I definetly think it has undertones of the "war on terror/iraqi freedom campaign/global struggle against oppressors" or whatever they're calling it these days, but I think the main center point of the song is religion and how blind faith in something only leads to persecution and religious war etc..
I don't really get the "Belief is a beautiful armor
But makes for the heaviest sword
Like punching underwater" lyric and the one about changing your mind from the paint on a sign... so if anyone has any ideas that'd be nice...
The punching underwater part;
He's saying that religion seems to be aiming to make people behave themselves and act morally by having the bible to tell them what to do. But in reality, since the bible is open to interpretation, they do whatever is in their nature anyway. Violent ppl will pretend that religion is saying that its ok to do the things they wanna do. So "you never can hit what your trying for" because in the end ppl are just following their nature still. I've even known a mentally ill girl who thought she had seen demons leave her...
The punching underwater part;
He's saying that religion seems to be aiming to make people behave themselves and act morally by having the bible to tell them what to do. But in reality, since the bible is open to interpretation, they do whatever is in their nature anyway. Violent ppl will pretend that religion is saying that its ok to do the things they wanna do. So "you never can hit what your trying for" because in the end ppl are just following their nature still. I've even known a mentally ill girl who thought she had seen demons leave her and what not when she was at church. She was that religious and yet still did not follow the religion when it was hard too. ie. when sex money or drugs were involved.
I think Jbox's answer is barely skimming the surface.
I think Jbox's answer is barely skimming the surface.
Belief is a beautiful armor, but makes for the heaviest sword.
Here John is talking about how beautiful belief truly is when you wear it. Belief can make you into a better person, if you let it. But when used incorrectly, belief can be weilded as a weapon, used to hurt others. Obviously there is a big anti-war message in this song, and I believe John is speaking out against our nation's policy makers deciding that it's okay to force our way of life, our beliefs, on other people - and not only force it on them, but kill innocent people in the name of it.
Like punching underwater, you never can hit who you're trying for.
In general, when there is violence in the name of belief (and God is not always involved in these beliefs) many innocents are lost. Take current affairs right now. We have invaded Iraq and Afghanistan, we are bombing Libya, Pakistan, and Yemen, and we are meddling in Syria. We attempted to assassinate Gaddafi, but instead killed part of his family. We have drones bombing in Pakistan that kills innocent people every day. If not for all this buzz about Bin Laden (which really just depends on if you trust the government/media anymore) people who be questioning whether or not our military can hit ANYONE they're aiming for. John sums up this doubt in only a few elegant words.
When it comes to Mayer's songs, there's a lot under the surface. I don't really listen to any of "today's hit music" because in my opinion, it's all crap. Singing about days of the week or doing blow or having sex with all sorts of people. Thanks, but no thanks. I'll take John's common sense/political views with a nice helping of sweet, sweet crooning over Britney Spears any day.
I definetly think it has undertones of the "war on terror/iraqi freedom campaign/global struggle against oppressors" or whatever they're calling it these days, but I think the main center point of the song is religion and how blind faith in something only leads to persecution and religious war etc..
I don't really get the "Belief is a beautiful armor But makes for the heaviest sword Like punching underwater" lyric and the one about changing your mind from the paint on a sign... so if anyone has any ideas that'd be nice...
The punching underwater part; He's saying that religion seems to be aiming to make people behave themselves and act morally by having the bible to tell them what to do. But in reality, since the bible is open to interpretation, they do whatever is in their nature anyway. Violent ppl will pretend that religion is saying that its ok to do the things they wanna do. So "you never can hit what your trying for" because in the end ppl are just following their nature still. I've even known a mentally ill girl who thought she had seen demons leave her...
The punching underwater part; He's saying that religion seems to be aiming to make people behave themselves and act morally by having the bible to tell them what to do. But in reality, since the bible is open to interpretation, they do whatever is in their nature anyway. Violent ppl will pretend that religion is saying that its ok to do the things they wanna do. So "you never can hit what your trying for" because in the end ppl are just following their nature still. I've even known a mentally ill girl who thought she had seen demons leave her and what not when she was at church. She was that religious and yet still did not follow the religion when it was hard too. ie. when sex money or drugs were involved.
I think Jbox's answer is barely skimming the surface.
I think Jbox's answer is barely skimming the surface.
Belief is a beautiful armor, but makes for the heaviest sword. Here John is talking about how beautiful belief truly is when you wear it. Belief can make you into a better person, if you let it. But when used incorrectly, belief can be weilded as a weapon, used to hurt others. Obviously there is a big anti-war message in this song, and I believe John is speaking out against our nation's policy makers deciding that it's okay to force our way of life, our beliefs, on other people - and not only force it on them, but kill innocent people in the name of it.
Like punching underwater, you never can hit who you're trying for. In general, when there is violence in the name of belief (and God is not always involved in these beliefs) many innocents are lost. Take current affairs right now. We have invaded Iraq and Afghanistan, we are bombing Libya, Pakistan, and Yemen, and we are meddling in Syria. We attempted to assassinate Gaddafi, but instead killed part of his family. We have drones bombing in Pakistan that kills innocent people every day. If not for all this buzz about Bin Laden (which really just depends on if you trust the government/media anymore) people who be questioning whether or not our military can hit ANYONE they're aiming for. John sums up this doubt in only a few elegant words.
When it comes to Mayer's songs, there's a lot under the surface. I don't really listen to any of "today's hit music" because in my opinion, it's all crap. Singing about days of the week or doing blow or having sex with all sorts of people. Thanks, but no thanks. I'll take John's common sense/political views with a nice helping of sweet, sweet crooning over Britney Spears any day.