Three thousand miles of wilderness
Overcome by the flow.
A lonely restitution of pavement,
Pomp and show,
I seek a thousand answers,
I find but one or two,
I maintain no discomfiture,
My path again renewed.
Against the grain,
That's where I'll stay.
Swimming upstream,
I maintain against the grain.
Here labeled as a lunatic,
Sequestered and content,
There ignored and defeated
By the government.
There's an oriented public
Whose magnetic force does pull,
But away from the potential of the individual.
Against the grain,
That's where I'll stay.
Swimming upstream,
I maintain against the grain.
The flow is getting stronger
With smaller increments of time.
And Eddies of new ideas are
Increasingly hard to find,
You need all that the other has,
Your right to seize the day,
But in all your acquisitions
You will soon be swept away.
Against the grain,
That's where I'll stay.
Swimming upstream,
I maintain against the grain.
There's a common consensus
And an uncomfortable cheer,
A reverberating chorus that anyone can hear,
It sings "leave your cares behind you,
Just grab tenaciously",
This lulling sense or purpose
Will destroy us rapidly.
Against the grain,
That's where I'll stay.
Swimming upstream,
I maintain against the grain.
Version | Length | Release | Catalog ID | Country | Format | Year |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Album version | ||||||
2:06 | All Ages | Europe | 12" | 2023 | ||
2:08 | Against The Grain | Europe | 12" | 2023 | ||
2:06 | All Ages | Europe | 12" | 2023 | ||
2:06 | All Ages | United States | 12" | 2023 | ||
2:08 | Against The Grain | Europe | 12" | 2023 | ||
2:08 | Against The Grain | United States | 12" | 2022 | ||
2:06 | All Ages | United States | 12" | 2019 | ||
2:08 | Against The Grain | United States | 12" | 2017 | ||
2:08 | Against The Grain | E-86409-1 | 86409-1TPU | United States | 12" | 2014 | |
2:08 | Against The Grain | E-86409-1TYL | United States | 12" | 2014 | |
2:08 | Against The Grain | E-86409-1 | United States | 12" | 2010 | |
2:08 | Against The Grain | United States | 12" | 2009 | ||
2:08 | Against The Grain | E-86409-1 | United States | 12" | 2009 | |
2:08 | Against The Grain | E-86409-1 | United States | 12" | 2009 | |
2:08 | Against The Grain | Russia | CD | 2007 | ||
2:08 | Against The Grain | 1309157-1 | Brazil | CD | 1999 | |
2:08 | Against The Grain | Brazil | CD | 1999 | ||
2:06 | All Ages | 483563 4 | Thailand | MC | 1996 | |
2:06 | All Ages | 1221 | Poland | MC | 1996 | |
2:08 | Against The Grain | E-86409-4 | Poland | MC | 1996 | |
2:06 | All Ages | Taiwan | CD | 1996 | ||
2:06 | All Ages | n/a | Malaysia | MC | 1995 | |
2:06 | All Ages | 86443-4 | United States | MC | 1995 | |
2:06 | All Ages | United States | 12" | 1995 | ||
2:06 | All Ages | 86443-2 | United States | CD | 1995 | |
2:06 | All Ages | Japan | CD | 1995 | ||
2:06 | All Ages | Europe | CD | 1995 | ||
2:06 | All Ages | EP 86443 | United States | 12" | 1995 | |
2:08 | Against The Grain | ESCA-6141 | Japan | CD | 1995 | |
2:06 | All Ages | Indonesia | MC | 1995 | ||
2:06 | All Ages | ESCA 6405 STEREO | 483563 4 | Philippines | MC | 1995 | |
2:06 | All Ages | Russia | MC | 1995 | ||
2:06 | All Ages | 86443 | Europe | MC | 1995 | |
2:06 | All Ages | Russia | MC | 1995 | ||
2:06 | All Ages | Yugoslavia | MC | 1995 | ||
2:06 | All Ages | Bulgaria | MC | 1995 | ||
2:06 | All Ages | OXX 1173-1 | Brazil | CD | 1995 | |
2:06 | All Ages | Philippines | CD | 1995 | ||
2:06 | All Ages | Bulgaria | CD | 1995 | ||
2:06 | All Ages | Russia | CD | 1995 | ||
2:06 | All Ages | 86443-2 | Australia | CD | 1995 | |
2:08 | Against The Grain | United States | 12" | 1994 | ||
2:08 | Against The Grain | United States | CD | 1991 | ||
2:08 | Against The Grain | E-86409-4 | United States | MC | 1990 | |
2:08 | Against The Grain | E-86409-1 | United States | 12" | 1990 | |
2:08 | Against The Grain | United States | 12" | 1990 | ||
2:08 | Against The Grain | E-86409-2 | United States | CD | 1990 | |
2:08 | Against The Grain | South Korea | CD | 1990 | ||
2:08 | Against The Grain | United States | CD | 1990 | ||
2:08 | Against The Grain | 6409-2 | Europe | CD | 1990 | |
2:08 | Against The Grain | E-86409 | United States | 12" | 1990 | |
2:08 | Against The Grain | Russia | MC | 1990 | ||
2:08 | Against The Grain | MG 2200 | Poland | MC | 1990 | |
2:08 | Against The Grain | Brazil | CD | 1990 | ||
Cover By Ted Leo | ||||||
Germs Of Perfection: A Tribute To Bad Religion | United States | DL | 2010 | |||
Remastered | ||||||
2:08 | Against The Grain | Europe | 12" | 2023 | ||
2:08 | Against The Grain | United States | CD | 2016 | ||
2:08 | Against The Grain | United States | CD | 2010 | ||
2:08 | Against The Grain | United States | MC | 2004 | ||
2:08 | Against The Grain | United States | CD | 2004 | ||
2:08 | Against The Grain | Europe | CD | 2004 | ||
2:08 | Against The Grain | Australia | CD | 2004 | ||
2:08 | Against The Grain | Thailand | MC | 2004 | ||
2:08 | Against The Grain | 86703-2 | Europe | CD | 2004 | |
2:08 | Against The Grain | 86703-2 | Israel | CD | 2004 | |
2:08 | Against The Grain | Russia | CD | 2004 | ||
2:08 | Against The Grain | Russia | CD | 1990 | ||
Not specified | ||||||
Against the Grain / Recipe for Hate | BYCD-019 | South Korea | CD | 1997 | ||
2:06 | All Ages | Russia | MC | 1995 |
randomperson
Guest
![]() ![]() Location: Global Citizen |
I feel this song is, like the title states, about going "against the grain" of modern culture and the materialism we face everyday. It's about feeling alone in a sea of conformity, but hanging in there anyway. And when I first heard the line about "three thousand miles of wilderness" somehow it made me think of Henry David Thoreau. Reviewing the lyrics, this song probably wasn't written with him in mind but he would probably like and identify with it anyway. Because people thought he was crazy and strange, he got arrested for tax evasion (going against the government) and stuff, but through it all he maintained his course of staying out of the mainstream and going against what everyone else was doing.
