This song is only philosophical on the surface level. The earlier quoted interview pretty clearly shows that Brett, the author, is working through some interpersonal stuff having to do with his dad. I guess it's somewhat philosophical, but I really don't think it's saying anything about "religion" in the way that most people seem to be intrepreting it. The problem of the existence of evil is an old one. For theists it's basically: how did a good God let this $h!t happen?

But atheists have a delimma too -for them there's really no such thing as "evil" there's only rearrangment of protons, neutrons and electrons (the basic building blocks of the material world) and our psychological/emotional reaction to said rearrangement. So really atheists either have to assert an unfounded ethics, or admit that war, genocide, rape aren't actually "evil" because there's no such thing as good and evil i.e. morality is a farse.

I don't see how either approach is any less problematic than the other. This song initially impressed me as a song dealing with a longing for some sort of transcendence -the referrences to a Messiah saving us from ourselves (the opposite of us saving us) -the utopian aspirations hinted at -a frustrating lack of virtue in humanity.

Interesting thing is, whether or not you take this song as being sung from a theistic or atheistic perspective, it's about belief nonetheless -belief in something better. In his essays Greg Graffin has clearly expressed an unwavering commitment to the philosophical values of the European Enlightenment (hence his insistent, though sometimes outdated, criticisms of religious pretense), but how is BR not being just as "dogmatic" as those they reproach??? BR has a belief system like everyone else, whether or not you call it a "religion" is kinda beside the point.

So I say, what the heck, let's believe...in something. BR does, whether they acknowledge it as a "belief" or not.

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I love this song, its so good...Bad Religion is my FAVEORITE band, and has been for SUCH a long time. Im so excited about there new CD with DVD and also an accustic EP...I found a link for all of you other Bad Religion fans!!

This song is the shit. XD

Totally awesome

i think hes trying to talk to his "father" (God) but the song is about realizing that there is no God and its this belief in God that is causing the "Sorrow"

this song is reference to the bible, specifically the Book of Job in which God basically makes a bet with Satan that Job will still love God even if God takes away everything from Job and basically tortures him, and it's from the point of view of graffin in Job's shoes asking why there is so much sorrow.

Source: http://www.punknews.org/article/9447

Well, it’s the story of Job from the Old Testament. Job was the most righteous man in the world. The devil said to God “these people are basically bad” and god said “Well no.”

The devil said “Give me one example” and god said “Look at Job, he’s a righteous man.”

The devil said that he could corrupt him like any man, and they made a wager. And that was god’s way of rewarding the one righteous man on the planet. That was god turning his back on the one man who was good and righteous. That’s not god, that’s religion.

That’s an example of how detestable religion is. What is the lesson there?

No matter how good you are, god will turn his back on you? This is the basis for Judaeo-Christian religion? Is it any surprise the world is so screwed up.

They say that the story of the Job is the saddest story ever told, so it seemed like the best archetypal story to start a song called “Sorrow”

I like how at the end it says there will be sorrow, no more. I think you have to look at that, like it's just about how there will always be sorrow until
"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"