Manic Street Preachers – Judge Yr'self

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  General Comment:This was a song the Manics were asked to write as a soundtrack for the 1995 film Judge Dredd. Richey had loved the TV series, so he tried to do a really good job to capture Dredd's personality in his lyrics.
  
  'Dionysus against the crucified' is a reference to classical religion (such as ancient Greek gods) being overcome/ replaced with others like Christianity (Jesus is the crucified), the clashing of different cultures and ideologies.

  Flag manic4manicson March 09, 2013   Link

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  General Comment:I had to finally join SongMeanings to comment on the views expressed by a few that "The brightest Sun is the purest gun" is a crap line. I disagree completely - to me it is, like this whole track, the spiritual high point of the Manics, they really finished on a high, or Richey did anyway. "The brightest Sun is the purest gun" is essentially the message behind all great spiritual non-denominational (non-attached) worldviews. Just like "Find your truth - face your truth - speak your truth - be your truth".
  
  "The brightest Sun is the purest gun" is also an interesting physical fact, which is also what makes it a great lyric, it is not only a metaphor but a metaphor of something concrete and true - what is more of a 'pure gun' than the Sun or other Suns in the universe? Concentrated natural nuclear power.
  
  So IMO it's not a crap lyric, but a great lyric with a deep message. Want to change the world and fight injustice? This song, these lyrics show us how in an extremely concentrated form. Live from your truth, live from the centre, and be the brightest sun - that is the way to fight the darkness and the shadows. Spiritual enlightenment. Truly, I am impressed with some spiritual aspects of the Manics' lyrics, but this song I consider their highest point. I consider tattooing these words on myself because I have noticed for years how they seem to contain the greatest messages that humankind has ever come up with, no matter what spiritual or self-developmental views you look at , this is always the underlying message and the Manics really expressed this well in this lyric. Feel free to disagree but you could also do yourself a favour and find out whether this would actually make sense to you.
  
  One last note - most of the Manics' work up until the point of this song is seemingly written in a depressive state, but also, many spiritual thinkers claim that often depression is the point you need to reach before you can see the light. I was hoping this would have happened to Richey, these lyrics certainly give reason to think so, and who knows really, nobody ever found the body so we can only hope that he's somewhere remote living anonymously in a spiritual community rather than being taken over by the despair of the world and topped himself.

  Flag Liiiiiiiiiisaon February 17, 2012   Link

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  General Comment:"The brightest sun is the purest gun" is such a Richey lyric. Considering the many mentions of truth, I think Sun here is being used in context of exposure. A bright light reveals. And the truth can be the greatest weapon. It's powerful and can be turned on anyone... Including the self, if one doesn't 'face' and 'be' their truth but then has it revealed to them.

  Flag Adaron August 04, 2011   Link

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  General Comment:I see the "brightest sun is the purest gun" line as essentially saying bright light / openness reveals truth- and facing your truth can be a gun. It can be a weapon pointed at others or at yourself, but it's a powerful thing, to have to face truth.

  Flag thisnameplson April 17, 2011   Link

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  My Interpretation:The more I look at this the more I think "The brightest sun is the purest gun" would be a suicide reference, or even just a general violence reference. It would fit in with the rest of the song imo.

  Flag rxchyon October 22, 2009   Link

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  General Comment:I've always thought that the "The brightest sun is the purest gun"-line basically means "the more knowledge you have, the more power you can have", which I think would be quite a Richey-esque thing to write.
  
  I'm going to get "heal yr'self - hurt yr'self - judge yr'self" tattooed some day. This is my favourite song and it means a lot to me. It's awesome

  Flag LDNisforloverson January 26, 2009   Link

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  General Comment:This song sounds a little sophist-y to me. Like how they thought the there was no absolute truth, because what was true to you isn't always true to otehr people. Like the
  'Find your truth, face your truth, etc'
  part is like, the part that sort of glued my face to it...but yeah... that may just be my world history class talking...

  Flag sepia_filmon February 08, 2008   Link

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    Following the Nietzschean context of the song this would seem to make sense.
    
    It may have subtexts of self-harm and violence that people would be keen to attribute to the Manics after Richey, but I think it has more to say about the desire for truth which can be accredited to their Nietzschean philosophy.
    
    In Nietzsche's 'Will to Power' there is a section about judgment and truth that I think the idea for the song draws on. If anyones interested its sections 531-542 (ish).
    
    Im not sure about the 'brightest sun' section; possibly a link to the idea that human history is in its primacy. Read 'how the real world became a myth', it can be too complicated to explain, but roughly means that human thought is in the dawn of its capability - 'brightest sun' being midday, where Nietzsche says we are at the end of the longest error.
    
    Nevertheless, its a very clever song. It has a different meaning for everyone I know that has listened to it. Were all Friedrich these days :)

    Flag thelemenson December 08, 2009  
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  General Comment:I used to wonder, way back, before I could even decipher a lot of the ret of the lyrics if the birghtst sun bit was asome kind of reference to nuclear weaponry. Probably not, but I thought I'd contribute the idea, if only for you all to get some laffs at my idiotic teenage self...

  Flag Anrocaon May 03, 2007   Link

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  General Comment:I like what voodoovole said about the whole Neitzsche thing, but i'm not sure i believe it, as i think the song is trying to get more at the arguments used by Neitzsche rather than the fact that Neitzsche used them.
  
  "Dionysus against the crucified" I think that this line might refer to one of the stories about Dionysus in Greek mythology (according to dionysia.org/greek/dionysos/thompson/…) in it, Dionysus was kidnapped by the Titans and while staring at his reflection, he was murdered and subsequently cannibalised (nice, eh?) - the cooking of which produced a smell that alerted Zeus to what was going on. Zeus then obliterated the titans with thunderbolts, leaving only ashes. From these ashes, Dionysus -and Man - were brought to life.
  
  Another interesting point is that Dionysus was born of a mortal mother (Semele) and a immortal father (Zeus).
  
  Sound familiar?
  
  I think the line could refer to the similarities in Christian and Greek mythologies, highlighting the fact that, though they are apparently contradictory in factual reality, the stories themselves are essentially similar. However, since the approaches are different, it can often be easy to lose grip of the truth in the stories, and so every story must be examined and judged using one's own reason (the blade and the scythe, possibly?).
  
  One of the main differences between the stories of Dionysus and Jesus is that Dionysus' story has a far greater emphasis on pleasures of the flesh (e.g. wine). That they are both essentially true (though probably not fact) but both have different takes on it, belies the fact that it is down to the individual to derive their own versions of the truth.
  
  I think the rest of the song follows from this idea.
  
  I think that the line 'the brightest sun is the purest gun' refers to the essential importance (and ultimate power) of being honest with yourself.
  
  So, in summary i think this songs about the need for being honest with yourself.
  "Clean your flesh and mock your fears
  The brightest sun is the purest gun"

  Flag moomoosnakeon February 11, 2007   Link

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  General Comment:Not too sure about the comment of the brightest sun being the purest gun, I mean it'sin relation to self harm, maybe even deeper than that. Maybe, jumping into a lake of fire to cleanse your sins "Clean your skin" etc.
  That's just my opinion.
  Voodoovole has it nailed...

  Flag Dieinthesummertimeon January 02, 2007   Link

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