I think this song is basically about war in the name of religion. While "hot boots" conjures up images of American soldiers in the Middle East, the birthplace of civilization is in the Middle East, and ever since the beginning of civilization, there has been religion and wars over that religion. These current wars are just continuations of all the previous religious wars. The "inveterate blind," "thrall," and "acolytes" are all references to those who continue to support the war efforts. OR, "thrall" and inveterate blind" may refer to the many soldiers who only join the military as a way to escape hopeless futures, as seen in Bowling For Columbine where the military recruiters were targeting lower-class youth for recruitment. The deities bit references God and Jesus, Allah and Mohammed.

I see a couple of meaning in the chorus:

1.
The "heroes and martyrs" are relating to the ALL people fighting, not just the US and the terrorists.
The "two points of view" is from the publics perspective (not just US citizens, but global citizens).

The heroes are the ones who are fighting for the same beliefs and causes as the observer. The Martyrs are the ones opposing this.


2.
Martyrs can also be given to ALL those involved - In war, all soldiers are Martyrs as they are all willing to die for what they believe in.
The two points of view, are the two points of belief, the opposing sides.

"...which deity you're praying to", This is pointing out that the only differences in beliefs is which god they follow. Which can be considered ironic since there are no gods. It also lends favour to the fact that most wars are fought in the name of a god.

"The inveterate blind seeking daylight"
This is about the "blind followers" of religion are committing awful crimes because they believe it is their gods wish, and that they will be rewarded.


In the end, it's not just related to the recent war on terrorism, it's related to all wars.

I think this song is pretty straight forward- It’s about the War on Terrorism, Holy War, and East versus the West. In the West, we call our soldiers “Heroes” while in the East, the Islamic East, they are referred to as Martyrs. Which deity are you praying to? The whole song is pretty self explanatory and to the point. Great song.

I've always taken this song as a concise discourse about the war on terror. More specifically about the call to arms used to convince the poor to become Heroes and Martyrs for their respective cause. In this case the Heroes being western soldiers and Martyrs being Al-Qaeda, Taliban, Iraqi insurgents etc... Western politicians and the talking heads on TV frequently refer to soldiers as heroes, and rarely if ever as martyrs. You will almost always hear of suicide bombers and insurgent fighters referred to as Martyrs by the religious and political leaders who sent them to their death. The line "Tell me which deity you’re praying to" seems to bear this out.

The first verse strikes me as directed towards the Heroes, "hot boots invested and cracked" conjures up the image of soldiers in the desert. "Poor candidates jacked into grey light" seems to speak of potential recruits being beckoned by the grey light of the television or even the internet. "Poor" in this case could mean one of or a combination of: financially poor, poor of fortitude, poor of intellect, poor of purpose, or poor of spirit etc… Basically the same sort of shortcomings one may view themselves with that convince them to surrender their freedom for the feeling of security and belonging. Much the same could be said for the “recruits” of the second verse.

“Into a welter of night flack rounds and roiling blight”. The second verse seems to speak of the aftermath of an air attack. The “cracked vertebrates stacked by the wayside” certainly alludes to an unpleasant scene of death and destruction which it wouldn’t be hard to imagine feeling hopeless and desiring revenge upon those who did the cracking if you were to witness it, especially if a loved one was a victim. This is the sort of condition which would leave one ripe for the picking by someone seeking to exploit someone to commit and act of “Martyrdom”. I also see this as setting up another possible theme within this song.

The first verse begins with “Amid the heat and the wrack” could be a reference to the destruction witnessed on 9/11 and its subsequent use as a call to arms for heroes. Contrast this with the aforementioned air attack used as a call to arms for martyrs and you can see the set up of the seeming never ending cycle of violence. One group always seems to be avenging the last attack, which in turn is avenging the last attack by the other.

It never ceases to amaze me how such a short narrative can actually convey a much larger story. It’s a very good representation of one of the reasons I love music.

“All I get out of this song is the surface impression of it being about military service”
- Michael Bentley

Brett Gurewitz has referenced crack or heroin (“to pierce the vein of the sacred and profane”) in other songs. Whether it be coincidental or not, one can’t deny the power of association between the word ‘invested’ and the word ‘crack’ – “Hot boots invested in crack”. Here we have people suffering their addictions either as ‘candidates jacked in grey light’ or while ‘candidates are jacked in the grey light’ meaning the politicians who are supposed to be dealing with this issue but are always forced to deal in a grey area, rather than one that is black and white. This is what the “ultraviolent call” is – the call that summons the sympathies or shock of both the poet, who writes about it (yes, Brett, and all the others), and the masses who gasp in horror from their living room couches.
Our heroes – anyone you look up to – and martyrs – the ones who die for their causes; the soldier, the drug addict, the politician – all show us exactly which deity we pray to, what religion we subscribe to, and what belief system we adhere to.
The inveterate blind, like the acolytes, all seek that which they can become one with, the sense of belonging; something to lay themselves down in front of and pray to…

10/04/08
Palmerston North