Lyrics for Sorrow as interpreted by Zekethesweetpeak

Sorrow Lyrics
Father can you hear me?
How have I let you down?
I curse the day that I was born
And all the sorrow in this world

Let me take you to the hurting ground
Where all good men are trampled down
Just to settle a bet that could not be won
Between a prideful father and his son
Will you guide me now, for I can't see
A reason for the suffering and this long misery
What if every living soul could be upright and strong
Well, then I do imagine

There will be sorrow
Yeah, there will be sorrow
And there will be sorrow, no more

When all soldiers lay their weapons down
Or when all kings and all queens relinquish their crowns
Or when the only true messiah rescues us from ourselves
It's easy to imagine

There will be sorrow
Yeah, there will be sorrow
And there will be sorrow, no more

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Eteric
01-15-2005

Rated -1 
It's not really sick logic. To God our worldly possessions mean nothing. He was trying to prove to the devil the faith that Job had in him could not be un-done.

I think this song is about two things. The story of Job, and the end of the wars when the messiah returns.

Since we're on the subject. What kind of God would make his son into a Human, put him through trials, have him nailed to a cross, tortured and tormented, and let him burn in hell for 3 days to save his creation because he loved them?... A dang good one.

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vampirella666
02-04-2005

Rated 0 
I'm in Canada too, eh....and I just kinda heard of Bad Religiong off one of those random website "What do you think about Religion" "It's graet, "It's pointless" "Bad Religions a good band" And this is the first song I have ever heard by them.

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KabukiGuy
02-21-2005

Rated +1 
Knowing that Greg Graffin is atheist I'm pretty sure that this song is about the neverending meaningless
sorrow brought on by war over religion. Read the below lines with this thought in mind and it will make sense.
let me take you the herding ground
where all good men are trampled down
just to settle a bet that cannot be won
between the prideful father and his son
well, you guard me now for can't see
a reason for this suffering and this long misery
the herding ground - battle fields
the bet that cannot be won - which religion is right

and whoever said this was the best BR song needs to hear Generator

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Egalitarian.
03-11-2005

Rated 0 
This song really personifies the brilliance of Bad Religion's lyrical craft. The song not only presents to us the biblical allusion that has been mentioned, but there lies a certain ambiguity to the lyrics that not as many people decide to pick up on.

The chorus proceeds:

"There will be sorrow" for two lines, but on the third, Graffin's voice adds in "No more." This leads to the question, is he referring to a chronological order in which there's sorrow and eventually it goes away in the end? Or is he repeating the words for emphasis only to drag out the words "No more" in the final line of the chorus. Or is he simply saying that there will always be sorrow?

What really struck me at this song was it's almost eerie, seemingly coincidental reference to the situation in Iraq.

"Let me take you to the hurting ground
Where all good men are trampled down
Just to settle a bet that could not be won
Between a prideful father and his son "

Hurting ground: The fields of war.
Prideful father and son: Bush Sr. and Bush Jr.

I picked up on this after listening a number of times. It's amazing how some of the lyrics fit in with it, yet they had no intention of that sort initially.

The final verse set of the song ("When all soldiers lay their weapons down...") is probably the most meaningful set of lyrics I've ever heard in a song, especially a relatively recent one. You can tell that BR was really putting their passion into this one. In my opinion the best song they've ever written.

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wahoo202
05-28-2005

Rated 0 
I think the lines
There will be Sorrow
Yeah there will be Sorrow
And there will be Sorrow, no more
mean that some people will be upset by the changes and others will welcome them, thus bringing joy to some and grief to others. It shows that you can never have a society where everyone agrees

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blackdove
07-09-2005

Rated -1 
The songs sounds like a prayer asking God why there has to be suffering.

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wahoo202
11-12-2005

Rated +1 
Until you realise BR are Atheist.

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Iceberg
12-19-2005

Rated +1 
I'm not sure why some theists are so into this band, aside from the fact that the music itself is half the beauty of the song. I think the lyrics send the message that we create all the sorrow, and that there's not going to be anyone to save us and we have to clean up this crap.

Or when the only true messiah rescues us from ourselves
It's easy to imagine...

