Finally, Part I has arrived! We countdown the best Bad Religion songs ever and let you know the album and year it was released and a short comment as to why it made the list. Without further ado:
#50. "Delirium of Disorder"-SUFFER (1988): Suffer is one of my favorite albums ever and I can still listen to it from beginning to end without hesitation. However, for a while, the one song that I hated was this one because of the introduction as someone with a robotic, Satanic voice would very suddenly say the phrase "DELIRIUM OF DISORDER." That used to scare me every single time the first several times I would listen to this album. Eventually it won me over because it is a typical fast-paced Bad Religion song that blasts into your ears.
As with a lot of Bad Religion songs, if your vocabulary is limited, you will have to bust out the dictionary to look up words. This song in particular, as with a lot of Bad Religion songs, mocks the idea of people thinking that they have a significant reason for existing besides mere survival.
Quote--"Chaos is the score upon which reality is written."
#49. "Them and Us"--THE GRAY RACE (1996): Song was part of the soundtrack for the video game Crazy Taxi and helped a lot of people become Bad Religion fans undoubtedly.
The song deals with race (appropriately enough for an album called The Gray Race) and how foolish it is to divide people into groups and categories because in the end we are all the same. However, the song does acknowledge that humans, through psychological and social structures, cannot help but to create these differences--differences that are so rigid, which ultimately leads to this "Them and Us" mentality.
Quote--"Hate is a simple manifestation of the deep-seated, self-directed frustration. All it does is promote fear and consternation."
#48. "It Must Look Pretty Appealing"--NO CONTROL (1989): This album was the first Bad Religion CD I ever bought and pretty much was the gateway for the rest of the band's work.
This song in particular focuses on the theme of introspection, almost encouraging an individual to question their comfortable, but routine, day-to-day life. Greg Graffin's voice almost dares the listener to change their boring life, but he ridicules and teases the listener throughout the song, knowing very well that the individual will continue to lead a dull existence in reverie.
Quote--"You're too scared of other people not like you"
#47. "Anesthesia"--AGAINST THE GRAIN (1990): Many fans have stated that the first verse of this song was about the Charles Manson murders and it might be, as Bad Religion is known to find witty ways to reference events. The lyrics and the fact that Brett Gurewitz wrote the song, might be autobiographical in nature as Mr. Brett has had problems with drugs and the song is littered with vague drug references, especially heroin. A good example of how the band uses double meanings in their lyrics.
Quote--"I've been hanging out here, for eleven long years, like a church mouse wondering where the cat has gone."
#46. "Bored and Extremely Dangerous"--THE PROCESS OF BELIEF (2002): I always thought that this track was in some way connected to the song "Broken" in that same album. Where "Broken" ends in an optimistic note for a couple of teens, the perceived young person (or persons) in "Bored" is not so lucky and is constantly crying for help, compassion, and understanding. The individual in the song will even resort to violence (whether harming themselves, others, or both) if not given the proper attention they so desperately need.
The alarm clock and telephone ringing in the middle of the song is creepy as if to say "time's up"---appropriate for an isolated teen in high school who loathes having to go to class to be judged, persecuted, and bullied or the adult who lives a meaningless life and does his real living in his dreams every night only to be interrupted by the daily grind that is his day-to-day life.
Ironically, as the song ends and Greg Graffin cries for someone to "Listen to me," one will notice that the vocals go from being plea-like to hopeful, suggesting optimism for those that need such charity.
Quote--"Yeah, sure I might do harm and bear my right to arm."
Part II is available, here.....
Quote--"You're too scared of other people not like you"
#47. "Anesthesia"--AGAINST THE GRAIN (1990): Many fans have stated that the first verse of this song was about the Charles Manson murders and it might be, as Bad Religion is known to find witty ways to reference events. The lyrics and the fact that Brett Gurewitz wrote the song, might be autobiographical in nature as Mr. Brett has had problems with drugs and the song is littered with vague drug references, especially heroin. A good example of how the band uses double meanings in their lyrics.
Quote--"I've been hanging out here, for eleven long years, like a church mouse wondering where the cat has gone."
#46. "Bored and Extremely Dangerous"--THE PROCESS OF BELIEF (2002): I always thought that this track was in some way connected to the song "Broken" in that same album. Where "Broken" ends in an optimistic note for a couple of teens, the perceived young person (or persons) in "Bored" is not so lucky and is constantly crying for help, compassion, and understanding. The individual in the song will even resort to violence (whether harming themselves, others, or both) if not given the proper attention they so desperately need.
The alarm clock and telephone ringing in the middle of the song is creepy as if to say "time's up"---appropriate for an isolated teen in high school who loathes having to go to class to be judged, persecuted, and bullied or the adult who lives a meaningless life and does his real living in his dreams every night only to be interrupted by the daily grind that is his day-to-day life.
Ironically, as the song ends and Greg Graffin cries for someone to "Listen to me," one will notice that the vocals go from being plea-like to hopeful, suggesting optimism for those that need such charity.
Quote--"Yeah, sure I might do harm and bear my right to arm."
Part II is available, here.....
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