08/17/2005 at 03:54
I feel this song is, like the title states, about going "against the grain" of modern culture and the materialism we face everyday. It's about feeling alone in a sea of conformity, but hanging in there anyway. And when I first heard the line about "three thousand miles of wilderness" somehow it made me think of Henry David Thoreau. Reviewing the lyrics, this song probably wasn't written with him in mind but he would probably like and identify with it anyway. Because people thought he was crazy and strange, he got arrested for tax evasion (going against the government) and stuff, but through it all he maintained his course of staying out of the mainstream and going against what everyone else was doing.
|
Guitarace_71
Guest
![]() ![]() Location: Global Citizen |
The initial message is to go your own way, or against Society, represented as 'The Grain'. But, as pop-culture today has shown us, being uncool-is cool. Punk fashions, as well as music has come into the 'Mainstream' that most Punks fear. In going 'Against the Grain', we must be careful. In our pursuit of non-conformity, we must search for the intelligible path, rather than just 'being different'. Looks are nothing, acts are something, but knowledge-is power.
07/11/2004 at 12:13
The initial message is to go your own way, or against Society, represented as 'The Grain'. But, as pop-culture today has shown us, being uncool-is cool. Punk fashions, as well as music has come into the 'Mainstream' that most Punks fear. In going 'Against the Grain', we must be careful. In our pursuit of non-conformity, we must search for the intelligible path, rather than just 'being different'. Looks are nothing, acts are something, but knowledge-is power.
|
Nichsnutz722
Guest
![]() ![]() Location: Global Citizen |
I think that there is something important to consider that this is not only a title of a given track, but the title of the album as well. This song (to me) is the culmination. And the general text of this album has a lot to do with the evolution of the planet, and its most evolved creature (Homo Sapien Sapien). Although I think that it is an accurate supposition that Graffin is standing against conformity, (on an even larger scale) he is standing against evolution, or the grain, and that into which modern man has evolved. Also, I don't think that it is any coincidence that 'modern man' is the first track- it sets the tone of the album.
07/11/2004 at 12:12
I think that there is something important to consider that this is not only a title of a given track, but the title of the album as well. This song (to me) is the culmination. And the general text of this album has a lot to do with the evolution of the planet, and its most evolved creature (Homo Sapien Sapien). Although I think that it is an accurate supposition that Graffin is standing against conformity, (on an even larger scale) he is standing against evolution, or the grain, and that into which modern man has evolved. Also, I don't think that it is any coincidence that 'modern man' is the first track- it sets the tone of the album.
|
Drew
Guest
![]() ![]() Location: Global Citizen |
I think that against the grain means not going with the flow. But I don't think the song means go against the grain just for the sake of going against the grain. I think what Bad Religion was trying to say is do what you think is right even if it means swimming upstream. But if what you think is right means going with the grain than do it.
07/11/2004 at 12:12
I think that against the grain means not going with the flow. But I don't think the song means go against the grain just for the sake of going against the grain. I think what Bad Religion was trying to say is do what you think is right even if it means swimming upstream. But if what you think is right means going with the grain than do it.
|
Juanse
Guest
![]() ![]() Location: Global Citizen |
It's about gaining knowledge. Always trying to think and stop being conformist and you now think and question and improve. He says that this is the world and that he is going against the grain cause he's not a conformist, he tries to be better and trying to improve as a person.
07/11/2004 at 12:12
It's about gaining knowledge. Always trying to think and stop being conformist and you now think and question and improve. He says that this is the world and that he is going against the grain cause he's not a conformist, he tries to be better and trying to improve as a person.
|
Todd Crafton
Guest
![]() ![]() Location: Global Citizen |
Against the grain means against the trends. But, in going against the trends, you are setting a trend. It is paradoxical. It is evident that in order to create change from a trend, one must be created. Punks are about creating a trend that benefits all and secludes none, the opposite of most trends now-a-days.
07/11/2004 at 12:12
Against the grain means against the trends. But, in going against the trends, you are setting a trend. It is paradoxical. It is evident that in order to create change from a trend, one must be created. Punks are about creating a trend that benefits all and secludes none, the opposite of most trends now-a-days.
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