| The Vandals – Anarchy Burger (Hold the Government) Lyrics | 21 years ago |
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For crying out loud, I wish that one day people would look into certain theories and such before bad-mouthing them. Anarchy can work, as can socialism (of which, anarchy is a form). No, it can't be achieved overnight, because of the way we are socialised by the present system; you live in a corrupt society, you become pretty much corrupt. "Communism" in Russia did not fail because it was "against human nature" or any such thing. It failed, because it wasn't communism, and was just another form of capitalism with some vague socialist ideas (planned economy, etc); but, this time, an even more brutal form with not even faux democracy. Most anarchists, serious ones, do not believe that we can and will suddenly leap straight into a system of anarchy. Such a revolution will only happen when people in society become aware of how bad it has become, and that will only happen when they no longer have relative stability, security, and the basics in proportion to those around them. That, or they are faced directly with mass uprisings in the exploited world - that place we need to keep under control in order for our economy to function and for us to live a relatively high standard of living. Anarchy isn't just a theory of how to live after the abolition of capitalism, and socialism isn't really just a critique of that self same system; it's a way of resisting, fighting back, and trying to spread awareness so that the true nature of capitalist life will unravel before peoples eyes. That's why we protest, why you see slogans sometimes scrawled in places, and why some bands (mainly punk and folk) constantly sing about it. Not sure if this song, however, is on those same serious lines. Still, sounds good. :P |
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| Anti-Flag – Captain Anarchy Lyrics | 21 years ago |
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Well, I agree with the guy/gal above who said the song is basically about a rich kid who gets into the scene without any genuine belief in it. As for the people who said anarchy doesn't or won't work, that I disagree with. I'm not sure how many of you actually know what anarchy is (it's kinda hard because there are a million and one different interpretations of it being thrown around), but it is actually a form of socialism. In the same way that Marxism is a form of socialism, so is anarchy. The difference is that anarchy is a collection of ideas, while Marxism is an ideology. Um, trust me, there is a difference. :P... it's quite easy to believe in anarchy, and think that Marx got a lot of stuff right. I do. Anyone actually interested, this is a good site, though it does offer a rather inaccurate view of Marxism: http://www.infoshop.org/faq/index.html |
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| Anti-Flag – Die For The Government Lyrics | 21 years ago |
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Well, I know I missed that entire argument, but since DrFeelgood03 has decided to express an opinion I disagree with, here goes. First off, I'll get this out of the way... I'm not from the US (well, the UK isn't part of the US "yet" anyway) and I'm not under 20 (since someone earlier was trying to say how the government has nothing to do with those under 20). First off, the US is not the "best" country in the world. How can a country be the "best" country in the world? How do you measure that? We could measure it on the amount of money spent on welfare, to help out people and generate a more caring society, in which case parts of Europe and Canada would rank pretty high. We could measure it on crime rates, or lack there of, in which case Japan would do pretty well. We could measure it on whether or not they utilise a capitalist system or a genuine socialist one (not that old soviet state-capitalism, dictatorship system), in which case we'd have no example. All the instances above that actually yield an example, are quite atrocious in other respects. The US has done some horrific things... the income disparity is sickening, the amount of gun crime is horrific, it's foreign intervention and imperialism is just as bad as Victorian England. The US starves other countries, withdraws aid when it doesn't get its way, pushes its economic interests at the expense of millions of exploited workers who earn not even enough to survive. Back in its own country, the US has had a history of racism that is almost unparalleled. No, I do not believe the UK is any better than the US. I think we are just smaller, less powerful, and therefor we are not able to exert as much influence. If we could, our ruling class would do the same as the US ruling class. Same is true of France, Germany, etc. What I believe Anti-Flag are trying to say, is that the US is in such a condition that it needs urgent change. I do not believe they are patriotic to the US government, or the US system, or the US constitution, or any other ruling class piece of tat... but I do believe they love the US people. There's a big difference. As for leaving the country because they hate the structures of society (i.e. the government, etc), that is a stupid comment. Everywhere is pretty much the same, or in a state of decay or civil war in the case of the so called "third world" precisely due to outside influences. Gotta love globalisation There's a simple answer to the whole problems, and that is anarchy, which is what I think most political punk bands are stressing. I don't mean the mindless "smash it all up, no control, yeah, fuck the government" style of anarchy that too many people shout about. I mean a style of society based on a participant economic model, equality, with localised workers councils, and real democracy. In effect, genuine socialism. Eh, I've gone way off topic. Oh well. Oh, and the government (or rather the capitalist system) does interfere a lot with people still in their teens. What do you think schools do. |
