Changing Tide

Song details

Bad Religion original
Yes
First released
2013
First release
True North (album)
Songwriter
Greg Graffin

Lyrics

Changing Tide

Every day's the same routine of endless chores and boring details And you know you're waiting for the perfect condition for your ship to set sail But of course the climate's always changing Clining to the past has got you straining Comes the recognition now you're on a mission that is born to fail (Leave it!) Brothers say goodbye Sisters don't you cry All embrace the times Wade into the changing tide Searching for philosophy of life can be a drag on the soul Nowadays we pick and choose the pieces from other people's wisdom of old But of course the climate's always changing Clinging to the past has got you straining Realizing all your most cherished beliefs are subject to rot and mold (come on!) Brothers say goodbye Sisters don't you cry All embrace the times Wade into the changing tide

Versions & recordings

Grouped by recording

1

Song statistics

Archive coverage at a glance

18release versions
#214

214th most featured song

13documented shows
#167

167th most played song

Live through the years

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Song Interpretations

What do you think this song is about? Share your interpretation and explain your reasoning.

7

HallowfishFeb 21, 2024
I think this one is not about the failure of something new but rather the victory over something old and how people cling to the past.
legacy memberJan 9, 2024

The album opens with abandoning maps and following not one's own star but an earthly pull -- something polar but not itself a pole (true north isn't a pole), a tension already made manifest well before this magnum opus, in which earthly polarity is no longer sought (as it's an illusion) but surrendered to, the search for a mathematical point given over to submission to the true earthly pull -- of the changing tides.…

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The album opens with abandoning maps and following not one's own star but an earthly pull -- something polar but not itself a pole (true north isn't a pole), a tension already made manifest well before this magnum opus, in which earthly polarity is no longer sought (as it's an illusion) but surrendered to, the search for a mathematical point given over to submission to the true earthly pull -- of the changing tides. Nothing even like a north star remains in view -- the "times," or zeitgeist, the "pull of tides" in human society, are embraced, and the lost wade not palliatively, like the religious dead, but matter-of-factly -- courageously! "Brothers, say goodbye! Sisters, don't cry!" -- into the changing tide. And we almost aquagenetically(!) go back to our beginnings, to go forward into our futures, and remain true to the earth.
PriesterseminarJan 28, 2017

havent heard it live yet, you i cant say much about gregs introduction other than this must have been a joke.. to me its about moving on from the status quo ( a depressing, mind numbing state of being, enforce by tradition and your comfort zone) ..embarking for change.. but failing in the end.. to me this songs beauty lies in the enthusiasm to strife for something more worthwhile and the immediate realisation of…

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havent heard it live yet, you i cant say much about gregs introduction other than this must have been a joke..

to me its about moving on from the status quo ( a depressing, mind numbing state of being, enforce by tradition and your comfort zone)

..embarking for change.. but failing in the end..

to me this songs beauty lies in the enthusiasm to strife for something more worthwhile and the immediate realisation of futileness of you ambition..
legacy memberJan 27, 2017
I think is about when someone lose somebody, or his/her plans fall apart. Maybe about any circumstances of life, when you got something planed, and suddenly everything changes.
chriskadeeMay 28, 2013
This song is unambiguously about climate change. At least that is how Greg introduces it.
MarkovianJan 27, 2013
im thinking it talks about moving on to something new in life and the difficulties getting there
Wrongwaykid707Jan 22, 2013

I simply see this song as a goodbye to the old and hello to something new and exciting. In no way of course taking anything away from the old, but to move on to new things, turn the page or wade with the changing tide. As for bad religion , this could be a way of saying goodbye as well, whether it be to the album true north, or to bad religion itself , considering it is the last song on the album or the last song on…

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I simply see this song as a goodbye to the old and hello to something new and exciting.
In no way of course taking anything away from the old, but to move on to new things, turn the page or wade with the changing tide.
As for bad religion , this could be a way of saying goodbye as well, whether it be to the album true north, or to bad religion itself , considering it is the last song on the album or the last song on the last album.