In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
Time melts away in this living inferno,
Trapped by a cause that I once understood.
Feeling a sickness building inside of me,
Who will I really have to answer to.
March on through the rivers of red.
Souls drift, they fill the air.
Forced to fight, behind,
The crooked cross.
Do only what is expected of me,
With no emotions my feelings suppressed.
Blind obedience carries me through it all.
Conscience a word I learned to forget.
March on through the rivers of red.
Flesh burns, it fills the air.
Forced to fight, behind,
The crooked cross.
Time melts away in this living inferno,
Trapped by a cause that I once understood.
Blind obedience carries me through it all,
Do only what is expected of me.
March on through the rivers of red.
Souls drift, they fill the air.
Forced to fight, behind,
The crooked cross.
Trapped by a cause that I once understood.
Feeling a sickness building inside of me,
Who will I really have to answer to.
March on through the rivers of red.
Souls drift, they fill the air.
Forced to fight, behind,
The crooked cross.
Do only what is expected of me,
With no emotions my feelings suppressed.
Blind obedience carries me through it all.
Conscience a word I learned to forget.
March on through the rivers of red.
Flesh burns, it fills the air.
Forced to fight, behind,
The crooked cross.
Time melts away in this living inferno,
Trapped by a cause that I once understood.
Blind obedience carries me through it all,
Do only what is expected of me.
March on through the rivers of red.
Souls drift, they fill the air.
Forced to fight, behind,
The crooked cross.
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maybe its something that has to do with the cruscifiction of jesus, but i think the swastika theory is a good one.
I heard it was the song that confirmed Jeff Hanneman's (and Slayer's) opposition against national-socialism, because of many criticisms they received (very frequently), even by former Sepultura vocalist, Max Cavalera!
I read (and hear) the lyrics, and my head says conscripts on the Nazi side in WW2. Aside from the obvious "crooked cross", you have "trapped by a cause that I once understood", maybe relating to the fact Hitler was voted into power.
Notice Araya's "I Don't Give a F**k" way of singing through the verse.
It's a perspective of a German soldier who abuses the Pervitin pills (methamphetamine), striving to survive another day/week/month/year of serving "the cause that he once understood" and "to do only what is expected of him".
It's the final stage of the WWII. He knows that the war is lost, but not soon enough.
He feels a sickness building inside of him, but the pills melt away the time in his living inferno, and suppress his feelings. Blind obedience carries him through it all, Conscience a word he learned to forget.
i heard this is about nazis or something, coz jeff hanneman is interested in world war 2.
The song could also be about the Crusades; the stuff about marching behind the crooked cross makes more sense in that context.
The crooked cross is a swastika.
this song was used in Doom, level 'E3M3 Pandamonium'.
The song is simply about what the German people thought throughout WWII and as Hitler's true intentions became more and more obvious
I agree it is about hitler's true intentions. Jeff Hanneman is interested in WWII. Another song mentioning Nazis is "Angel of Death".