Lyrics for John The Revelator as interpreted by psychobain

John The Revelator Lyrics
John the Revelator
Put him in a elevator
Take him up to the highest high
Take him up to the top where the mountains stop
Let him tell his book of lies

John the Revelator
He's a smooth operator
It's time we cut him down to size
Take him by the hand
And put him on the stand
Let us hear his alibis

By claiming God as his only rock
He's stealing a god from the Israelite
Stealing a god from a Muslim, too
There is only one god through and through

Seven lies, mulitplied by seven, multiplied by seven again
Seven angels with seven trumpets
Send them home on the morning train
Well who's that shouting?
John the Revelator!
All he ever gives us is pain
Well who's that shouting?
John the Revelator!
He should bow his head in shame

Bye-bye
Bye-bye
Bye-bye
Bye-bye

Seven lies, mulitplied by seven, multiplied by seven again
Seven angels with seven trumpets
Send them home on the morning train
Well who's that shouting?
John the Revelator!
All he ever gives us is pain
Well who's that shouting?
John the Revelator!
He should bow his head in shame

Bye-bye
Bye-bye
John the Revelator
Bye-bye
John the Revelator
Bye-bye
John the Revelator

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  • 43 Comments
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damota
10-22-2005

Rated +1 
i made an account just to comment on this song. in my top 5 of depeche mode songs. hands down. immediate classic.

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buddha boy
11-04-2005

Rated 0 
It's one of 2 songs I HAVE to dance to when I hear it. The other is Bjork's "Pluto"
'Tis a great song.

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McDong
12-05-2005

Rated 0 
Not even really knowing the words till just now, i knew there was "something" to this song. It kicks too much ass.

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pinkmoon
12-08-2005

Rated 0 
I heard people bitching about this song, saying that is some sort of cover/adaptation to the Blind Williw Johnsson song and that it sucks. I think different, I find this song awesome. It's just pure fun. Something to rock on the dancefloor.

And oh yeah, Dave kicks ass on this.

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dawntreader
12-14-2005

Rated 0 
Are they condemning Christianity? I wish I knew where this band stood on that, there are so many songs of theirs with that type of theme.

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dawntreader
12-14-2005

Rated 0 
Are they condemning Christianity? I wish I knew where this band stood on that, there are so many songs of theirs with that type of theme.

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dawntreader
12-14-2005

Rated 0 
Sorry for the double post - that was an accident. I was trying to get back to the list of DM's songs.

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sem2q
12-20-2005

Rated 0 
I don't think they are condeming Christianity as much as they are disagreeing with each religion (and related authors of the texts) coloring God with different characteristics and such.

Martin Gore speaks about the meaning of the song: "Armageddon? Gee, thanks."

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mente
01-05-2006

Rated 0 
Perhaps they're not condemning Christianity, but Catholicism. "God is stolen" from Israelites and Muslims, but not from the Catholics. Besides, "John" was one of the Apostles, and 7 (lies and angels) are the Deadly Sins, condemned by the Catholics. Maybe "John", is John Paul, the Pope ...

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Ad_Nauseam
01-13-2006

Rated 0 
John was the disciple who apparently saw a vision of the end of the world, when Jesus comes back to judge everyone etc etc. This was published in the book of Revelations, hence the title.

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Unnicknamed
01-30-2006

Rated 0 
Exactly Ad_Nauseam, John the apostle wrote 'The Revelation of Jesus Christ unto his servant John', a book with 7 chapters. He had two visions, he saw 7 angels, each one played a trumpet (calling massive destruction to the world), anyway, there's a lot of 7s. These revelations has to be with the end of the world.

So I suppose this song has no intend of condemn a religion.

More like the author is calling John, the revelator, a lier, this song is a reclaim to the apostle, because he the autor wishes the end of the world soon but nothing of John's prophecy has hapenned yet.

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ebhiro
02-23-2006

Rated 0 
John the Revelator was the author of the Book of Revelations in the New Testament. It was added to the canon of the New Testament, but lacks any real moral teaching, resorting to scare tactics and dogma.

It is quite commonly disregarded in many Christian sects, however, is not openly dismissed.

Whenever you see a movie about Satan or something, much of the reference material comes from this work that has no real relation to Jesus' time.

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ThoR294
03-05-2006

Rated 0 
The song flows so well. and it is indeed about the revelation of jesus christ. with the 7 angels and the trumpets.

