanings.net where your supposed to post your thoughts on what you think a song means, not criticize the thoughts of others. Second of all, obviously you haven’t actually listened to the song because if you did you would know what I was talking about. Why do you think SOAD say’s “Wondering when (Savior / Jesus) comes Is he gonna be saved”. I’ll explain, when Jesus died, he died for our sin’s right, so we could what? Die, no, he died so we could live, if you read the bible then you would know about a resurrection that has been prophesied for the future when Jesus is supposed to “return” and “when” he does, all the dead good people will be resurrected so they can live. If you keep listening to the song it say’s “God is wearing black He’s gone so far to find no hope He’s never coming back” I’ll explain again. “Thou shall not kill” will be found in the bible, so according to the bible if someone kill’s then they are sinners and are no longer considered good people. I think you might be getting were I’m going with this. Last but not least if that didn’t explain anything then this question may help Do you think when someone goes to war, they return the exact same person they left as? Think about all the soldiers in World War I and II, Vietnam, and Iraq : really any soldier in the world.

    Pepison December 06, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    yeah! but thinking to the war in iraq, you probably have more chance to get back! think about world war I and II and vietnam (although i dont know much about it) they were pretty much sent to die, whereas today it is more as not sendt out to die, although loads do, but we are more advanced than in world war i guess! so more about the earlier wars........however you are right.

    *~*SPIDERS*~*on December 06, 2005   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Loving the thought about soldiers lying dying, wondering if because they've killed, they're not going to go to heaven. That makes a lot of sense, in a very system way.

    Am I the only one who thinks Hypnotize works better after mezmerize, with the two soldier side's framing a concept-album flashback; a 'your whole life flashes before your eyes' type thing?

    Obsidianf7on December 08, 2005   Link

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