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The Defense
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08/18/2013 at 17:43
greg said this song is about chess here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVqvE6Mt2JI
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03/06/2011 at 10:19
Brett recently said on his Twitter:
In response to: vna000 Vitor Nunes Amoroso @bayjentley @BrettGurewitz @DoctorGraffin @GregHetson @brookswackerman Is it true that 'The Defense' is about chess game? BrettGurewitz Brett Gurewitz @ @vna000 yes it's true |
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04/26/2010 at 19:27
The Ronald Reagan interpretation might be right but I think it could be about 9/11.
The second line reminds of "simulating tyranny under red alert" from inner logic, the government makes people feel scared, in this case to start a war. The third line it's about media exploiting. The 4th line might refer to the fact that the pentagon was part of the attempt. Pre-chorus starts saying that what media and people make you think it's rarely what it is and in a world so full of suffering and lies it's hard to enjoy your life. At last he says that this won't change because it's convenient for the government to be like this. The chorus explains that we really can't trust anyone, it's hard to find someone trustworthy. Only we can do is try to see beyond we are told (trace the mortal edge) to find that the only thing we can do is not resign to our ideas, try not to be affected by the madness of the world and construct a (sound) defense. The second verse starts saying how culture is consuming individuals and that you should be strong against that, the shadow of a doubt I think it refers to those who said that it was the government who caused the accident and that there's got to be a way to overcome this reality. The second pre-chorus just says that he also suffers all this madness, he's not immune to depression. The patching the cracks may also mean to make the story look real as an excuse to start invading. The last chorus sais again that you can't really know who you can't trust. In the end he says he wants to escape from all of this. Finally not sure about the matters that are black and white but maybe he seeks initiatives in that because everything about that is thought as black and white. |
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07/06/2005 at 14:18
My reason for thinking this is that Greg has said explicitly in concerts I've attended that the song is about Ronald Reagan.
The chorus speaks of what was Reagan's tendency to exaggerate the dangers posed by the Soviets as far as their nuclear capability. "This world is perilous for us." The "struggle," of course, is the Cold War, which Reagan was more determined to decisively win than any of his predecessors since LBJ. "So I'll contruct a sound defense!" might well be a reference to Reagan's lame-brained idea for a space-based missile defense system that he thought might make American invincible. "We are the prey, and culture is the predator." Reagan, and other neoconservatives, despised the culture that had arisen from the rebelliousness of the 60's and 70's, particularly with its openness about sexuality. "Shadows of a doubt cast reluctance and depravity." Reagan felt that the moral fiber of the country was breaking apart, causing us to succumb to amorality (sexuality) and lack of faith in ourselves (after our failure to win in Vietnam). "And your mother's in the kitchen, where she's patching all the cracks in the wall." I think this is a reference to the Berlin Wall, symbolic of the Cold War in general. A mother in a kitchen is a symbol for traditional values that Reagan cherished... which were effectively perpetuating the Cold War in that Reagan's hard-line stance towards the USSR ran the risk of undoing the progress that had been made by his more dovish predecessors (Carter and Nixon in particular). The entire finale, I think, speaks for itself. Particularly the line, "I'll seek initiative in matters that are black and white," which refers to Reagan's tendency to view the world in very simplistic terms... good (the United States) versus evil (Communism). |
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11/11/2004 at 18:33
The main theme of this song is how society tears away at our individuality and creativity and seeks to suck us in to the mundane, banal, and even harmful norm. We must be strong and create a defense and not cave in. "We are the prey and culture is the predator". If you don't want to be consumed by mass, corporate, consumer culture, prepare yourself to be mentally strong. This theme is also well developed in the song "Tested".
The more figurative section regarding the signpost, the shade, and the mother - in my opinion - return to the main BR theme of familiarity and the comfort it brings. Or more precisely, the discomforting and disorienting effects of our ever-changing modern reality. The signpost, shade, and mother evoke images of perhaps your neighborhood growing up, your family, the familiar and safe (in a good way). "We never had a care in the world." |
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09/08/2004 at 02:39
This song is mostly about BR and punk. Punk as a defense, which is a totally new concept. Punk was supposed to be an attack against society. Now it can only be a kind of sanity defense against modern-day incongruence, corruption and the contradictory messages that flood our postmodern world.
Sanity can only lie in music, for traditional speach has been totally corrupted. |
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07/17/2004 at 12:30
The defense is about the government and how they watch over you and how no one has the balls to construct a smart way of telling them off and trying to get our rights.
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07/17/2004 at 12:29
I guess "the signpost on the corner" refers to the statue of liberty, and "it's keeping everybody safe" because it is supposedly a symbol of freedom, almost like a personal assurance. The mother refers to either the president or the federal government in general, and patching all the cracks in the wall means dealing with foreign relations.
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07/17/2004 at 12:29
To my firm opinion, this song points out the dead-end that our world has reached. People don't have an opportunity to fulfill their dreams, and this leads them to madness and despondency. Today, in a 'perilous' world, it isn't even beautiful to be alive ('yeah! right..). But the only option left for us is to fight against this situation. Bad Religion fight against it with their songs. This is their 'sound defense'.
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