There will be Sorrow
Yeah there will be Sorrow
And there will be Sorrow, no more

I guess i really wouldn't know, but the way i interpret the above passage is that it's easy to look to some god to fix everything and make everything okay, but that will never happen. so until we realize that and quit being lustful and selfish people, we aren't going to get anywhere.

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strummerville
10-13-2006

Rated 0 
i don't think god is real...and i really curse the day that i was born!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!and all the sorrow in this world!!!!!!!!!!!and sometimes i want to die...

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gofuckyourself
10-19-2006

Rated 0 
Their second best, after All There Is, this song, and All There Is, got me into songwriting (which turned into poetry). This is just great. Just beautiful, man.

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Pholostan
12-05-2006

Rated 0 
I also relate this song to war, a bit like Egalitarian.
When you start a war, what can you be sure of?

Sorrow.

It is the only guaranteed outcome, everything else might or might not come to pass. But there will be much sorrow. That you can be sure of.

If only people whould stand up and do the right thing, there would be less wars. And much less sorrow.

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Destinedfornothing
12-07-2006

Rated 0 
Well this song is about God, man and lucifer. The song starts out with "Father can you hear me? How have I let you down?"
Which is from the book of Job.
If I am correct... anywho. Great song.

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St.Catastrophe
01-04-2007

Rated +1 
It's kinda funny, cause i bet like 90% of people misunderstand this song. This song is about religion, and basically it's taking a story from the bible (i think) and turn it against religion or show it as proof for religions cruelty and how fucked up it infact is.

It's the story of job and begin with him talking to god (father can you hear me..") after god has made a bet with satan to prove there's good in humans, and take job as an example saying he's the most righteous man there is. But then satan says that's just cause he has it so good. And to prove satan wrong, god makes a bet with him and as a part of this bet he lets satan kill job's 10 children, take away all his cattle, and then finally his health after satan argued he's still good and righteous as long as he has his health. A very powerful anti-religion song.

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Mnementh
03-13-2007

Rated +1 
The only true Messiah who can rescue us from ourselvse is..... OURSELVES.

This is about taking responsibility for ourselves and our actions. Not relying on some fictitious figure to which we can make excuses for our stupidity and cruelty. It ultimateley stating that when we do this there will be (needless) sorrow no more.

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xuwen7
06-04-2007

Rated 0 
In the second verse "Let me take you to the hurting ground" It should be herding ground , fucking noobs...

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Richard Enahobo
06-04-2007

Rated 0 
This song is somewhat ambiguous. It seems to be about the story of Job like others have said. However, it also applies to war.

It starts off with Job talking to God, then it goes into a description of war, calling it a "hurting ground where all good men all trampled down". The narrator can't see a good reason for this war. Finally, he imagines there would be no more sorrow if the soldiers stopped fighting, the world leaders gave up their positions of authority, everyone was able to stand up for themselves, or Jesus comes back and saves us from ourselves.

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markf
06-17-2007

Rated +1 
Atheists DO use biblical allusions. Most American atheists were raised Christian, and I'll bet Graffin was too. In fact, atheists often know MORE about the bible than their christian peers, because they can look at it without bias, and don't skip over the nasty bits.

For example:
* In the Pentateuch, God condones slavery, and gives the Israelites extensive laws about how to treat slaves.
* In the Torah, God tells the Israelites to commit genocide... repeatedly.
* In Jeremiah, God says that women who sin deserve to be raped.

Most Christians don't even know that, because they've never actually read their bible. A lot of atheists got that way because they actually cracked the bible open one day and found out just what kind of sick, depraved stuff is inside.

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Richard Enahobo
06-18-2007

Rated 0 
Isn't the Torah essentially the Jewish Bible? I'm not that familiar with different religions.

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markf
06-18-2007

Rated 0 
The Pentateuch and the Torah are the holy books in Judaism, and they constitute the first five books of the Christian bible (Genesis through Deuteronomy). They're also some of the most horrible stuff ever written by Human beings -- rape, slavery, murder, infanticide, genocide, and with God condoning it at every step. In most cases, God is actually COMMANDING it.

All Christians (and Jews and Muslims, since they believe in these horror stories too) should read through Numbers, Deuteronomy, and the book of Joshua. If more of them actually READ those parts of the bible instead of ignoring them, there would be a lot more atheists in the world.

