Blood Red, White & Blue

I should probably mention that one of my favorite bands is Rise Against. These guys are pretty awesome, and definitely have some pretty strong opinions about the government and the way people are. So, I suppose I should state now that I have a good intent to make many posts regarding the subject matters of their songs.

SO LET'S GET STARTED SHALL WE?

This little ditty is my favorite song off of their second album, Revolutions Per Minute, which was released in 2003. I strongly recommend that you give a listen before I begin talking about it.

Alright, so, Blood Red, White & Blue is a pretty straightforward punk song, and if you didn't catch most of the lyrics they can be found here. I believe that in this song Rise Against paints a picture of an upstarted rebellion and the eventual failure of it. The song first depicts an interrogation of a possible leader or member of the rebellion that simply won't break under the power of his interrogators (the government). He is given drugs and beaten in order to relinquish information, but he stays quiet and unbroken. After this, the first battle of the war begins in which the rebels are attacked and realize how "outnumbered and uncautioned" they are, and they lose the battle. A member of the rebellion realizes that his friends have lost hope in the cause after the battle and gives a speech to the revolters in order to inspire confidence within them. He says that they should "pride [themselves] on what [they] are" (which is a call out to the pride of the enemy) and hold the government to words they can't take back (which I believe is a reference to the constitution). He then gives a picture of a utopia that comes to him "in dreams, where fires die, but light still shines for [them] to see". After this rallying speech, the rebels succeed in reaching the leaders of the government, and instead of killing them; the revolters begin to question them. They ask for their "logic" in what they do, and the government responds with "twisted words that justify their position". The rebels tried to solve things peacefully, but the government decided that "every problem must be solved with a fight". Some of the rebels are then captured and killed while others escape. The escapees realize then that "peace won't be found, till [they're] underground" and they realize that they can only live if they do so "without a sound". They live for years in this dystopian society until they hate nearly everything about it, even the most cliché phrase, "God Bless America". They begin to ask themselves if God would bless the murder of the innocents (their fellow peaceful rebels), a war based on pride (the government's pride fueled their want to kill the rebels), a money-hungry government, ineffective court system and sweatshops. All of which, God obviously would not bless. It is true that our government gives us the freedom to be able to question their actions, but this song basically saying that if you do question their actions publicly and peacefully you will be condemned for your choice to do so. 

Maybe I'm just reading too far into this, but I think this sounds pretty neat.