So this has been.my favorite song of OTEP's since it came out in 2004, and I always thought it was a song about a child's narrative of suffering in an abusive Christian home. But now that I am revisiting the lyrics, I am seeing something totally new.
This song could be gospel of John but from the perspective of Jesus.
Jesus was NOT having a good time up to and during the crucifixion. Everyone in the known world at the time looked to him with fear, admiration or disgust and he was constantly being asked questions. He spoke in "verses, prophesies and curses". He had made an enemy of the state, and believed the world was increasingly wicked and fallen from grace, or that he was in the "mouth of madness".
The spine of atlas is the structure that allows the titan to hold the world up. Jesus challenged the state and in doing so became a celebrated resistance figure. It also made him public enemy #1.
All of this happened simply because he was doing his thing, not because of any agenda he had or strategy.
And then he gets scourged (storm of thorns)
There are some plot holes here but I think it's an interesting interpretation.
War, war is stupid and people are stupid
And love means nothing in some strange quarters
War, war is stupid and people are stupid
And I heard them banging on hearts and fingers
War
People fill the world with narrow confidence
Like a child at birth, a man with no defence
What's mine's my own, I won't give it to you
No matter what you say, no matter what you do
Now we're fighting in our hearts
Fighting in the streets
Won't somebody help me?
War, war is stupid and people are stupid
And love means nothing in some strange quarters
War, war is stupid and people are stupid
And I heard them banging on hearts and fingers
War
Man is far behind in the search of something new
Like a philistine, we're burning witches too
This world of hate must be designed for you
It matters what you say, it matters what you do
Now we're fighting in our hearts
Fighting in the streets
Won't somebody help me?
War, war is stupid and people are stupid
And love means nothing in some strange quarters
War, war is stupid and people are stupid
And I heard them banging on hearts and fingers
War, war war
After the bird has flown
He walked ten thousand miles back home
You can't do that to me, no, you can't do that to me
You can't do that to me, no, you can't do that to me
War, war
In this heart of mine, I'll find a place for you
For black or white, for grown-up children too
Now we're fighting in our hearts
Fighting in the streets
Won't somebody help me?
War, war is stupid and people are stupid
And love means nothing in some strange quarters
War, war is stupid and people are stupid
And I heard them banging on hearts and fingers
No more war
Say no more war
Say war
I said woah, said no more war, said no more war, said woah
Said no more war, I said no more war
Senso hant-ai
Senso hant-ai
Say no more war
Say no more, no more war, said no more war
Said no more war, said no more war, oh
And love means nothing in some strange quarters
War, war is stupid and people are stupid
And I heard them banging on hearts and fingers
War
People fill the world with narrow confidence
Like a child at birth, a man with no defence
What's mine's my own, I won't give it to you
No matter what you say, no matter what you do
Now we're fighting in our hearts
Fighting in the streets
Won't somebody help me?
War, war is stupid and people are stupid
And love means nothing in some strange quarters
War, war is stupid and people are stupid
And I heard them banging on hearts and fingers
War
Man is far behind in the search of something new
Like a philistine, we're burning witches too
This world of hate must be designed for you
It matters what you say, it matters what you do
Now we're fighting in our hearts
Fighting in the streets
Won't somebody help me?
War, war is stupid and people are stupid
And love means nothing in some strange quarters
War, war is stupid and people are stupid
And I heard them banging on hearts and fingers
War, war war
After the bird has flown
He walked ten thousand miles back home
You can't do that to me, no, you can't do that to me
You can't do that to me, no, you can't do that to me
War, war
In this heart of mine, I'll find a place for you
For black or white, for grown-up children too
Now we're fighting in our hearts
Fighting in the streets
Won't somebody help me?
War, war is stupid and people are stupid
And love means nothing in some strange quarters
War, war is stupid and people are stupid
And I heard them banging on hearts and fingers
No more war
Say no more war
Say war
I said woah, said no more war, said no more war, said woah
Said no more war, I said no more war
Senso hant-ai
Senso hant-ai
Say no more war
Say no more, no more war, said no more war
Said no more war, said no more war, oh
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I think war is being used as a metaphor for a failed or failing relationship.
@willowxxx this is absolutely correct
@willowxxx this is absolutely correct
This song is not a metaphor, it is literally about the stupidity of war.
Trite? It is more relevant than ever now.
One of the best lines in the song is how he has a place in his heart for "grown up children" too.
Comparing the futility of war to a philistine or the act of finding witches to burn shows the complexity of a collaborative Culture Club lyric.
After the bird has flown...to then have to take 10,000 steps to get back home... with this statement, can there even be a question as to how meaningless a fight is when you compare it against peace and harmony?
The strong performance of Clare Torry (Dark Side of the Moon) hits home the pain of War.
The song spells it out clearly. Put down the weapons and let love in your heart and embrace the difference, and you just might find that it is way more important than meager possessions.
Senso hant-ai-"We're Against War!"
I read in a music criticism book that this was the song that effectively ended Culture Club's career. It does seem a bit trite...
@Juniper Prism a bit trite is putting it TOO mildly - even compared to the intense triviality of their other 'pop' hits, this one shines dully as a beacon of destitution - it is almost a fitting epigraph on their 'glittering' career
@Juniper Prism it's not about war, it's about a couple at war, war is a metaphor for a broken relationship. There is a deeper meaning to almost all boy George's lyrics with culture club.
WAR WAR IS STUPID
move over Bob Dylan