Armageddon Days Are Here Again!
February 20, 2006 (9 Responses)
PICTURE THE SCENE. There I am on a nice Sunday afternoon, heading down to the local multiplex in my shiny new toy, listening to a long ago forgotten CD when suddenly the lyrics hit me, and I nearly crash into the car in front of me as I come to a stop at some traffic lights. I had just transferred a new selection of CDs into the car, stuck it on ‘random’ and then I came across “Armageddon Days (are here again)” from the album “Mind Bomb” by The The and my jaw dropped.
Keep in mind folks that the album and this song are 15 years old – and yet the lyrics on this song are so relevant to what is happening today, so absolutely accurate that the song could be considered a prophecy. I was so struck by the lyrics that I decided to reprint them here today, and draw some parallels to what is happening around us. Some of you will find this uncomfortable, possibly even objectionable – but the theme of this song is so accurate it’s frightening – so I ask you to take the extra 3 minutes you will need to read the rest of this post and then make your own mind up. I believe it will be worth it – but as ever, you will be the judge of that.
They’re 5 miles high
As the crow flies
Leavin’ vapour trails
Across a blood red sky
Movin’ in from the East
Towards the West
With balaclava helmets
Over their heads
YES!But if you think that Jesus Christ is coming
Honey, you’ve got another thing coming
If he ever finds out who’s hijacked his name
He’ll cut out his heart and turn in his graveIslam is rising
The Christians mobilising
The world is on it’s elbows and knees
It’s forgotten the message
And worships the creedsIt’s War” she cried
“It’s War” she cried
“This is War!”
Drop your possessions
All you simple folk
You will fight them on the beaches
in your underclothes
You will thank the good lord
For raising the Union Jack
You’ll watch the ships sail out of harbour
And the bodies come floating back
Watch the ships sail out of harbour
And the bodies come floating backIf the real Jesus Christ were to stand up today
He’d be gunned down cold by the C.I.A.
Oh, the lights that now burn brightest
Behind stained glass
Will cast the darkest shadows
Upon the human heart
But God didn’t build himself that throne
God doesn’t live in Israel or Rome
God doesn’t belong to the Yankee dollar
God doesn’t plant the bombs for Hezbollah
God doesn’t even go to church
And God won’t send us down to Allah to burn
God will remind us what we already know
That the human race is about to reap what it’s sownIslam is rising
The Christians mobilising
The world is on it’s elbows and knees
It’s forgotten the message
And worships the creeds
The world is on it’s elbows and knees
It’s forgotten the message
And worships the creedsArmageddon days are here again
Armageddon days are here again
Armageddon days are here again
Armageddon Days Are HERE!!!
15 Years Later – More Relevant Than Ever
Some of the references are obvious. The military conflict in the intro is a give away [Iraq, Afghanistan etc.], and we’ve had more than enough of those haven’t we? However it’s a central theme that should Jesus/Allah ever return and see what people are doing in his name – he would be repulsed and shocked to the core. So much for the second coming eh? Then it gets interesting… christians and islam mobilising against each other because they have forgotten the message and instead worship the creed. This sounding familiar to anyone yet? [Killing people over a cartoon FFS!!] It’s happening right now, in your town, in your country and across this planet of ours. We are being driven to hatred and division in the name of religions, in the name of creeds and no one seems to care anymore what the original and central messages of these belief systems were. What ever happened to peace and harmony?
Then they lyrics deal with the potential of a divine visitation, a second coming… which (pretty accurately I think) the song depicts would end in the appropriate deity being gunned down cold by the CIA. Anyone doubt this would happen? [CIA Rendition Flights, Gitmo, Domestic Spying in the USA etc] Nope – nor do I, and I’m agnostic!!
The lines that I love most about this song however are when it refers to “the lights that now burn brightest behind stained glass will cast the darkest shadows upon the human heart” Get it? Those in power, those in religious orders (doesn’t matter if it’s Islam, Christian or any other one), these people are directing these wars, this head long rush to conflict in the name of the Lord, in the name of Allah, in the name of Mohammad… but sure as hell not in our name. They are exerting control over people and directing them to defend a position, their position, in the false belief that it is defending the religions and the belief systems behind them.
Perhaps the most relevant lyrics however are about where God (whatever god you believe in) does not live here in this world… Not in Rome, Not in Israel, not even in Church. What is happening around us has nothing to do with Allah, nothing to do with Mohammad, and sure as hell nothing to do with any God. It’s us. Humanity doing to each other what we have always done – but we’re hijacking a God as a way of justifying it to others.
Time To Stop Hiding
It’s time to stop hiding behind religions and creeds people. Time to stop believing the misinformation and venom that your so-called leaders are feeding you with. What you do – you do in no ones name except your own, so take responsibility for it and stop hiding behind the illusion of truth. It’s time to realise that you are being herded like good little sheep towards your own destruction and our collective armageddon, and all for nothing but money and power – both of which you will never see.
This has nothing to do with which religion you belong to, or which God you pray to – because ultimately they are all the same. The problem is that everyone has forgotten the message, and now you just worship the creed as dictated by those in control, obligingly, blindly, and dutifully. Time to wake up people. Time to stop the insanity and see each other for what we are.
I like your post but don’t see anything amazing about the lyrics. They were written during the Gulf Conflict in 1990 after Iraq tried to grab Kuwait after the long and bitter conflict they had with Iran. Todays miltary action in the Gulf region makes the lyrics pertinent but hardly prophetic.
Good song, although I think Utenzi has a point. In fact, I believe someone could have penned this song just about anytime during the last 2000 years and it would have fit nicely. Still, it is a good song that sums up the whole sorrid affair.
People say that Nostra-dumbass fella was good with the predictions. Maybe that’s where this one was rooted.
Great post!
I guess the point I was trying to make (unsuccessfully) is that the central theme of this song and these lyrics is about forgetting the message and worshiping the creed instead. When we start killing people over cartoons I personally think it’s gone too far. I believe that things have become worse in the last 20 years. I think that it’s out of control and it’s that way because we have let it happen.
Blinkered and blind obedience to any given creed is a problem in my humble opinion. No religion should be exclusive. No position untenable.
As youngsters, having religion beaten into us at school, we were always told that God created man in his own image.
Wrong way round, actually. The fact is, man created God in his own image, (and I do mean HIS; how many religions treat women as equals?), hence the problem.
The more I see this superstitious nonsense stuffing up the world, the more I’m becoming a radical, fundamentalist atheist.
Time to launch an unholy war.
Actually, this album was released in 1989 so the lyrics were probably written in 1988. The Persian Gulf War (Desert Storm) started in 1991, so I think more credit is due to The The. Great song, great lyrics, great foresight, and great message.
I had been thinking of this song for days when I finally did a search for the lyric and any relevant commentary, recent notes preferred. Your post is one that made me feel that momentary spark of not being alone in a very simple but important thought process (one which many would not make but surely many in England would, as The The’s popularity stateside was sorely left to Cult following- [opinion]). Thanks for backing up what was already in my head after that lyric got stuck recently in my cranium.
Chris D’Asta
Nanolabs Multimedia
Chris – thanks for the comment. It’s nice to know I’m not the only one thinking along those lines
I found this via Google after revisiting this album for the first time in 15 years.
It’s a great song, starting with the theological “Barroom Blitz” intro.
[...] it’s definitely thought provoking. Some people think that it’s very germane to today’s situation, and to be frank, I have to agree. I do [...]