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| Covenant – Tabula Rasa Lyrics | 21 years ago |
| I'm not sure if your interpretation is what is intended by the song (the interesting ones never are)... but I love it anyway. | |
| Covenant – Theremin Lyrics | 21 years ago |
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Personally, I think that Vehementi has it pretty right. It's about people being ignorant to the way that those who lead us are destroying the world with our consent, speaking of a better future while trashing the present. Or something to that effect, anyway. I really fail to see how the song has "anything" to do with dancing at an industrial/ebm club, or being a goth. One word, in this instance "dance", does not mean the song has anything to do with clubbing. I know that is only a personal interpretation of the song, but, urr, I really don't think they're sing about "gothness". |
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| Project Pitchfork – Mine / Beast Of Prey Lyrics | 21 years ago |
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It seems to me that it's a pretty obvious meaning really. The title "Mine / Beast of Prey" kind of says it anyway. It's about children laughing in the day, while nearby a landmine lays in waiting. I don't think it's even intended that much as a metaphor. It's merely a reflection on how our world has turned out, and how we leave our past battlefields strewn with devices that lay in waiting to kill future generations. |
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| John Lennon – Imagine Lyrics | 21 years ago |
| If that was for me, YoungAndDesperate, that is not what I believe. You're right, I would be simply naive if I believed that, but I do not. I do not believe that Communism, concept or practice, had a purely positive fact on the USSR; not by a long shot. I believe the system they implemented was state capitalism, not socialism, and I do not believe that was purely positive for Russia or any of the Soviet Republics; for a start there were no civil rights, the inconsistencies within the system were increasingly obvious, and it was extremely militaristic. I was merely saying that I do not believe people within the former USSR were as unhappy, and on the scale, as our governments like to pretend. | |
| John Lennon – Working Class Hero Lyrics | 21 years ago |
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It's fairly obvious it is about capitalism and the society we live in. It's about the fact that capitalism degrades the majority of people in any country, which happens to be the working class. Even with globalisation and the transition of manufacturing business abroad to exploit cheaper work forces, and our economies becoming service based, the majority of people are still by far working class in western countries - it's just that working class jobs have changed from their traditional jobs, thus weakening class solidarity and awareness. Call centres for example operate very much under dehumanising, alienating, factory conditions. Many job brackets that were considered middle class in the past are now working class, so I'd argue strongly against the majority of people in America being middle class. Just look at the comparative wages, wealth divide, job security, and so forth. Anyway, back to the point. I think mattimal hit on most of it. It's basically about society being unfair and against those of us who are working class, about us having to play by ruling class rules, about how we are oppressed. More than that though, it's saying that it's alright to abandon their rules and fight against what they enforce upon us. To be a working class hero. As for workingclass hero 149, I found it fairly easy to guess you were only 14 or thereabouts. Not only did you fail to punctuate any of your post, you also totally misinterpreted Urine's_whore's comment of doomed to be working class scum, and unfairly accused MrMojoRisin5552 of being exactly the same because of his comment about religion. I myself am an atheist, but I will not insult you by saying my own views of what religion is there for, how it has developed, and why it first came into being. You are considerably naive though to think that world peace can be achieved by everyone demanding it, and that that would ever happen. Governments, and the ideology of capitalism, justify war as being an inevitable part of life. War happens to protect interests and the economy, and to further them. A popular movement could rise up to end war, but it would not be everyone "demanding peace". It would be a revolution. Again, something that would not happen unless the system plunged into crisis. And only then, if revolution spread would world peace become inevitable. Otherwise the reverse is true. |
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| John Lennon – Imagine Lyrics | 21 years ago |
