He sewed his eyes shut because he is afraid to see
He tries to tell me what I put inside of me
He's got the answers to ease my curiosity
He dreamed up a god and called it Christianity
Your god is dead and no one cares
If there is a hell I will see you there
He flexed his muscles to keep his flock of sheep in line
He made a virus that would kill off all the swine
His perfect kingdom of killing suffering and pain
Demands devotion atrocities done in his name
Your god is dead and no one cares
Drowning in his own hypocrisy
And if there is a hell I will see you there
Burning with your god in humility
Will you die for this?



Lyrics submitted by implode, edited by madpoet

Track duration: 03:54

"Heresy" as written by Vincent Paul Abbott, Darrell Lance Abbott, Rex Brown, Philip Anselmo

Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., THE BICYCLE MUSIC COMPANY

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Heresy song meanings
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  • 0
    General Comment:Ok, here are some thoughts. TDS is a very existentialist album, very Nietzschean to be exact. Nietzsche is famous (or infamous) for saying that "God is dead." Nietzsche's meaning of this statement refers more to the need of a god to exist is dead. Science has explained most of the things that god once did, (this was stated in the late 1800's by the way) therefore we no longer need god to explain away our fear of the unknown. Nietzsche then goes on to write about morality in a godless world, because in his estimation without the Christian God Christian morality dies as well. I don't know if Trent was referring to Nietzsche in Heresy, but it's something to think about. Personally, he stated that TDS is basically about someone who discovers all of the illusions of his life, only to be left with nothing, but discovers his true self. Religion is included in this. Also, the parts in the song about going to hell aren't supposed to be literal or a joke. I think they are meant to show the hypocrisy within Christianity itself. Christians are so hypocritical that they will be going to hell too, if there is one of course. He may also be saying that "god is dead" in that everyone acts as if there is no god anyway, Christians and Atheists alike, so what's the point of saying there is a god?
    Flag TwoVirgoson April 30, 2013   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:I feel a bit 'guilty' (is that the right word? Awkward perhaps?) listening to this as a Christian, just because the lyrics are so far from what I believe, but it is a very interesting song with a killer beat; even 10+ years after this style of music was thought of as 'cool' and cutting edge, I still enjoy listening to it.

    I am always aware with music that these are just words in a song; they may not be what the artist truly believes, he may just be playing a character, he may just be trying to vent anger over feelings of being mislead/indoctrinated in his youth. I think it's probably the latter, because whether you believe in Hell or not, surely nobody wants to go there? I mean, you can jokingly think that if it does exist it'll be full of rock musicians and guitar solos and hookers and blackjack, basically one big party - but if it's a Christian invention and the Christians say it's not a great place to be, then if it DOES exist then I don't think anyone can truly WANT to go there. I mean, confused goth kids and embittered atheist adults can always joke about ending up there, even if they don't actually believe it exists, but if they did believe it existed, they'd probably change their tune. Following this logic, I'd say Trent was probably just using hyperbole to play a character, which makes for a very interesting listen!

