any1 wanna tell me their opinion of this song

[thaq93]

Rise Against - Hero of war

He said, "Son,
Have you see the world?
Well, what would you say
If I said that you could?
Just carry this gun and you'll even get paid."
I said, "That sounds pretty good."

Black leather boots
Spit-shined so bright
They cut off my hair but it looked alright
We marched and we sang
We all became friends
As we learned how to fight

A hero of war
Yeah that's what I'll be
And when I come home
They'll be damn proud of me
I'll carry this flag
To the grave if I must
Because it's flag that I love
And a flag that I trust

I kicked in the door
I yelled my commands
The children, they cried
But I got my man
We took him away
A bag over his face
From his family and his friends

They took off his clothes
They pissed in his hands
I told them to stop
But then I joined in
We beat him with guns
And batons not just once
But again and again

A hero of war
Yeah that's what I'll be
And when I come home
They'll be damn proud of me
I'll carry this flag
To the grave if I must
Because it's flag that I love
And a flag that I trust

She walked through bullets and haze
I asked her to stop
I begged her to stay
But she pressed on
So I lifted my gun
And I fired away

And the shells jumped through the smoke
And into the sand
That the blood now had soaked
She collapsed with a flag in her hand
A flag white as snow

A hero of war
Is that what they see
Just medals and scars
So damn proud of me
And I brought home that flag
Now it gathers dust
But it's a flag that I love
It's the only flag I trust

He said, "Son, have you seen the world? Well what would you say, if I said that you could?"

[FreeK]

rise against <3

[l0rdnic0]

Powerful 

[thaq93]

Powerful 

care to explain? powerful how? this is 4 a project and i want to explain this song. literary elements, the themes, is Rise Against speaking about a specific war or just war in general? i just need a little help.

[Timmy]

Ohh so you want us to do your homework for you

No

I'll give two hints but seriously it's not really your interpretation if we help you.

1) It's not really about any single war, obviously desert ones given one of the verses which suggests it's from an American's perspective, the female in the same verse also suggests this, that it's very much now unisexual

2) But the major theme's are patriotism and the romanticism's associated with war that we are told by propaganda and family.

Seriously......the lyrics practically say that, i mean it's not exactly a very deep "read between the lines" sort of song, it's all very much on the surface and thus more of an accessible song then one for people think about and absorb something deeper.

[thaq93]

@ TimmyDX
I have my own interpretation of the song. i just wanted to compare mine to others. yea it is patriotic but rise against is definitely using strong sarcastic undertones. at first i got confused between the patriotic aspect of this song and the anti-war aspect of the song. and ur right he is also talking about how society makes war look prideful. it's also ironic since all this main character wanted to do was become a hero in the eyes of society and then when he became a hero he was not satisfied and definitely disgusted of himself for killing innocent lives. heroes don't kill they save. thank you 4 ur help everyone

[Timmy]

ok cool

but yeah that's what i meant, it's far from sarcastic but i think more just anti-patriotism

[thaq93]

ok thanks i appreciate ur help everyone