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Dear god. Some people here are just plain out stupid. Apologies to begin with, and I know this is a great way to get yourself hated in one post. Communism has never existed, the USSR was not Communist. Nor was China, Cuba, Korea or any other example anyone might throw at me. The song is fairly obviously about Communism. It is asking people to imagine certain things, and those things are what a Communist state is created upon. Communism is not a system of government, so to speak, but an economic system. Marx believed that a society was shaped from the economics it was built upon, and that to have a "utopian" society, you needed an economic system that was fair for all people. Hence Communism being the economic system that would bring about Socialism. Capitalist countries like ours, if you look at them, are hideous places. The wealth divide is sickening, we live on the toils of third world countries, we massacre people in wars, we live in relative boredom and insecurity, and corporations commit murder and crime relatively freely. Capitalism destroys lives. Socialists, and those who have fought for socialism, are people deserving of respect not contempt. They wished to change the society out of the war-ridden, exploitation based, capitalist world we currently live within. There have been some victories along the way; trade unions, minimum wage, workers rights. Not everyone who says they are a communist is a communist, and the same is true in reverse. Communism, unfortunately, has become known as a label applied to totalitarian societies and regimes like Russia. I feel sorry for Russia, as the days in 1917 could have yielded so much. The revolution, arguably, in Russia did very much go along the lines of a proletarian revolution, despite Russia having a relatively small working class and extensive peasantry. The Bolsheviks didn't immediately go about organising a brutal regime as history might want you to believe. The brutality came later. There was little time to implement many of the measures needed to implement communism, though Lenin did achieve some of them. Several former Russian occupied territories were granted independance. Russia was invaded though by the capitalist nations who were afraid what the revolution could mean, and though they won, it had damaged the revolution extensively. Lenin brought about several authoritarian and militaristic measures, including the cheka, later to become the KGB. After his death, there was still hope, until Stalin sabotaged the whole thing, had Trotsky exiled, and assumed control. What Stalin pursued was rapid industrialisation to catch up with the west, using extremely authoritarian measures, and becoming increasingly imperialist in outlook. It wasn't Communism. Christ, Trotsky spent the rest of his life critically attacking the USSR in his writings, as did George Orwell, who was also a socialist (though I wouldn't say he was a Marxist). The only thing the USSR did for Communism was keep the ideology alive. It did not practice it. |
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| John Lennon – Imagine Lyrics | 21 years ago |
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Dear god. Some people here are just plain out stupid. Apologies to begin with, and I know this is a great way to get yourself hated in one post. Communism has never existed, the USSR was not Communist. Nor was China, Cuba, Korea or any other example anyone might throw at me. The song is fairly obviously about Communism. It is asking people to imagine certain things, and those things are what a Communist state is created upon. Communism is not a system of government, so to speak, but an economic system. Marx believed that a society was shaped from the economics it was built upon, and that to have a "utopian" society, you needed an economic system that was fair for all people. Hence Communism being the economic system that would bring about Socialism. Capitalist countries like ours, if you look at them, are hideous places. The wealth divide is sickening, we live on the toils of third world countries, we massacre people in wars, we live in relative boredom and insecurity, and corporations commit murder and crime relatively freely. Capitalism destroys lives. Socialists, and those who have fought for socialism, are people deserving of respect not contempt. They wished to change the society out of the war-ridden, exploitation based, capitalist world we currently live within. There have been some victories along the way; trade unions, minimum wage, workers rights. Not everyone who says they are a communist is a communist, and the same is true in reverse. Communism, unfortunately, has become known as a label applied to totalitarian societies and regimes like Russia. I feel sorry for Russia, as the days in 1917 could have yielded so much. The revolution, arguably, in Russia did very much go along the lines of a proletarian revolution, despite Russia having a relatively small working class and extensive peasantry. The Bolsheviks didn't immediately go about organising a brutal regime as history might want you to believe. The brutality came later. There was little time to implement many of the measures needed to implement communism, though Lenin did achieve some of them. Several former Russian occupied territories were granted independance. Russia was invaded though by the capitalist nations who were afraid what the revolution could mean, and though they won, it had damaged the revolution extensively. Lenin brought about several authoritarian and militaristic measures, including the cheka, later to become the KGB. After his death, there was still hope, until Stalin sabotaged the whole thing, had Trotsky exiled, and assumed control. What Stalin pursued was rapid industrialisation to catch up with the west, using extremely authoritarian measures, and becoming increasingly imperialist in outlook. It wasn't Communism. Christ, Trotsky spent the rest of his life critically attacking the USSR in his writings, as did George Orwell, who was also a socialist (though I wouldn't say he was a Marxist). The only thing the USSR did for Communism was keep the ideology alive. It did not practice it. The nature of the USSR was a great asset