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Richard Enahobo
06-25-2007

Rated 0 
Or maybe they wouldn't lose their faith, but still not condone those parts. Just because you believe a certain religion, doesn't mean you have to agree with everything about it.

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benjam326
07-12-2007

Rated 0 
That would be true, but unfortunately almost every religion, and certainly the major montheistic ones (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) claims to be the true, final, and unalterable word of god. Admitting that any part of their holy book of choice is incorrect is a small tear which would eventually bring down the whole curtain.

Trying to find some sort of middle ground where you pick and choose the parts of the Torah, Bible, or Koran you agree with just makes you someone who appreciates good philosophy, not necessarily a theist.

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Dr. Evil
07-21-2007

Rated 0 
I'll just say straight up what I am: Christian Anarchist.

Ever hear of that before?

Probably not. Not alot of us around. Suffice to say that we are completely unlike any christians you've ever seen. We'll tell you what we are, ask you if you're interested, and if you're not, we move on. A God that asks you to go to war for it is not worth your reverence.

As a Christian anarchist, this song touches me deeply. I don't think that Greg is an atheist. I think he's got a very big problem with institutionalized religion, and that he's a conflicted agnostic. Definitely leaning towards atheistic, but I doubt he's convinced. And I cannot honestly say that I disagree.

As I always say, the biggest problem with Christianity is that there's people in it.

Still. This song appeals to me and touches me very deeply. The first part touches me on a very personal level, as though my father and I are on good terms, there is alot of bullshit between us. The reason is that he didn't used to be as patient and understanding as he is now.

The second, about "the herding ground," is about our society. Not just American, or even western, but human society as a whole, because we as humans are all inextricably bound together as family, but sometimes that manifests itself in negative ways. We tend to have a herd instinct that compels us to do what is popular, rather than what is right, and anyone who goes against that gets, as Greg says, "trampled down."

Finally, the last part. About our own human failings. "Will you guide me now, for I can't see..." Only when we give our trust to God and let God (I don't like gender-specific pronouns in reference to the Divine, except Jesus) guide us, can we follow the right path. (Christian anarchists also believe that God has reveals God's self to many people in many ways, such as islam, hinduism, basic non-religious spirituality, and so forth)

But ultimately, we cannot control what other people do. When all soldiers lay their weapons down, (right, like that's ever going to happen) when all kings and queens (and governments in general) relinquish their crowns, (there are enough greedy people in the world to pretty much guarantee that's not happening any time soon) all that sort of thing. We can't control others. Ultimately, our only salvation rests with Jesus. I don't care if Greg did mean that lyric mockingly, (which I somewhat doubt) I take it seriously.

I'm sure people on here will revile and ridicule me for being religious and trying to ascribe a geniune spiritual meaning to this song, but that's just the way it goes.

By the way, this is my band's theme song. We're called N.K.B.G. (No Kings Before God) Despite what you might think from our name, we have far more in common with Rage Against the Machine, (Killing in the Name is one of our staples in addition to our own material) Bob Dylan (God On Our Side is another of our favorites) and even BR here than Sonicflood or Third day. I get rather irritated when someone calls us a Christian rock group, as a matter of fact.

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Richard Enahobo
08-08-2007

Rated +1 
"As a Christian anarchist, this song touches me deeply. I don't think that Greg is an atheist. I think he's got a very big problem with institutionalized religion, and that he's a conflicted agnostic. Definitely leaning towards atheistic, but I doubt he's convinced. And I cannot honestly say that I disagree."

I think Greg is atheist because I've read that he's an atheist somewhere, can't remember where.

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Marty1982
11-07-2007

Rated -1 
Greg claims to be an Atheist, but he often acknowledges the fact that he may be wrong about his disbelief in God. So whether he's really an "atheist" or more of an "agnostic" is debatable. He QUESTIONS religion and religious belief, but he doesn't attack them. He's not an anti-theist (somebody who's against religion and belief in God), and when his music does attack something in regards to religion, it usually attacks the practices of certain religious people. Rather than faith in God itself.

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MissNeurotic
03-18-2008

Rated +1 
I think he's definitely an ateist. And I think their songs do attack religion.

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