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mridlen
03-16-2006

Rated -1 
Um... Revelation has many more than 7 chapters... 21, was it? Anyhow, songs that rant like this really get on my nerves. They should go back to the 70s where they belong. "smooth operator"?? seriously. This is one of the weakest DM songs ever.

Revelation is composed of three sets of 7 judgements. The trumpets the seals and the bowls. There are several views as to the order of these judgements. 1) trumpet 1, bowl 1, and seal 1 all happen at the same time. 2) I don't remember, do some research. 3) The 7th trumpet judgement is the seal judgements, and the 7th seal judgement is the bowl judgements. (I could be wrong about the order here) In this view, all the judgements follow consecutively, as the book is written. There are several other views that see the judgements as being past (amillenial is one of them), or from the past even as seen by John. I hope this has been an educational experience for you.

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ThoR294
03-23-2006

Rated 0 
this is far from one of the weakest songs. this has to be one of DMs best

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VictoriaS^
04-03-2006

Rated 0 
I've been a Depeche Mode fan for a long time. I love this song. Can't get it out of my head. I don't think they are anti-Christian. They have many religious references to their music. Maybe they were brought up by staunch fundamentalist catholic parents & forced to go to fundamentalist catholic schools taught by old nuns in habits with slapping rulers. I think they just want people to think about it, that's all, and understand it can be interpreted many ways. No harm, no foul.

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Razormac
04-05-2006

Rated 0 
Maybe I'm miles off track here, but I think the song refers to George W. Bush and his use of 'God' to inspire him to attack Iraq. I think the boys are calling him to stand before us and admit his lies!
Weapons of mass destruction my ar*e!

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ThoR294
06-01-2006

Rated 0 
Well who's that shouting?
JOHN THE REVELATOR!
All he ever gives us is pain

Well who's that shouting?
JOHN THE REVELATOR!
He should bow his head in shame.

The video is out for the song as well

http://www.depechemode.com

go to the archives and its on the page.

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whetstone
06-07-2006

Rated 0 
Watched the video and saw this little dark creature dancing around on stage with the artists...a demon perhaps?

I agree with many of the above posts- the song is definitely a sarchastic slam on Christianity- specifically the apostle John. No worries. The Bible will still be around long after Depeche Mode is dead.

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hvacigar
07-25-2006

Rated 0 
I agree with Razormac. I think DM is taking the opportunity to bash those (not just Bush) who use the Bible, epecially revelations to support aggression. "All he ever gives us is pain" is a great line to implicate the poetry of revelations and the influence it has had on wars in the course of human history.

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interpolarity
08-14-2006

Rated 0 
At first I thought John to be science, trying to replace religions, but I now see that it is those who use religious standings to deman, and destroy others...

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interpolarity
08-14-2006

Rated 0 
ebhiro said-"John the Revelator was the author of the Book of Revelations in the New Testament. It was added to the canon of the New Testament, but lacks any real moral teaching, resorting to scare tactics and dogma.

It is quite commonly disregarded in many Christian sects, however, is not openly dismissed.

Whenever you see a movie about Satan or something, much of the reference material comes from this work that has no real relation to Jesus' time."

Read revelation 1:1...."1 A revelation by Jesus Christ, which God gave him, to show his slaves the things that must shortly take place. And he sent forth his angel and presented [it] in signs through him to his slave John" This directly shows that Jesus is the revelator not John...he was merely a means of writing down the God inspired words....
Secondly, the Bible is not only about morals, it also holds the promise for the future....The Bible should not be taken literally......you know who are skilled with showing you what the Bible teaches are those Jehovah's witnesses....they really have researched a lot....I might join them one day...or not....watever

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ac_arsenal
09-06-2006

Rated 0 
An awesome song, and I agree that it is referring to George W. Bush and his lies, as well as his propensity for "stealing God" from everyone except those who believe as he does.

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violatoroftheregime
09-13-2006

Rated 0 
This is what this song means to me:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaB1psXTjS4

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diamondblue1974
10-09-2006

Rated 0 
~you know who are skilled with showing you what the Bible teaches are those Jehovah's witnesses....they really have researched a lot....I might join them one day...or not....watever~

I was brought up as one and can honestly say that they are not skilled researchers at all; most of their doctrine is unsound and their references to other scholars are intellectually and academically dishonest.

On a much more broader level they destroy families through their shunning of ex members and have siginificant issues with people obtaining a higher education; furthermore and more sinister than the above, their policies have allowed child abuse within their organisation to reach a pandemic proportion.

www.jehovahs-witness.com

Personally the song is about losing faith and religious intolerance.

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