50 GREATEST BAD RELIGION SONGS EVER: Part IV

Chicago are you ready for @badreligion ?
— Greg Hetson (@GregHetson) April 5, 2013

Felipe M

Admittedly, we've done a terrible job in updating our music portion of this site.  We even abandoned the Bad Religion project that was supposed to list the Top 50 Songs of all time by the band.  

So in honor of Bad Religion playing tonight in Chicago (with Polar Bear Club and whatever 3rd band they were able to find.  Last I checked it was The Bronx), we will list the next songs on the list without explanations or personal thoughts:

No.	Song	Album	Year	Writer
21	Sanity	No Control	1989	Gurewitz
22	Cyanide	The Dissent of Man	2010	Gurewitz
23	Kerosene	Recipe for Hate	1993	Gurewitz
24	Better Off Dead	Stranger than Fiction	1994	Gurewitz
25	Prodigal Son	New Maps of Hell	2007	Gurewitz
26	Pity	How Could Hell Be Any Worse?	1981	Graffin
27	Live Again-The Fall of Man	The Empire Strikes First	2004	Graffin
28	Hooray for Me	Stranger than Fiction	1994	Gurewitz
29	Only Rain	The Dissent of Man	2010	Gurewitz
30	Yesterday	Back to the Known	1985	Graffin
31	I Want to Conquer the World	No Control	1989	Gurewitz
32	Infected	Stranger than Fiction	1994	Gurewitz
33	New Dark Ages	New Maps of Hell	2007	Gurewitz
34	Heaven is Falling	Generator	1992	Gurewitz
35	Walk Away	Against the Grain	1990	Gurewitz

  
Go look them up!

What I will do is just quickly point out my favorite lyrics of the songs that were listed and try turn them into easy-to-use quotes to show off to your friends and family.  So here we go: 

• "Walk Away": "Listen well to what I say; now there comes a time for a man to walk away."
• "Heaven is Falling": "God I want to be a man, but I don't want to die with a rifle in my hand."
• "New Dark Ages": "Beyond all hope of light...A pall of truth and reason."
• "Infected": "You and me were made in heaven.  I want to take, break, and supplicate you with thorny roses."
• "I Want to Conquer the World": "Hey brother christian, with your high and mighty errand!  Your actions speak so loud, I can't hear a word you're saying."
• "Yesterday": Yesterday: the good old days, the way we used to play, it just got worse and worse, and the future's been rehearsed."
• "Only Rain": Hey scientist, please save us because your counterpart in the magic art is manufacturing judgment day."
• "Hooray for Me": "Can you imagine, for a second, doing anything just because you want to?  Well, that's just what I do so hooray for me!"
• "Live Again--The Fall of Man": "What good is something if you can't have it until you die?"
• "Pity": "I pity the billions of people, masses of aggression, and future centuries to come."
• "Prodigal Son": "When you least expect it he's going to run like the blood-red path of the western sun."
• "Better off Dead": "If you're looking for a patsy, why not try the entire human race?"
• "Kerosene": "Exposure is a pitiful and pointless way of dying, but before it gets me I'll build a funeral pyre."
• "Cyanide": "Well, there's no place left to hide from the loneliness inside and missing you is like kissing cyanide."
• "Sanity": "It doesn't really matter what I'm figuring out.  I'm guaranteed to wind up in a state of doubt."

Will probably disclose the top 20 after I watch tonight's show.  That is to say, if I can make it to tonight's show as I'm severely sick today, but will try anyway.  Hope everybody has a good time.

The rest of the Bad Religion songs are listed here.

To check out the rest of our music page, click here. 

50 GREATEST BAD RELIGION SONGS EVER: Part III

Felipe M. 

Moving along with the list:

#40.  "Cease"-- THE GRAY RACE (1996): First time I heard this song, it was on the live DVD LIVE AT THE PALLADIUM where lead singer Greg Graffin sings a solo version on piano.  The same version could be heard on Graffin's 1997 solo album American Lesion.  The argument could be made that Greg's version might be better than the band's electric version.  

