Lyrics for All There Is as interpreted by Aerion

All There Is Lyrics
This song goes out
to all the hopeless sinners,
with grave allegiances,
so meaningless and vain,

though walking wounded in a pageant of contenders,
who balance on a rail of pain for just a pale refrain.

And everything is barely missed, but relations and (predicts?)
my expression, my confession, add it up, extract a lesson, more than this,
once again, like a bullet as a friend, tell me: can that be all there is?

In my rectory of doubt, I kneel to pray like one devout,
as time the great great dreamless sleep of a useless modern god
erodes away each sorry day as wretched adams, one hell to pay--
contained upon a rail of pain for just a little rain.

And everything is dearly missed, but relations and predicts
my expression, my confession, add it up, extract a lesson, more than this,
once again, like a bullet as a friend, tell me: can that be all there is?

There’s an endless disposition,
and it doesn’t mean a goddamn thing—
there’s space for a paper-airplane race in the eye of a hurricane.

And if pigs could fly, then surely so could I,
but this pedestrian knows better than to even try,
and my divinity is caught between the colors of a butterfly.

And everything is dearly missed, but relations and predicts
my expression, my confession, add it up, extract duress and more than this,
once again, like a bullet as a friend, tell me: can that be all there is?
All there is?

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politicalpunk
05-27-2004

Rated 0 
Great BR song ....why isn't anyone posting....

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Safetyhazard
06-09-2004

Rated 0 
like the title, I think its about all there is. there has to be life outside of everything man has created. think about what life would be like if it wasnt like this. if peace ruled instead of people. just think about what we have created

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ZorgonXtreme
06-25-2004

Rated 0 
Whoa man...that's deep...
But I have to thank you for something new to think about...
Or should I thank Bad Religion for the song?
Oh hell, I thank you both.

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xvpatchvx
09-17-2004

Rated 0 
Yeah I sort of agree with Safety. There is of course religious distraction as well, and the Christians who believe that the world was made for them to serve God, only to begin and end with the human race. Could this be all there is? Is a question that calls attention to the existential idea that everything is significant. With "atoms" and "butterflys", how could the Cultural doctrine of faith, society, and humanity be "All there is?" We are only a whisper in time....

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Alucard
11-02-2004

Rated 0 
this song is fantastic, my favorite off empire

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gofuckyourself
03-27-2005

Rated 0 
This song goes out
to all the hopeless sinners,
with grave allegiances,
so meaningless and vain,

The walking wounded, in a pageant of contenders Who balance on a rail of pain for a pail of rain
And everything is barely mist - blood relations and bricks
My expression, my confession
Add it up, extract a lesson more than this
Once again, like a bullet as a friend tell me
Can that be all there is?
In my rectory of doubt, I kneel to pray like on devout
As the great gray dreamless sleep, of a uselss modern god
Erodes away each storied day, as wretched Adam's with hell to pay
Content upon a rail of pain just a little rain
And everything is dearly missed - blood relations and bricks
My expression, my confession
Add it up, extract a lesson more than this
Once again, like a bullet as a friend tell me
Can that be all there is?
There's an endless disposition, and it doesn't mean a goddamn thing
There's space for a paper airplane race in the eye of a hurricane
And if pigs could fly, surely so could I
But this pedestrian knows better than to even try
My divinity is caught between the colors of a butterfly
And everything is dearly missed - blood relations and bricks
My expression, my confession
Add it up, extract a lesson more than this
Once again, like a bullet as a friend tell me
Can that be all there is?

Those are the real lyrics...out of the CD booklet
the rail of pain/pail of rain line is fucking brilliant....not that you should expect any less from Graffin. As is the part about the hurricane 20/10...congrats Greg, BR'S true comeback album after that seemingly never ending stint with Atlantic, with which only one good album was done Gray Race

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intrigued.punk
04-08-2005

Rated 0 
I think that this song is an attack on the ignorance of many people. I think the " can that be all there is" part is like saying " is that all there is to your point", talking about the shallowness to most people's arguements and reasoning.
I think onece again they are hitting on religion and the lack of eveidence behind it, yet despite this many people choose to follow it and allow it to rule their lives, whilst not really focusing on the real troubles in life.
Basically it is a call for people to think through their reasoning, "And if pigs could fly, surely so could I
But this pedestrian knows better than to even try" It's like people don't attempt to fly because they know they can't and it is impossible, yet believing in god's existance is something people do without really looking behind it.

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agnostic soldier
06-24-2006

Rated 0 
intrigued.punk is goddamn right. And in reality you see that shit all over the place. People blindly follow and believe in 'god', never questioning his existence no matter how profoundly insipid the vestige is. People never see the real problems in life because they're blindly following the tragic laws and selfish ideals of religion.

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protogod
09-08-2006

Rated 0 
Well, knowing bad religion it is probably a mix of intrigued.punk's explaination and safety hazard.

this settles any dispute because safety hazard's answer was too simplistic, and punk's answer was too specific.

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gofuckyourself
10-19-2006

Rated 0 
This song, along with Sorrow, is what got me into songwriting, (which then turned to poetry). Brilliant, brilliant. There best song ever.

"There’s an endless disposition,
and it doesn’t mean a goddamn thing—
there’s space for a paper-airplane race in the eye of a hurricane.