to the Western Capitalist powers, because they could happily preach that communism led to totalitarianism, and with its collapse that communism didn't work. Most people bought it, and still buy into that. It has become "fact" and has been passed down that way. Oh, and the idea of Communism wasn't even created by Marx or Engels. The idea had been around much longer, and depicted a way of life based upon people living in independant communes where everything was shared out. Marx/Engels adapted it to suit the collective nature of capitalism and the way the world had proceeded. At any rate, people who lived in the USSR or any other of the so called "Communist" countries, were not nearly as miserable or unhappy as our governments would have you believe. I think someone earlier on explained that better than me. Lenin was not some evil villain, nor was Trotsky, whose ideas most of the modern revolutionary left are based upon, including the party I belong too. Communism/Socialism can work, and personally, I believe that one day it will be neccessary to implement it more than ever. I hope we will do so then, and not resort to racist divisions like what happened in the economic collapse of Germany so many years ago. Human nature is not selfish, at least not to the extent where people do not care for each other. People can easily live within a communist system, caring for each other. We are very much a product of the society we live within, and as our societies become increasingly obsessed with posessions, as do we. Anyway, back to the song. Definately about socialism. |
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| KMFDM – Anarchy Lyrics | 21 years ago |
| Don't get me wrong, I love this song, and KMFDM are a great band. I'm not too sure what relevance it has to anarchy though... not at all sure what the song is about, but that seems to be just a metaphor. Besides, to be even more pedantic, it's very hard to define anarchy... there are numerous different schools of thought, and the ideas that most punk fans throw around are well off the mark. | |
| Manic Street Preachers – Small Black Flowers That Grow In The Sky Lyrics | 22 years ago |
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Heh. Oops. I guess that makes sense, though I still think, even if it's not the intended meaning, that it can easily be used as a reference to human society/life. |
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| Dead Kennedys – Nazi Punks Fuck Off Lyrics | 22 years ago |
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"Punk ain't no religious cult Punk means thinking for yourself You ain't hardcore 'cos you spike your hair When a jock still lives inside your head " It's also a reference to how people "join" a subculture without having any genuine interest in it or not at all knowing what it stands for. Just look at all those shitty pop-punk bands and their following for a start. |
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| Dead Kennedys – MTV - Get Off The Air Lyrics | 22 years ago |
| Obviously not that obvious. It's not just about MTV... it's about how the media ruins every subculture/musical movement through commercialising something and then selling it back at us, think postmodernism. MTV is used as an example of that, like an ebodyment. Look at the punk movement, and where it has ended up now; all these stupid half-assed pop-punk bands that are about as political as a cabbage. | |
| Dead Kennedys – Holiday in Cambodia Lyrics | 22 years ago |
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Great song, but it basically boils down to being about ignorance. People living "happily" in America/Europe/Whatever, thinking they know everything, when there are people dying in poorer nations, being forced to kill, then killed themselves, living in squalor, etc. "So you can get rich But your boss gets richer off you"... ignorance to the fact that society uses you. "Play ethnicky jazz To parade your snazz On your five grand stereo Braggin' that you know How the niggers feel cold And the slum's got so much soul"... Acting like something is cool, e.g. "the slums got so much soul", but really just ignorant to the fact of how it really is. |
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| VNV Nation – Darkangel Lyrics | 22 years ago |
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Well, said_corpse, may not have exactly worded it too politely, but I think his interpretation is more interesting than the others. I think my own view on the song is similar, as I do believe it is about the US, even though that's a place I don't like too much (though nothing against the people there, just the money-grabbing capitalist society). I doubt the song's intended meaning was about the US, but I also doubt that the idea of the "dark angel" was meant to be taken literal. "In your dream you see me clear"... the US and how its citizens want to see it, how it is in theory, how people see it with a rose-tinted view... "I have no restraint, no fear"... the US does have little restraint. It involves itself in most international problems and enjoys playing peace-keeper. "Powerless I watched from faces I'd assumed."... seems to suggest the US isn't all that though, not in reality. Atleast to me. "Give me time I will be clear. Given time you'll understand What possesses me to right what you have suffered." Again, it seems to suggest that although we don't know the reasons now, they may be revealed later. "I'm in this mood because of scorn. I'm in a mood for total war." Sorry, but I find this fitting the US perfectly. Think about it. "Among my own I was alone through my own doing."... the US does have a habit of seperating itself from other Western "Democracies" (Democracy being used there in the loosest sense of the word) through its own actions, exept my country (UK) which has crawled so far up America's ass it would be impossible for the US to dislodge them. |
