Lyrics for Born of a Broken Man as interpreted by piesupreme

Born of a Broken Man Lyrics
My fears hunt me down
Capturing my memories
The frontier of loss
They try to escape across the street where
Jesus stripped bare
And raped the spirit he was supposed to nurture
In the name of my
In the name of my

Born of a broken man
But not a broken man
Born of a broken man
Never a broken man

Like autumn leaves
His sense fell from him
An empty glass of himself
Shattered somewhere within
His thoughts like a hundred moths
Trapped in a lampshade
Somewhere within
Their wings banging and burning
On through endless nights
Forever awake he lies shaking and starving
Praying for someone to turn off the light

Born of a broken man
Never a broken man
Born of a broken man
But not a broken man

My fears hunt me down
Capturing my memories
The frontier of loss
They try to escape across the street where
Jesus stripped bare
And raped the spirit he was supposed to nurture
In the name of my
In the name of my

Born of a broken man
But not a broken man
Born of a broken man
Never a broken man

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claire16
05-10-2005

Rated 0 
i think it is about an insucure person being chased by imaginary enimies hu drive him mad

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Shanesville
05-18-2005

Rated 0 
I think this song is brilliant,especially the guitar solo,and it's very poetic at times "his thoughts like a hundred moths trapped in a lightshade."I'm a christian and the lyric about Jesus raping the spirit he was supposed to nurture,intrigued and disturbed me.After a while I thought that his dad had been in trouble and had gone to the church for help.I thought that Zach was juxtaposing the sufferings of Christ with that of his father and that his dad thought he could recieve help.But the church failed him,I thought perhaps Zac had missed the point and blaimed Jesus instead of the failings of those in that individual church.Because he says "THEY, try to escape across the street, where Jesus stripped bare,and raped the spirt he was supposed to nurture"
Sometimes though we can make mistakes and go overboard in trying to please God(I've done it) when you don't actually have to.His father felt he should burn those paintings,and not use his gift for God,when Zac felt that God was completely against it his father's talent,when undoubtly it was probably God who gave him the talent to paint.

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meursaultsrevolver
05-27-2005

Rated 0 
you're a fucking idiot

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beaker_747
06-01-2005

Rated 0 
Hey insignificant2all_5,
I storyboarded a film-clip for this song back in year 9 for english. During the bridge guitar riff, I had the camera zooming into a radio, flying around through the wires, then just as the rest of the band kicks in, the camera opens to show a red room with a white floor, and the band playing. Then I had some random bullet-time effects and slow motion as the band ripped it up something mad.

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meursaultsrevolver
06-05-2005

Rated 0 
original...

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revolverisgay
07-01-2005

Rated 0 
Look at you trying to start shit meursaultsrevolver! You talk about oKySP provoking you by calling you an idiot (which he wasnt wrong about), when you actually provoked him! Let me quote, "you ****ing christians make me sick!" Now, that sounds like provocation to me. And then insignificant2all_5 points out the obvious and you say that he's the one who's immature because he says "smacktard" and "get a pair". And then you call them original, which I know is sarcasm. But, in your comment to oKySP you say things like "fuck face" and "just go jump of a bridge". Oh yes those are really original (SARCASM). And then everyone drops it and just lets you cry and whine, and when Shanesville gives his view on the song, YOU TRY TO BRING IT BACK UP by saying "you're a fucking idiot". You talk about people provoking you, you fucking hypocrite. And then beaker_747 tells that he did make a film clip for the song and then, of course, you have to try and start it again and bring attention to yourself with even more sarcasm, saying "original...". People had already dropped it, and now you're trying to bring it back up. Just leave it alone, you lost bitch, so just fucking go away. And I know the faggots last comment was almost a month ago, and I know I'm the one who's digging this back up (ironic) but just how much of dumbass you are just boggled my mind. I brought this back up, and now I'm going to set it back down.