    (I prefer 2008's 'The Slip' anyway......)
    Flag peanutisminton December 05, 2011   Link
  • +1
    General Comment:Of course, this serves as a cry against Christianity from Trent, but its is also the first step in the crumble of the protagonist. Following his personal tragedy in Piggy (which I believe to be a very harsh breakup) he decides God does not care about him or anyone else, and turns his back on the religion he's been following his whole life (God is dead-HIS God is dead). In the first verse (He sewed his eyes shut) he is talking about himself, about who he used to be, whereas in the second verse (He flexed his muscles) He refers to God himself. I'm probably over analyzing, but I think the voice in the background on the last chorus (Your god is dead! - drowning in his own hypocrisy) is Mr. Self-Destruct himself, putting these ideas in the protagonist's head.
    Flag HammerFloydon September 25, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:About how religion is man made.
    Flag mediocremurphyon November 06, 2010   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation:i think its about a group of people being true believers of christianity then someone saw it as a chance to take advantage of people for money and they see him as a prophet and he slowly changes the religion to his on ideals without them realizing (he dreamed up a god and called it christianity, your god is dead and nobody cares)
    Flag a7x1995on November 03, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I think this song being sung by the voice from "Mr. Self Destruct," the voice guiding the album's protagonist to his ruin. Here, the voice is convincing the character to abandon religion and morality by feeding him lies about how Christianity is false and how he's better off faithless. As the rest of the album reveals, this is only another mile-marker on the protagonist's highway to calamity that ends with "The Downward Spiral." When I first heard this, I assumed it was another "God Sucks" song. However, it became clear that the view presented was not the view of the songwriter (Reznor) but the words of a character in the album. This song is is presented in the context of the album as a lie leading someone to self-destruction. So to those who take this song seriously, you better beware, cuz you're following not truth shared by Reznor himself, but the words that lead to ruin.
    Flag Jake1992on December 29, 2009   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning:"He" refers to the main character, the beast, as particularly evidenced by the congruency of "he flexed his muscles" with other descriptions in this album. The part about sewing his eyes shut is a reference to all of a.) the new testament biblical references to the blind, b.) the first and later the second fatal head wounds. The virus referred to is a reference to both the beast's eventual infection with HIV and also his brand of Christianity which will be against police and military as is the killing off the swine reference, which is also a slanderous reference to the death of his piggy.
    Flag MisterFrogon November 03, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:This song is the "chapter" in the story where the character rejects any and all authority figures by rejecting the "supreme" authority of God and, from there, begins to view the world as a bad place and people as all people as "evil." In the song he also debunks God and religion, particularly christianity, by explaing the psychological reasons why people believe in God. After rejecting God, the character begins to use drugs to escape the harshness of life that he is now aware of. At the end of this song, he begins to hate himself, which is signified by the fact that he thinks that, if there was a God and that did punish bad people by sending them to hell, he would be one of those people.
    Flag Joe K. on July 26, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment: First off, to all the retards who have responded to this post overjoyed that they are atheist, you are all stupid fucks. I consider myself an atheist, and it is pretty much the worst thing that can happen to you. It’s like when you realize Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny or any of that shit isn’t real as a kid. It THE ultimate buzz kill to realize you are going to die and THAT’S IT. Not to mention really scary/sad. In my opinion, ignorance is bliss. Hence the line:

    /He sewed his eyes shut,
    because he is afraid to see,/

    Death is scary shit, and it’s no wonder why people need something to believe in to keep peace of mind and be happy.

    With that aside, I also consider the ideals of the Bible as the blueprint of a responsible life. Neoritter ‘s post (like the middle of page 4) pretty much sums up a lot of my feelings. Also, I think the point needs to be made that Trent does not identify “him” or “his” throughout the course of the song (he does NOT identify him/his as God, check the lyrics), and this is left to interpretation. He could easily be referring to the countless tyrants of the ages who have used religion (specifically Christianity since it is the largest) as a tool to control people into doing things that are otherwise against the ideals of that religion (aka Hitler). In any interpretation, it is an authority figure of some sort that deceives us. This can apply to pretty much EVERY government in the world. It is unfair to judge the religion as hypocritical based on a few bad eggs.” Real” practicing Christians are essentially good people. “Fake” ones overemphasize portions of the Bible to persuade their point, or interpret it literally, which is a huge mistake also. It is meant for real-world interpretation only.

    In my opinion, religion, or God (if there is one), is not to blame for the atrocities of the world. It is pure human evil that is to blame. People dying of AIDS is selfishness from those who can’t control their sexual urges enough to keep others healthy or those stupid enough to have intercourse with random people (it’s a TRANSMITTED disease assholes!). So if you get AIDS, fuck you and stop complaining (except those born into it. You can thank your asshole parents for that. I pity you.). You deserve it; it is Darwinism at its finest. Wars occurring is the result of human greed and insecurity, and those in power having no fortitude to resist such menial urges. I am not saying it can be avoided (how the hell do you get rid of psycho terrorists without killing them off? Not easily to say the least....), but essentially if every person was not a weak-minded bastard they could uphold their end of the bargain and be true and good to everybody else. However this is the case with about 1% of people in the world. Everybody is out to get their share and could care less how they get it, including wronging you in the process. I whole-heartedly agree with this and can basically share with you the equation that governs the evil in the world:
    PEOPLE=SHIT

    People treat each other like shit. We even treat ourselves like shit (drugs, alcohol, etc..). Therefore,

    PEOPLE=SHIT
    So true.
    Flag TheDualityon June 03, 2009   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning:he flexed his muscles to keep his flock of sheep in line
    he made a virus that would kill off all the swine
    his perfect kingdom of killing, suffering, and pain
    demands devotion, atrocities done in his name

    As Trent Reznor states, the part above is about "his paranoia as a sexually active person in the age of aids."
    Flag ofbon November 18, 2008   Link

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