The scientist purported that there ain't no purpose
And the theologian told me that it's all been designed
And I'm trying to maintain objectivity
The world won't illuminate what really matters
And I'm an imperfect moral meaning extractor
Processing the complexity
Born of the earth (are we blind? )
We weren't given a choice (there's no way)
What about free will? (what we have)
Do we have a voice? (is shattered faith)
See them run in place (here and now)
In the human rat race (no reward)
So much dead weight (no debate) to our disgrace (accept your fate)
Life begins when you accept your fate
Paralysis from forces raging out of control until
My confidence and will are at an all-time low
Just directionless wandering
Eternal life, eternal truth, eternal secrets
Isolated hopes and hypotheses just
Leave me feeling so hungry
Born of the earth (are we blind? )
We weren't given a choice (there's no way)
What about free will? (what we have)
Do we have a voice? (is shattered faith)
See them run in place (here and now)
In the human rat race (no reward)
So much dead weight (no debate) to our disgrace (accept your fate)
Life begins when you accept your fate
Right or wrong,
The main criterion is what you do and not what you say
The roads you take, the friends you make and those you throw away
The method is a simple synthesis of the past and present state
You never lose if the path you choose is one you can easily navigate
I had a dream, light and carefree
But now there's doubt and gravity
But I won't run in place (are we blind? ) in the human rat race (there's no way)
I can set the pace (what we have) and accept my fate (is shattered faith)
Shattered faith (here and now)
Shattered faith (no reward)
The part of me (no debate) I can't erase (accept your fate)



Lyrics submitted by brk

Track duration: 03:44

"Shattered Faith [*]" as written by Brett/graffin Gurewitz

Lyrics © EMI Music Publishing

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Shattered Faith song meanings
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19 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment:the song in itself is talking about how his faith in humanity/the powers that be is shattered beyond belief, "But I won't run in place (Are we blind?) in the human rat race (There's no way)
    I can set the pace (What we have) and accept my fate (Is shattered faith)
    Shattered faith (Here and now)
    Shattered faith (No reward)
    the part of me (No debate) I can't erase (Accept your fate) "

    he wont conform to the current state of society, and he will accept the fact that his faith in everything is gone... he wasn't rewarded for seeking the truth and overanalyzing everything in life (morals, politics, the hypotheses of creation etc etc) so he is now accepting his fate of something he can never remove from his life, the cure of blindness and ignorance this society suffers from... upon even becoming aware that there is no god as well I my self could never be convinced there is a god ever again (part of me wishes I never concluded that, so that it would be my answer), and upon realizing how screwed up our society is I can never return to a humble innocence that I once possessed...

    this song repeated once again, is about his faith in this world/society being destroyed forever... and there is no fixing it once it is gone...
    Flag dualityofmen22on May 04, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:definitely my favourite BR song along with Broken.

    Personally to me this comes across as the battle between science and faith and how uncompromising both sides are to each other.

    i just get the impression that their trying to say "heres what science thinks of life and heres what religion thinks now go weigh them up make youre own decisions but you dont have to be just one or the other. have your own ideas that could be somewhere between the two. which i think comes from the lines:

    "I had a dream, light and carefree
    But now there's doubt and gravity

    But I won't run in place (Are we blind?) in the human rat race (There's no way)
    I can set the pace (What we have) and accept my fate (Is shattered faith)"

    i think thats why its called shattered faith to me its about not picking a side of extemism but pieceing together fragments of both to make your own views and judgements live by that hence the last two lines.

    thats what i get anyway though i like some of the other interpretions to :D.
    Flag FallenFalapzaon January 27, 2011   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:This is probably my favorite song they've got in there 200 plus arsenal of incredible songs!

    I grew up a catholic and only recently (within the last year) have come to no longer believe that god (the way I have been brought up to believe) exist. I had a epiphany that never dawned on me before, and it's so obvious that I feel stupid for never seeing it before. These books that these people of faith follow that is said to be the word of god is written by MAN... man who is so easily corrupted and wants nothing more than to have power over others. And I grew up being told that things written in the Bible had come true in the past. Things that had been written thousands of years before they ever came true. Things that could have been cleverly rewritten in there at some point as they have reprinted versions such as the King James version.

    I haven't seen any prof of an almighty god yet, so I can't say he doesn't exist because he definitely does in the minds of many. But this song to me will always (for me) relate to my shattered faith. The part of me I can't erase.

    This song is F*CKING AWESOME!
    Flag SpitSpitSpittyon October 20, 2010   Link
  • 0
    My Opinion:I love this song so much!
    Flag HushHannahon June 29, 2009   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:Favorite Bad Religion song.
    Flag tjtech12on July 24, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I'm inclined to agree with fuckyou1. Purpose or no purpose, we're here and we have to deal with it. The only question is how we deal with it. Do we spend our lives adhering to one axiom or the other, wallowing in the futility of either absolute or do we understand that meaningful living involves accepting both our limitations and our ability to act as agents of change?
    Flag swollen uvulaon April 09, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Very good BadReligion-song. Fuckyou1: That's an interesting point of view! I think you are right but i still think their song No Control still makes a lot of sense also. Isn't that strange? And waht about the next lines in the lyrics:

    You never lose if the path you choose is one you can easily navigate

    I had a dream, light and carefree
    But now there's doubt and gravity

    Is the first lines cynical???? And does he mean with the second one that for everyone there is doubt and gravity and that this is 'just' a part of life and should be unless dreams are often light and carefree??? (so paths are NOT (and should not be) easily to navigate?)
    Flag TheHugetiveon July 12, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:yeah i agree with the whole idea that its about realizing yer position/status/situation in life and making the best of it etc. Iceberg yer looking at it from a wayyy too hardcore atheist point of view. just cuz you hate religion doesnt mean you can twist every lyric to make it completely anti-religion. bad religion is not necessarily anti-religion, just pro-logic, reasoning, etc. as virtk0s said
    Flag nyghtcrawleron April 08, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Bad religion lyrics often shift from determinism ("we have no control, we are not in command") to free will actions.

    I think greg's faith that's been shatterred is that we DO have control of our lives.
    More importantly, it doesn't matter why are we here on earth and who's right or wrong, the main thing is that we're here and it's time to make things better.
    Flag fuckyou1on March 11, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:The first BR song I heard still owns my ass
    Flag our_deadon February 02, 2006   Link

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