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meursaultsrevolver
07-24-2005

Rated 0 
yeah, good way of 'setting it down'. you lost any respect of any non-shit human just by your name you fucking fascist. also, use of the word faggot is not generally the way non-bigots conduct themselves, so anything you say is now inherently bullshit. so i think you are the one who ought to fuck off you scared little pussy.

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blackemma
08-23-2005

Rated 0 
They should really limit the amount of posts a person can make for one song to avoid these silly flame wars...

I think the song is moreso about Zack's relationship to his parents and how that relationship was affected by their religion. When Zack's father burned all his paintings and made him (Zack) fast, it disturbed Zack a lot. I think this song is basically about Zack dealing with these events by saying that he would not be broken the way his father was.

Incidentally, my own impression is that Zack approaches religion from a more reflective angle. Because someone is an atheist does not mean they are a bigot or dismiss all that religion has to offer. If Zack wanted to he could write a song called, 'Screw Jesus,' but he chose a more mature path. Whatever his personal views, I think he deserves credit for exploring such a sensitive topic with such candor.

Great song no matter.

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meursaultsrevolver
08-27-2005

Rated 0 
when was atheism EVER synonymous with bigotry?

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revolverisgay
09-09-2005

Rated 0 
Nice try at a comeback revolver.

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renrou
09-14-2005

Rated 0 
first of all, this song is not about Jesus Christ. Clearly, the song about Zac's father, there is no doubt about that, it has already been explained so i don't need to say anymore. The reference to Jesus is pretty simple, the spirit that Christ was supposed to nurture was acceptance, love, freedom, peace and so on and so on. The fact that "Jesus raped the spirit he was supposed to nurture" means that Zac's father, who was searching and in need of this spirit that Jesus was supposed to nurture did not find it, instead he found pain and torment for not using the gift which he had learned and perfected. Zac blaims christianity for this betrayal of his father, but more directly Zac blaims Jesus for this. Jesus did not help his father in the way that Jesus had promised. Zac may have ill-directed this blaim to Jesus when it is obvious that it is the church which so often badly reflects the teachings of Christ. But the fact remains, for Zac, Jesus is responsible for this.

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VodkaLix
09-23-2005

Rated 0 
I just read through this whole argument, and it really was fucking pointless. Revolver, i'm with you on the religous side, i beleive the whole of religion is a fascist disgrace to control any one ignorant enough to listen. However, being atheist is not a religion, but neither would i describe myself as a atheist because i do not like to be associated with religion, beleiving it or not beleiving in it, as it does not exist. And some advice, if like me, you want people to wake up from the ignorance of religion, then the best way is to not talk about it with them. It seems that religous people always want to convert more people by talking to them, so just refuse and annoy the fuck out of them!

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Shanesville
12-05-2005

Rated 0 
"Good sh*t huh?"
"It's a f**king cigarette!"

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tillanz
01-18-2006

Rated 0 
I think this song is about obedience and defiance. You can bind a man in chains but you need to break his spirit before he will serve you. A broken man has no will to fight, he is submissive, obedient and meek. These are the virtues that Jesus taught - the spirit that he nurtured. And by doing so he raped the spirt that he was *supposed* to nurture, the spirit that is at the heart of rage - the spirit of defiance. To submit to a higher power, whether it be church or state, is against the principles of equality that a marxist/anarchist ideology espouses.

The main verse "Like autumn leaves his sense fell from him" is talking about Jesus. Here he is, a powerful and charismatic leader commanding thousands of fanatical followers. He strikes fear into the corridors of power. They think he's going to lead a revolution. He could have lead a revolution. Such things were not exactly unheard of in the old testament. But what does he do? His sense fails him. He crumbles. He falls into temptation. He forsees his own demise, and he submits.

We are born into a world of submission. We are brought up into it, nursed upon it. But we need not stay that way.

(I agree that the song was inspired by Zack's father, and that it reads better as a song about him. I think the beauty of the song though, is that it can be applied to many situations and take on many different meanings. At it's heart though, are the notions of defiance and overcoming.)

