A 21 GUN SALUTE TO GREEN DAY'S 21 GUNS

21 Guns by Greenday

It's a song I fell in love with the first time I heard it on radio. But I didn't know who sang it though they sounded kinda familiar. Ya I know, I know. How can I not know it's Greenday right? At first I thought it was entitled "Built to Last". My God! haha...

Anyway, this is actually one really meaningful song.

Greenday and in fact, Good Charlotte and Simple Plan are bands that right good lyrics about the soul.

I actually don't really get the lyrics at first. In my mind, I'm feeling that the song is about war and peace that sort of thing. Something like Good Charlotte's 'We Believe', but then I wasn't really sure. So I went online to confirm my interpretation of the song. Well actually, I don't have to because lyrical expressions are subjective but then again, I just want to know what others' take on this song is.

There are apparently a few different interpretations on this song. Well, I'm just going to share mine. Basically, there are 2 ways to interpret it - through the eyes of a depressed soul or through the eyes of a soldier at war.

Do you know what's worth fighting for?
When it's not worth dying for?
Does it take your breath away
And you feel yourself suffocating?

I've watched a lot of war movies and though they are all about ammos and guns and action and killings of people, most of these movies carry one theme - the sanity in war; what's right and wrong in war.

The first verse of 21 Guns opens with a soul-searching question. Do you know what is worth-while doing in your life? I mean, you don't even need to relate it to war. Life in general. Is what you are doing everyday worth doing? In the end, what are we living for? Sometimes, when you question something you do in life, especially on your own actions and what's right and wrong, it becomes painful and a suffocating experience. It's like you just get so tired you don't want to go through with it anymore. You don't know if what you are doing is right or not. I've been through that feeling...it was not a great feeling at all. It spins me dizzy thinking about life. But I can't not think about it.

But with war, it becomes an even more surreal question. Because you are risking your life and also taking some other people's life. Everything you do, every step you take is a decision that comes with major consequences. I think the lyrics follow the story of a soldier going through a war. At first, you feel alive because your out for a mission to fight for your country. But I guess once you go through the war process and have seen the number of deaths surrounding you everyday, you'll really question the sanity of war and whether it's worth doing the things you do. Like killing other soldiers. What makes them deserve to die more than you do? They are also protecting their country like you are. They also are fighting for their lives, just like you. War is never ending....

Does the pain weigh out the pride?
And you look for a place to hide?
Did someone break your heart inside?
You're in ruins

In life there are good and bad times. Sadly, most of the times the bad (pain) outweighs the good...And, you just want to run away and hide. Then there's the heartbreaking experiences. When you've been hurt by people...sad sad sad...I realized that we tend to remember the saddest times in our lives more than the happy times. Why is that? I also don't know.

I guess for a soldier, that moment of glory or pride you have in winning a particular battle is a short-lived moment before the pain sinks in again. What's worth celebrating becomes something that is not anymore because people are still dying around you and you continue guessing when will your clock stop ticking. You win one battle but you'd start thinking about the next and the fate that awaits you.

One, 21 guns
Lay down your arms, give up the fight
One, 21 guns
Throw up your arms into the sky, you and I

According to someone on the Net, "The 21 gun salute is the highest honor one can receive upon burial, usually in a military context."

Well that makes a lot of sense. The chorus asked us to start laying down our arms - STOP WAR! I mean, we can pay our respect to all the soldiers who died fighting, but seriously, is the war worth dying for? Can we make their sacrifice worthy? If they die and the war end, at least we can say that their sacrifices had made a change. But seriously, so many soldiers killed and the war still goes on. We owe these soldiers too much because they really die in vain - for nothing. In BM - "mati katak".

Throw your arms into the sky - surrender to love and give up war! I think I can only imagine the cruelty of war. I think the pictures and video clips showing the victims are nothing if compared to the harsh reality of being a war victim. We see the famine, the people crying and bombed...then what? I admit...I'm not even doing anything about it. It's sad but really...I don't know what to do. People are always selfish and I'm selfish. But songs like this makes us ponder things and maybe get someone to start doing something about war.

For a person who is depressed, I think the chorus is really telling the person to let go of the sad things and start again in life. Surrender to love and to the positive things in life. I mean I guess there are depressing times but really, we have to learn to move on again. It's hard but it has to be done.

When you're at the end of the road
And you lost all sense of control
And your thoughts have taken their toll
When your mind breaks the spirit of your soul

Recently, I was going through a tough period in life where I felt that I suddenly lost direction in life because I just don't know what I want to do with my life anymore. I set goals but suddenly I felt that these goals are unreachable. This verse described aptly my feelings at that period. Though I realized that my problem isn't really that big (though for me, it was) if compared to others who are having even worst problems than me, I really felt like I had no control over my life and I was thinking about what I'm doing, about life and the decisions that I have to make...my God. It was really terrible. I feel that I'm so wrong and I feel so useless....and in someways I really lost my spirit and motivation to move on and do things. Yes, and it feels like things won't get better at all and you really feel like giving up. No better words can describe how I feel than this verse here.

I guess for a soldier at war, they will feel this feeling almost every single day of their lives but yet they still have to go on. I bet many of them feel like dying and just giving up because honestly, how can you actually feel good about war and killing?

For me, it was 2 months of sorrow and I'm glad now that I do see a bit of hope. A bit...lolx. I'm happy that things have taken a turn for me. I can choose a different path and follow my dreams. I don't know if it is that easy for a soldier at war.

Your faith walks on broken glass
And the hangover doesn't pass
Nothing's ever built to last
You're in ruins

Usually, when you are feeling so low, you lose hope - you lose faith. You don't believe in the positive anymore. You feel that the worst will never end - the hangover doesn't pass. The feeling of suffocation, sorrow seems to be there and not releasing you. For some, you might turn to drugs or alcohol - to give you that boost, to get yourself feeling 'high', to for a moment, get away from the problems. But before you know it, you're in too deep. Seriously, drugs & alcohol - not a solution.

Like the song say. Nothing's ever built to last. (Well except the Great Wall of China?) Problems and sadness are all temporary. Even happiness is temporary. Nothing is forever. That's the sad truth, but it's also a good thing. Things are constantly evolving and I truly believe that we only have certain dark days before we are greeted by sunshine again. Sometimes it might be a long wait, but well, I guess I try to choose to believe that nothing is permanent. I guess most of the times, that's really what pulls me through. This is also one advice my dad gave me.

Did you try to live on your own
When you burned down the house and home?
Did you stand too close to the fire
Like a liar looking for forgiveness from a stone?

When it's time to live and let die
And you can't get another try
Something inside this heart has died
You're in ruins

I'm a bit clueless about this verse but I'm guessing that it means that sometimes, you just want to be alone and get away from everything by destroying everything that's now around you. It's like, when you're alone, you don't need to thing about so many things - like the consequences of your actions on others, like how you'd hurt others etc. Then you realized the mistakes that you've done, the people you've hurt after thinking through things. You beg for forgiveness but it could be too late.

Then I read a comment from someone else. The writer interprets the soldier burning down someone else's home. Then standing close to the fire, made him guilty and he begs for forgiveness for doing the murder. Once you kill, you'll never be clean. You don't get another try; you can't redeem yourself once you killed someone. It's etched in your blood. That's when guilt overcome you and you die inside of you. You just can't live with the guilt or you try to live with the guilt. 'Guilt' - one of the hardest thing to live with. Seriously, if you can't go through it, it's like you're soulless. A living zombie.