This is yet another song that plays with the theme of inevitable mortality of mankind.  

Quote--"What pretension, everlasting peace--everything must cease."

#39.  "Doin' Time"-- HOW COULD HELL BE ANY WORSE? (1981): Final song of the original release of their first full length album.  Even as young adults, Bad Religion had their ideals intact.  Just like "Cease," this song also mocks the idea of man's notion of a higher purpose in tangible life and questions the idea of eternal life.

The real treat of this early 1980s hardcore song is near the end where the bass and guitar solo mesh perfectly with each other and takes the listener to some gritty, underground that brings you chills.  All of this climaxes with Greg's voice as he screams "Salvation!"

Quote--"Don't tell me what's wrong or right!  You're losing sight.  You're just going to die anyway!"

#38.  "All There Is"--THE EMPIRE STRIKES FIRST (2004): One of the more popular songs on college radio when the album was released, this song brings back good memories.  This song is also played live on LIVE AT THE PALLADIUM and sometimes makes its way on to current live sets.

The song is more question than answers as the song, once again, questions religion and divinity as the end all reason for existence as Graffin is constantly asking "can that be all there is?"  

Quote--"The walking wounded in a pageant of contenders who balance on a rail of pain for just a pail of rain."

#37.  "Suffer"--SUFFER (1988): This song is still played live as fans go crazy when the introduction is played.  

The song is a cry for the power elite of society to look at the suffering they have produced to the rest of "the masses of humanity."  No matter what time period in man's history, this song is appropriate how so many people work for the right of a few to remain part of the dominant population.  

For prime examples on how this song is appropriate to current events, click here.  For a song that explores the same subject matter, listen to Thrice's "Cold Cash and Colder Hearts" which is a first person perspective on how the power elite look at 90% of the Earth's human population.  Thrice's "Don't Tell and We Won't Ask" from the same album, THE ARTIST IN THE AMBULANCE, finishes that album with the same plea to the power elite to open up their eyes and see how their actions to get richer affects the rest of the world in a negative way.  Thrice and many bands just like them further prove the massive influence that Bad Religion has had on the current punk/hardcore scene.

Quote--"This deformed society is part of the design.  It'll never go away, it's in the cards that way..."

#36.  "Dearly Beloved"--NEW MAPS OF HELL (2007): This is a difficult song to pinpoint its meaning as it could be decipher in so many ways.  However, at its broadest and most vague, perhaps the song is about turning your back on conformity and the resulting consequences it bestows on the individual who wants to follow their own path, such as ridicule and isolation. 

Quote--"Dearly Beloved, make no mistake, despite our traits I've seldom seen.  I can't relate to you."

Part IV of the list can be viewed here. 

About Me:

Current Favorite Show: Catching up on BREAKING BAD.  It's been awhile since a drama could move me like this.  Regretfully, I wish I could catch up on THE WIRE.

Currently Listening To: CRACK THE SKYE by Mastodon.  I didn't really like it. Strange since I recently enjoyed listening to Coheed and Cambria.

Currently Watching: Rockies vs Cardinals--Hoping Fernando Salas gets a chance for the save and get me the 10 points I need to win my fantasy game this week.

Currently Finished Reading: THE POSTMAN by David Brin.  Cool story about survival in a post-apocalyptic world, but could be very preachy at times. 

50 GREATEST BAD RELIGION SONGS EVER: Part II

Felipe M.




We move on to songs 41-45 on our countdown of the top 50 Bad Religion songs of all time.  Let's keep this party going:


#45. "Supersonic"--THE PROCESS OF BELIEF (2002): This song just explodes right off the bat and never lets up.  The music definitely fits the title of this song.  And so do the lyrics if you take them literally, basically is a snapshot of modern society and the need to keep up the fast pace that is demanded of us.  When future societies look back at the early 21st century, they can look to this song for clues as to what it must have been like to live during this time.  


Despite the convenient things that this modern world has given us, very few are actually happy.  If that isn't the damndest paradox...


Quote--"What's time but a thing to kill or keep or buy or lose or live in?"