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bkat004
01-29-2006

Rated 0 
The best song on the last album - it sounds like a T Rex during the rocking parts and sounds like a sunrise during the soft parts - Bloody mega! You can feel the intensity of Zak as he alludes to his early days of being raised by the uber-spiritual artist. Love the moth lyrics - excrutiatingly beautiful.

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wasson
02-28-2006

Rated 0 
I always thought that
"Jesus stripped bare
And raped the spirit he was supposed to nurture"

Was about how his father's pushing religion onto him was in a way going against the ideals christianity orginally stood for and he should be able to make his own choice.

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iceworm
03-09-2006

Rated 0 
back to the person who didnt agree with the religious aspect, he says he stripped bare and raped the spirit he was supposed to nurture in the name of my- this is sayin he died for u(which i dont believe but meh) and sayin he raped the spirit is just sayin he dies and he was nurturing life so he raped his beliefs- there are many ways to use words.

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jock150
04-04-2006

Rated 0 
Why argue, the more intelligent people would have walked out of such a pointless argument and concentrated on trying to understand where Zack was coming from in writing this song.

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wadler
08-16-2006

Rated 0 
does the line "in the name of my" refer to his father and also god.. i seem to relate that to 'in the name of the father' to mean god, but as Zach is referring to his dad, he says 'my' instead of 'the'... hope that made sense to someone.

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tobelieve
10-19-2006

Rated 0 
I really dont think this song is against Jesus, "Born of a broken man, Never a broken man." Why would he say never a broken man? Whether its about his father or not....they were both broken, so hes trying to portray something with that phrase. Also with the phrase "Jesus stripped bare
And raped the spirit he was supposed to nurture." I think this means everybody expects people to think for themselves, put themselves before others....and Jesus(or Zach's dad) proved them wrong by actually being selfless and sacrificing himself. Jesus didn't submit he just didn't fight back, theres a difference.
I would understand why zach hates churches because of various incidences but that doesn't necessarily mean he is an atheist (not a religion by the way...doesn't have anything to do with believing in a supernatural or divine power, rather the lacking of it.) Zach can still be religious and not believe in an organized religion. Nevertheless this is a great song, i like the sudden changes between just the guitar and the whole entire band. Include Zach awesome vocals and you got a kick ass song!

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TREXOR
11-04-2006

Rated 0 
" when was atheism EVER synonymous with bigotry?" there he goes with the sarcasm again =P.

"I just read through this whole argument, and it really was fucking pointless. Revolver, i'm with you on the religous side, i beleive the whole of religion is a fascist disgrace to control any one ignorant enough to listen. However, being atheist is not a religion, but neither would i describe myself as a atheist because i do not like to be associated with religion, beleiving it or not beleiving in it, as it does not exist. And some advice, if like me, you want people to wake up from the ignorance of religion, then the best way is to not talk about it with them. It seems that religous people always want to convert more people by talking to them, so just refuse and annoy the fuck out of them!" -vodkalix

if atheism isn't a religion, then what is a religion? i've been looking for an atheist to enlighten me. everyone believes in something. even if that something is nothing. religion is belief. atheists always pin "religion" on anyone who doesn't believe in nothing. your "religion" has been sold out as a cheesy cliche just as much as mine has.

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tobelieve
12-06-2006

Rated 0 
religion isn't just a belief in something. It is the more specifically the belief in a supernatural or divine power. Seeing as how atheists do not believe in anything or believe in nothing atheism is not a religion.

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rockinallnight
01-07-2007

Rated 0 
tobelieve is right, atheism is not a religion, he just explained so i need not do that, you can just read his statement.

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Metal_Guru
01-30-2007

Rated 0 
If you know about Zachs life you'll realise that his father did have a breakdown so you'd think that was the point of this song, but this ong was written by drummer Brad Wilk if you look at the credits on the album, so i would hav to lean more towards the christ-related metaphors

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TREXOR
04-21-2007

Rated 0 
belief in nothing is still belief. in order to believe in nothing you must first believe that nothing is something. atheism is in fact just as much [religion] as any other belief.

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