And if pigs could fly, then surely so could I,
but this pedestrian knows better than to even try,
and my divinity is caught between the colors of a butterfly. " ^ Best verse(s) ever. End of story. I think this is more about is life all there is, is this all there is, like, is this emptiness, this pain, this world full of hate, all that there is? Like, the part in about pigs being able to fly, maybe talking about how the greedy get all the good things, while those with morals are always kept down. THE MAN IS BRINGIN' US DOWN, DUDE! But...seriously.

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PanteroBlanco
11-06-2006

Rated 0 
intrigued_punk, I think you have half of it.

Even after eliminating religion and blind faith, you're left with questions about the nature of the world and a search for meaning. The singer has already rejected blind faith and he's still looking.

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duffdrinkinhomer
04-13-2007

Rated 0 
I just want to point out that this was writen by Mr. Brett. Not greg graffin.

poor brett never gets credit for his genious songs.

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maxben
04-18-2007

Rated 0 
I think this is a more personal song. Think less about others and more about yourself when you look at these lyrics. Think about your own life, the days when you realize that your actions have turned into a pattern that you follow obediently whilst thinking, "Can that be all there is?" I feel that this is one of BR's more personal songs where they are supposed to touch you in a certain way such as Along The Way. I think there are also elements of contemplating suicide and your own mortality in a life that seems to just drone on. "like a bullet as a friend".

I realize that that particular explanation sounds slightly Emo, but keep in mind that what separates Emo, as we know it, and Punk is that Emo deals with feeling sorry for yourself while Punk tried to put life in a perspective where you understand what is wrong and, in turn, figure out how to fix it.

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Emjay41
05-24-2007

Rated 0 
I figured this song was written by Brett...His lyrics are so weird. But amazing, all the same.

I agree with Safety, defintely. Great song.

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bugoff
01-22-2008

Rated 0 
just a small interpretation of the lines 'there's space for a paper air-plane race in the eye of a hurricane'. i think this is referring to an individuals belief in a religious system to make sense of and protect that person from the realities of everyday life. 'there's space for a paper airplane race' may refer to people allowing this thin veneer of comfort into their lives when in fact the realities of modern life could be likened to a 'hurricane'. perhaps the lyrics are commenting on people allowing this faith into their lives regardless of what else they do, and therefore arresting their proactive freewill in favor of blind faith.

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nyghtcrawler
04-03-2008

Rated 0 
there's a lot to say on this song and i feel like ppl are missing a lot of it. sure, there's the general idea - can this physical existence be all there is to life? i like maxben's explanation best.

it's worth pointing out that, again, as with most Bad Religion songs, it's not literally about religion. religion is more often a metaphor or serves as an example for the bigger meaning.

the verse between the 2nd and 3rd choruses is the most interesting and enigmatic and i wish i were able to make more sense out of.

"there's an endless disposition, and it doesn't mean a goddamn thing" - i guess that there's an endless order and structure to people's lives, but it's all really meaningless and insignificant

"there's space for a paper airplane race in the eye of a hurricane" - comparatively, paper airplanes are completely insignificant and powerless in relation to a hurricane, but they can still thrive in the eye of the hurricane, while the rest of the world is spinning and crashing down around it - metaphor for an individual's life i suppose

"and if pigs could fly, then surely so could i" - gofuckeryourself had a good interpretation i think - if greedy, ugly (on the inside), immoral ppl can succeed and seemingly "fly," then it would seem that surely so could anyone

"but this pedestrian knows better than to even try" - a pedestrian is someone who walks by foot, so obviously can't fly. however, pedestrian is also an adjective for something lacking inspiration or excitement. possibly a double-meaning.

"and my divinity is caught between the colors of a butterfly" - no clue. i honestly thought it was "my debility" and either way i have no clue. thoughts?

there's a ton to each line of this song and i wish i could put it all together. i think everyone gets the overall idea though...

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Mozared
04-16-2008

Rated 0 
Doesn't "pedestrian" also mean pretty much the same as "citizen"? It fits right after your interpretation nyghtcrawler, stating that if you have to be somewhat corrupt to be able to 'fly'.

About the divinity part; I think it's a statement about being unable to have any serious impact. The singer's divinity, his best qualities, are caught in something "beautiful but small and very easily overlooked". As in "The message of peace the band tries to give is locked in a world [of music] that's beautiful, but will probably never really be noticed".

And yes, punk is so right... But like Anti-Flag puts it; "What have we done? You don't know. Untill you care. You never will". And even if you try to discuss about it with someone they won't be able to give better arguments than "punk sucks". If you like this and fancy harder stuff at times, look up "A Wilhelm Scream"... They're solemnly brilliant in their lyrics, and have great instrumental play as well, conveying somewhat the same message as Bad Religion.

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Spando
06-21-2008

Rated 0 
to me, the idea of 'my divinity is caught between colours of a butterfly' is the idea that my own perfectecions/imperfections/basic ideaoligies are caught between something so incalcuable that it is purely individual. His divinity is simpy his, and cannot be decicded one way or another, as a butterfly's wings cannot be given a differential colour between two colours

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thezinseattle
09-24-2008

Rated 0 
yeah..protogod is right on this one.

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