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| VNV Nation – Forsaken Lyrics | 22 years ago |
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Syrinx... as far as I can remember, it originally didn't have lyrics. Lyrics were added at one of their live gigs, at one point, and then VNV redid the song with lyrics over it. Hence, how it seems you can hear the raw emotion running through it. |
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| Manic Street Preachers – Small Black Flowers That Grow In The Sky Lyrics | 22 years ago |
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To those in charge, we're just a number, and we're trapped in the invisible cage they've built around us. They harvest us and use us; we have no real rights. It's really self explanotory as to meaning, and is another stab at Capitalist society. "Here chewing your tail is joy"... like a pig in a farm would do. |
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| Manic Street Preachers – Motorcycle Emptiness Lyrics | 22 years ago |
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The emptiness isn't personal as such though, it's more to do with the emptiness of the world we live in, or rather, how it breeds emptiness within people. Look at the words used throughout the song, and bare in mind the Manic's own Communist/Marxist political views. "Life lies a slow suicide" followed by "Orthodox dreams and symbolic myths From feudal serf to spender This wonderful world of purchase power" is about how our society and world guide us into lives that are empty, devoid, like a "slow suicide". It could also be seen as our "wonderful world of purchase power" on a "slow suicide", as Marx predicted that capitalism would eventually destroy itself. The "neon loneliness" is about how we're given so many things, such as TV, to distract us from the unfairness of society we live in. Our loneliness is "neon" because it's bright, colourful, and therefor distracting, but ultimately worthless. While we live "under neon loneliness" we'll always have "everlasting nothingness." |
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| New Model Army – Great Expectations Lyrics | 22 years ago |
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We're brought up to want and want and want, living in a capitalist society that teaches us always to push ahead, even if it means back-stabbing everyone on the way. The lyrics bring this across quite easily, saying how we're brought up to want so many things we can't have, and in the end we're left with "a broken dream, a shattered cause, a might have been." It's about the lies we're fed, that we can do anything in life, and that we all have equal chances, when in reality we can't and don't. |
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| New Model Army – I Love The World Lyrics | 22 years ago |
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"I Love The World" Oh, the irony. |
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| New Model Army – Here Comes The War Lyrics | 22 years ago |
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Not sure my interpretation is at all right... my own Leninist-Communist leanings mean most my views are biased. It seems to be about how the evils of today's society make war inevitable. The first verse does well at speaking of how we're ruining our world, as the "oil burns in thick black columns, the buzz saws echo through the forest floor", destroying it, with people being treated unjustly, starving at times, unable to get their "fair share"... leading finally to war, as there's no other option. Justin proceeds to go on about how young men "hardly know their sacred mother tongue but they know their duty to defend the flag hanging limp and bloody above the village church", basically commenting on how patriotism like that is pointless; they know little about their homeland, probably don't really know why they're been sent off to defend it, but dying anyway. The flag hangs "limp and bloody", because it's tarnished; there's no honour in fighting for capital, as war is really about. The hypocrisy of this is shown as "Young money men play paintball games"... those with money, those with power, those in charge of us, to them it's a game. "We've had three hot nights in succession - the riot season is here again" again showing how the social and political climate is deteriorating. "a whirling dervish"... how war destroys everything. "until the centre cannot hold"... I have my own sort of view on what this means... with war destroying today's society, the centre parties "cannot hold", and revolution, or a shift to the extreme left or right, is inevitable. Heh, probably not what Justin intended though. |
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| New Model Army – My Country Lyrics | 22 years ago |
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... But when the song speaks of fighting to protect our country, it's referring to protecting it from our own government. The song is basically about our country belonging to us, and not those that rule us. The fight it talks about is against racism, capitalism and war. It wasn't those in charge that brought us our rights, but our ancestors, but still they try and take them from us. Well, what little rights we have left. The last two lines basically promote state-resistance: "Fight all the powers who would abuse our Common Laws Fight all the powers who think they only owe themselves . . ." |
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