Maybe I'm just looking at the last line of the song (We're only gonna die from our own arrogance), but that line could be truthful to any part of society: religion, politics, etc. We are going to die if we keep being intolerant of other people. Look at Israel vs. Palestine! Israel seems willing to share that land, but the Palestinians want it all, because they're not willing to coexist with anyone who doesn't believe in Allah! And they're blowing each other away because of their arrogance. If this keeps up and sucks in the whole world, arrogance will kill us all.

I think this song has to do with the state fot the world and the ipact that "Modern man" has had on the earth, and how it is leading to our destruction it almost seems as if Gaffin is looking at the end of the world as if it already happened. The beginning of the song says that originally we started out like other creatures, living of the land, etc. but as our minds developed that method "walked away" and was slowly replaced by a "modern" more destructive way of thinking, where man formed alliances for what the only logical reason to do so is, power--the easiest way to get it being taking controll of others (power for protection or similar). Such alliances began to grow, and people stopped at nothing to get to the top. this part is confusing to me but i think he sees this as if the cold war ended violently. the last three lines seem to reflect that after fighting thier way to the top (possibly referring to major conflicts as stated in a previous interpretation) the leaders of the world aciddentally (not "Oops i pushed the button, but more likely purposely, based on false intel)destroyed the world. the last line bassically sums it up by saying that in our struggle for power, which has turned into a "race" to prove who is the best and most dominant (i.e. arrogance), we will up destroying ourselves.

This song is about how if we keep destroying the world with wars and industry, that we are only gonna die.

most bad religion lyrics are ambigous and open enough to be interpretated and at the same time not commiting to an opinion so when you are listening and singing them you dont feel like "praying" or "preaching". I agree with all posted before but i would like to add not what i think the song is about but what it has made me think about when i listen/sing it. It reminds me about a bastard who became a dictator, rised an empire ignoring restrictions from a previous war, exterminated people, lost a war opening arrogantly too much fronts and ended up killing himself.

I had a band once. I wrote a song that was sort of my interpretation of "We're Only Gonna Die":
hisStory
On how he got fed he felt insecure,
The Man planted the seed to start agriculture.
He could stay in one place to make more food than he'd need,
His population exploded as he continued to feed.
Domination of the globe his farms span world-wide,
Disrespect to his Mother as he pushes her aside.
It becomes easier to work the soil,
Because his technology will dampen the toil.
When food came simply he wanted more to life,
He constantly developed toward ending his strife.
Founding a whole environment that was brave and new,
He adapted to these conditions that he was subject to.
He must obey his system or he would be fed,
His machine had control and his freedom was dead.
Dependent on his machine, to give him what he needs,
It makes him want more by instilling a deep material greed.
If his system fails or perpetuates more,
The Earth is in peril and he is being transformed.
This is very wayward and the seeds he still sews,
With all of his efforts he still finds no control.

To me, this song rmakes me think of the early struggles of hominids some 150,000 years ago or so. Perhaps Neanderthals were a peace-loving gentle people - they were early man. Then Homo Sapiens came along, modern man, and just wiped out the helpless Neanderthals as we did the bison, the dodo birds, etc. We then have a legacy of destruction, hostility, and violence that can not be stripped away because it is who we are.

Greg said it all in those 5 lines. The words impressed me very much because it seemed so true. Like many of Bad Religion's songs, it takes on a negative/cynical view of the world and mankind in general. And they have a genuine point to make here, because most of what they are saying probably will come true. I don't know if this is gonna relate to the song or not, but a thought came to me recently: mankind as a whole has a limited lifespan. I figured out before that the world will not end with us here, but rather it'll end well after we're all dead, because we keep destroying ourselves and can't solve our fundamental problems. I arrived at that thought after thinking about the dinosaurs and how they died out after having lived a long time, from causes unknown. (Was it an asteroid? I think so, but its difficult to prove). I guess when you look at the world from a big picture-type viewpoint such as that, you can begin to see how trivial everything is over the course of millions of years. Also, YOUR impact on live becomes a centerpoint. I want to make my mark on civilization before I die. I don't know how I'll do it, but I wanna be remembered for something. Shit, I got off the subject there, but I already was anyway

First time I heard this song I was hooked. first off, I think the lyrics are absolutely genius, painting an accurate portrayal of the lust for power and how it intensifies as the decades roll by. It focuses on the newfound greed of an anonymous Man.. I interpret the use of 'Man' as to symbolize all of basic humanity.. who becomes so enveloped in achieving top order that he eventually drives himself mad and ends his own life. there is the Machiavellian sense of man thinking that he will be loved and revered if he slaughters everything in his path in order to expand his realm of rule, yet in the end he finds that he definitely is not, for he finishes it off by killing everyone and he's left alone. that is Man's big fear, of being alone and vulnerable, and to be able to admit that we are is an extremely difficult thing to do. ...and as for destroying all those who serve beneath you, of course they rebelled - - previously free people who find themselves suddenly ! enslaved under a tyrannous grasp aren't just going to sit back and relax... they're gonna fuck your shit up.

This isn't really an explanation about WOGD. This song applies so well to what I heard about Hitler so I decided to finally post it. 'Early man walked away as modern man took control.' I heard that Hitler before his madness was a very nice guy. And since he changed so much, you can say he was two person. 'Their minds weren't all the same, to conquer was his goal.' In his madness, he wanted to conquer the world 'So he built his great empire and slaughtered his own kind.' Hitler built the Nazi Empire and slaughtered 6 mil men. 'Then he died a confused man, killed himself with his own mind.' Hitler killed himself when he realized that he his plans failed. And since he made those plans, he 'killed himself with his own mind.' 'We're only gonna die from our own arrogance.' Hitler was an arrogant bastard [at least while he was mad].

Simple. People don't plan for the future on the most part. We live day to day, trying to make each day better for us, and maybe trying to make our own life times better. However, this is done with no foresight. Look at what the industrial revolution did...It caused us to use up most of our fossil fuels and ores. "so what" they say, "someone else will come up with alternative fuel supplies and new alloys made of recycled material"....NO THEY WON'T! Because EVERYONE is saying the same thing. "we're only gonna die from our own arrogance". Too bad we are forced to come up with the best technological advancements during war.