#44. "God's Love"--THE EMPIRE STRIKES FIRST (2004): First of all, the first time I saw this band live was on DVD, LIVE AT THE PALLADIUM as they were on the heels of releasing this album so naturally most of the songs that were played in that DVD were from EMPIRE.  So I might be a bit biased when I mention a lot of songs from this album.  But also keep in mind that this was released four years after releasing their last CD for major label Atlantic Records.  If PROCESS was a vehicle to foreshadow the direction this band would take for the rest of the band's existence theretofore, then EMPIRE is the album, through culminations in the band's sound and vocals, that would cement the band's status in the punk rock world as the premiere band in the genre.  Every song is simply awesome and every track is very distinct.  


But back to the song, I've always considered "God's Love" to be a satirical outlook on the idea of God and the hypocrisy that "His" followers live justifying all the doctrine-bending that they do to accomplish most of their goals.  While some of "His" followers flourish, many other followers live through endless suffering of, to quote a song from another of my favorite bands, Between the Buried and Me, "Disease, Injury, Madness."  Of course, the punchline to all of this is that all the suffering is just a way that God shows his love. 


QUOTE--"Where is the love?  In a careless creation, when there's no 'above.'"


#43. "The Devil in Stitches"--THE DISSENT OF MAN (2010): I've heard mixed reviews and interpretations about this album, but regardless of others' opinions this is one of the band's best work.  It's a mid-temp, melodic sound track that fully takes advantage of Greg's vocals and the lyrics will have you using your powers of deduction trying to figure out the meaning of this song.  


Brett Gurewitz gets the writing credit on this one, not surprising as his songs tend to be more personal and less political adding a dynamic to the band's work.  Unfortunately, this song has proven to be very perplexing as there is no real explanation and it might be chalked up to something personal that happened to the songwriter.  However, the fact that "White Devil" is mentioned leads to believe that the general consensus that this is a love song might be correct, but seeing that "White Devil" is a play about adultery also opens the door to many possibilities.  


Perhaps it's a love song about a couple meeting for the first time and falling in love, but the catch is that the woman is married (perhaps to a preacher?) and the rest of the song explains the two trying to get together and overcoming that marriage barrier.  If anybody else can give a better explanation, please feel free to express yourself.  


Quote--"Angels fall down without warning [with] cherry lipstick on their teeth and all dangerous curves."


#42. "Let Them Eat War"--THE EMPIRE STRIKES FIRST (2004): First time I heard this song was on the DVD LIVE AT THE PALLADIUM with the rap part being sung live by Tim McIlrath from Rise Against, which I thought was the coolest thing because that band was one of my favorites at that time.  Later I found out that Sage Francis is the one doing the rap part on the studio version, which makes it that much cooler.


So many meanings, but where to start?  One of the times where the band is very overt with their lyrics.  An anti-war song, it is a great point to start when having to figure out how the Military-Industrial Complex work.  There are private businesses whose success depends on wars.  There's a government that overspends for defense contracts, creates military conflicts with the rest of the world, and that government has a growing population of poor people with no real job opportunities to speak of.  How to solve all these issues?  Let's have a war!  


Quote--As the Government and Power Elite, "We've got to kill 'em and eat 'em before they reach for their checks"


#41. "Fuck Armageddon... This is Hell"--HOW COULD HELL BE ANY WORSE (1981)--This song is still played live and usually fans get really excited when listening to the intro.  


Self-explanatory song about minimizing the afterlife and the idea of going to hell for being a "bad" person on Earth.  The song explains the "countries [that] manufacture bombs and guns" and the "smog [that] is ruining my lungs" for the sake of "helping everyone" is the real hell--a hellish society that encourages us to kill our fellow man, that justifies destroying our world, and to  minimize the use of free will and to conform to mainstream religious doctrine.


Quote--"In the end the good will go to heaven up above, the bad will perish in the depths of hell.  [However], how can hell be any worse when life alone is such a curse?"


For Part III of this countdown, click here....  

50 GREATEST BAD RELIGION SONGS EVER: Part I

Felipe M.




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.....