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So, you're feeling unimportant,
'cause you've got nothing to say.
And your live is just a ramble
No one understand you anyway
Well, I got a piece of news son,
That might make you change your mind
Your life is historically meaningful
And spans a significant time
Slumber will come soon
And you are helping to put it to sleep
Side by side we do our share
Faithfully assuring that
Slumber will come soon.
Well, now do you feel a little better
Lift up your head and walk away
Knowing we're all in this together
For such a short time anyway
There is just no time to parade around
Sulking, i would rather laugh than cry
The rich, the poor, the strong, the weak
We share this place together
And we pitch into help it die
I'm not too good at giving morals
And I don't fear the consequence
If life makes you scared and bitter
At least it's not for very long
Slumber will come soon
'cause you've got nothing to say.
And your live is just a ramble
No one understand you anyway
Well, I got a piece of news son,
That might make you change your mind
Your life is historically meaningful
And spans a significant time
Slumber will come soon
And you are helping to put it to sleep
Side by side we do our share
Faithfully assuring that
Slumber will come soon.
Well, now do you feel a little better
Lift up your head and walk away
Knowing we're all in this together
For such a short time anyway
There is just no time to parade around
Sulking, i would rather laugh than cry
The rich, the poor, the strong, the weak
We share this place together
And we pitch into help it die
I'm not too good at giving morals
And I don't fear the consequence
If life makes you scared and bitter
At least it's not for very long
Slumber will come soon
Lyrics submitted by punk_in_drublic99
Track duration: 02:39
"Slumber" as written by Greg Graffin
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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I also love (laughing at, in a sad way) how most of those who comment on Bad Religion's songs, fail to recognize that BR's music is laced with Biblical reference and influence time anad time again. Ever heard of the book of Ecclesiastes? For those that haven't, it's in the Old Testament, ie. pre-christian (Hebrew), part of the Bible.
“Meaningless! Meaningless!”
says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless.” - Ecc 1:2
For with much wisdom comes much sorrow;
the more knowledge, the more grief. - Ecc 1:18
14 The wise have eyes in their heads,
while the fool walks in the darkness;
but I came to realize
that the same fate overtakes them both.
15 Then I said to myself,
“The fate of the fool will overtake me also.
What then do I gain by being wise?”
I said to myself,
“This too is meaningless.”
16 For the wise, like the fool, will not be long remembered;
the days have already come when both have been forgotten.
Like the fool, the wise too must die! - Ecc2:14-16
The only place I see a potential departure from the writer of Ecclesiastes would be the source of the historical significance of one's life. The conclusion is still, in essence the same. Both conclude that there is meaning in life, but the line "I don't fear the consequence" tends to negate the last part of the following passage (while the rest of the song echoes the sentiment);
15 So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun. - Ecc8:15
Additionally, the futility of the Ecclesiastes passage;
18 I also said to myself, “As for humans, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals. 19 Surely the fate of human beings is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath[c]; humans have no advantage over animals. Everything is meaningless. 20 All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. 21 Who knows if the human spirit rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?”
22 So I saw that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work, because that is their lot. For who can bring them to see what will happen after them? - Ecc3:18-22
...is summed up in BR's sentiment, "If life makes you scared and bitter, at least it's not for very long".
Ironically, the Bible as a whole, both Old and New Testaments (Hebrew and Christian), echoes the prophetic message that "we pitch in to help it die", but for different reasons.
I'm not saying that BR couldn't have come up with this prior to reading Ecclesiastes. We all read things that echoe our own personal feelings or thoughts all of the time. But given the fact that so many other BR songs scream themes parallelling other Ecclesiastical ideas (Pity the Dead, for one), and knowing that another of their often mentioned influences, Thomas Wolfe, considered Ecclesiastes to be one of the best pieces of LITERATURE of all time, I have no doubt they have read it. That's what makes them one of the most intelligent bands ever. They read, they ask why, and then decide for themselves what they believe. Everyone's free to believe what they want as long as they ask themselves why they believe that. But until you ask why you believe what you do, investigate the matter, and then come to your own decision, you're already a slave.
Yes, you!
Besides, no ideas are original, Ecclesiastes was written about 3,00 years ago, "...there is nothing new under the sun. - Ecc 1:9"
It's definitely not sincere...
"Your life is historically meaningful,
And spans a significant time."
That's a complete and blatant lie, and certainly not something BR would ever say sincerely.
However, it's more than just "being sarcastic." I think BR is attacking popular quasi-epicurean attitudes toward life, the idea that we can just ignore the world's problems and fool ourselves out of our insecurities. The idea that it's better to "laugh than cry," that life is short and we ought to just live it up and enjoy ourselves.
Consider the chorus:
"Slumber will come soon,
And you are helping put it to sleep. <---particularly this line
Side by side we do our share,
Faithfully assuring that,
Slumber will come soon."
Slumber... BR is criticizing us, saying that in taking our carefree, self-affirmed attitudes toward life we are falling asleep to the reality around us, deadening ourselves even before we reach our quick literal deaths.
...Those are my thoughts on it, anyway. He's not out there to make fun of people, he's trying to get them to snap out of their rose-colored bubbles (and though the lyrics don't directly go here, perhaps their self-centered pity, as well).
If life makes you scared and bitter,
At least its not for very long.
Knowing we're all in this together,
For such a short time anyway.
There's just no time to parade around sulking,
I would rather laugh than cry,
The rich the poor the weak we share this place together
He's dead on on all of that, no sarcasm. Anyways I feel that this is a very uplifting song.
i think it is sarcastic. i think its kindof fuckedup a little, if im right.
there is so much good, but people tend to see the bad in thier lives and everything else, and become depressed, then start feeling sorry for themselves. just like our evolution is our demise, so is our outlook in our lives. he is saying, just quit your bitchin.
"im not to good at giving morals"
you know what, im not good at giving advice
"and i dont fear the consequence"
i dont care how this song make you feel or what you do to yourself either, did you expect comfort from me
"if life makes you scared and bitter"
"at least its not for very long"
oh well get over it
and if your not, who cares it'll all be over for you soon right.
I think the song can be summed up in one line: "there is just no time to parade around sulking/I would rather laugh than cry." This line, for me anyway, gives away the sardonic humor of the song (well, that and the total lullaby quality of it... though, that makes perfect sense: it's called "Slumber, after all.")