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?
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
Chorus:
One, 21 guns,
Lay down your arms, Give up the fight
One, 21 guns
Throw up your arms into the sky,
You and I
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
Your faith walks on broken glass
And the hangover doesn’t pass
Nothing’s ever built to last, You’re in ruins (Chorus)
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 (Chorus)
At first glance, such a song seems to be quite opposed to Christianity. Those who look for forgiveness (a crucial tenant of Christianity) are called liars. Yet on a more basic level, Green Day speaks honestly of what it means to be truly human and in doing so has coincidentally struck to the core of Christianity.
First, those who live by their own strength do not find life, but death and destruction (“Did you try to live on your when you burned down the house and home?”). Autonomy is a false hope, as St. Paul says, “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out” (Romans 7:18). Or as Jesus said, “Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Within the album as a whole, it could be said that the wreckage of the character, Christian’s life is cause by his struggle for independence.
And more clearly, Green Day sees death as the birth to love. In death, the barrier of self is extinguished to create love. (I love how how in the video the guy and girl stand estranged from each other. As he picks up the remote to turn the TV on, death invades and destroys the TV screen.) In the verses of the song describe a life that is marked by disappointment, loss, and despair. And yet in the ruins of life Green Day does not advocate trying harder and pressing on, but giving up the fight and dying — “one, twenty-one guns, throw up your arms, give up the fight”). Such a passivity in face of death is the confession: “There is no health in us.” This does not breed more despair but love — “one, twenty-one guns, throw up your arms into the sky – you and I.” In death one passively finds love.
Similarly, Christianity understands humanity as caught within the matrix of death as produced by sin and its servant, the law (1 Cor. 15:56). In the face of death, the solution is not to fix what is wrong (self-help, etc.) or find comfort in the supposed pleasures of life (fantasy football, iphone apps, a good book, being nice etc.) — all of which are projects of self-justification. Instead of fighting death, we passively accept death’s work as the just penalty we deserve. Paradoxically, this confession is the birth of faith in Christ’s death and resurrection. As St. Paul says, “through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:19-20).
COMMENTS
11 responses to “Green Day (again) – "21 Guns" and Christianity”
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Todd: great post! i enjoy this song, even more so after reading what you've written.
Your insight here is key and–I think–is the pulse of what is humanity's problem: pride. Pride whispers to us that there is something we can do and that "death" (apology, confesion of guilt, surrender, etc) would be/is shameful. The song certainly points to the opposite: in death there is no shame but love (as the couple reconciles and embraces). really great post, todd…i love it because it is so applicable on so many areas in life. And, it causes me to remember those moments in my walk with Christ that have gently (though they never felt gentle) reminded of this.
I have never heard a song by Green Day, but I love them because that's how Dick meets his girlfriend in HIGH FIDELITY — by talking about Green Day. Skinny Loser Dick is surely one of the great characters of all time from any movie.
Dick: In my opinion there are two bands that influenced Green Day…
Anna: The Clash!
Dick: [A subtle expression of surprised delight begins to cross Dick's face] Er, right. The other one, I think, is Stiff Little Fingers. Listen…
[Dick puts on a Stiff Little Fingers song]
Shopper: Is this the new Green Day song?
[Dick and Anna both giggle]
love your take on this, Todd. and that song is BEYOND catchy. i've had it on repeat all day.
Hearing it on the radio, I interpreted the "21 guns" line as a reference to a soldier's death (as in a 21 gun salute). Hence, I assumed the song was an anti-war song, like many of Green Day's recent efforts.
Am I way off here? What do you guys think?
On further review, the cover of the album clearly gives away the soldier connection. I think the lyircs are about a soldier/veteran attending the funeral of a fallen comrade and about the general despair facing soldiers when they return home.
I think Todd's interpretation still fits though, and I think that's one reason the song is so popular (in addition to how catchy it is!) We all identify with feelings of despair, meaningless, being at the end our proverbial ropes. Praise God for the gift of Christ!
Thanks for the post Todd.
hey colton, I hadn't considered the soldier interpretation before, though I probably should have given it a spin given Green Day's political reputation. But having gone back and looked at the album artwork and listened to the song, I'm not sure that it fits.
The general theme of the album surrounds two characters – "Gloria" and "Christian." Gloria is an idealist (Hence the song "Viva la Gloria") while Christian represents destructive revolt (see the song "Christian's inferno," "Horsehoes and Hangrenades"). References to fire and fighting come from Christian's voice of unrelenting destructive rebellion rather than an explicit connection to war and the army.
While much of the album speaks of Christian and Gloria's lives on the edge of a modern revolution, it is also a love story between the two. Hence the back cover of the album features two young lovers embracing while a city burns in the background. The music video itself features two estranged lovers and their eventual reconciliation. When they kiss, the lights dim to a spotlight and the camera spins to clearly demonstrate that this moment is the climax of the video, the song- and for that matter, the album as a whole. Had the army been in view, I would have expected army fatigues or other paraphernalia within the video.
I actually agree with both Todd and Colton. The immediate imagery is warfare (21 Gun salute, etc/) but the way the video plays out (and apparently the way the album is laid out) there is a bigger story here. Maybe drawing a correlation between warfare failing and love triumphing through surrender, apology, or, even, catching on the idea of "turning the other cheek" (i.e. not fighting back). Maybe both concepts are working simultaneously here. I don't think they have to be mutually exclusive.
Anyway, I've been thinking about this post. Really awesome, Todd.
hm… it very well could be that "Christian" and "Gloria" are representatives of larger social groups- with Christian representing hawkish right-wing Republicans and Gloria representing idealist left-wing democrats. Their reconciliation then is a vision of a unified america beyond partisan politics. Either way, the post still stands.
Colton is correct, the modern day soldier (i.e., American soldier in Iraq) on the cover is not a coincidence. The only reason they are using "21 guns" is because it's the salute you give at a soldier's funeral.
a little on the emo kid / goth / pacifist side, don't you think?
One, 21 guns
Lay down your arms, Give up the fight
One, 21 guns
Throw up your arms into the sky,
You and I
war
surrender
love
Makes sense. A song about powerlessness and surrender.
Personally, I prefer BeatCrave's summary of the music video –
"The video is your standard hot girl, hot boy, can’t get along and somehow end up making out while the band performs in their room in an alternate universe where feathers fall from the ceiling."
Definitely Christian alright.
After doing a lot of digging, here's a quote I found from Billie Joe:
"sometimes [the song "21 Guns"] can sound like surrendering to something, to your own demons… to give up, but it's just trying to find a moment of internal humanity"
So, the song isn't about giving up per-se but finding one's identity through love and surrender.
very intresting