Epiphany

Song details

Bad Religion original
Yes
First released
2002
First release
The Process of Belief (album)
Songwriter
Greg Graffin

Lyrics

Epiphany

A new age of reason, Brain treason to trick the mind. What good is searching If nothing's there to find? We arrive at this place Of no return, my brothers, Only to discover that our minds have led us away So far from the painful truth Of who we are. What's right is wrong, What's come has gone, What's clear and pure is not so sure. (It came to me.) All promises become a lie, All that's benign corrupts in time, (The fallacy) Of Epiphany. Come forth, bear witness, See the profit from your loss. Beg for forgiveness Only after you tally the cost. We arrive at this place Of no return, my sisters, Only to discover that our values ran us aground On the shoal in the sea of what We could be. What's right is wrong, What's come has gone, What's clear and pure is not so sure. (It came to me.) All promises become a lie, All that's benign corrupts in time, (The fallacy) Of Epiphany. If it's real for me, do I have to prove it to you? Why do revelations fade to cold blue untruths? It's oh so relative, Subservient in total to one's perspective. What's right is wrong, What's come has gone, What's clear and pure is not so sure. (It came to me.) All promises become a lie, All that's benign corrupts in time, (Mountains don't stand the test of time) (The fallacy) Of Epiphany. Oh, always been in me.

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Song Interpretations

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

10

sjampooJan 4, 2009 · edited Sep 3, 2010

From my perspective I think the song is about our new technocracy of reason. It hits off from there in the first verse. Our reason, is mainly scientific reason, without a transcendent ground, without meaning. So 'what good is searching if nothing's there to find?' There is nothing to find, 'cause we killed it all by our reasoning which can never find meaning. We are in this way 'far from the painful truth of who we a…

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From my perspective I think the song is about our new technocracy of reason. It hits off from there in the first verse. Our reason, is mainly scientific reason, without a transcendent ground, without meaning. So 'what good is searching if nothing's there to find?' There is nothing to find, 'cause we killed it all by our reasoning which can never find meaning. We are in this way 'far from the painful truth of who we are'. We are not reasoning machines, but creatures who live in a meaningful world, but our mind is tricked.

In the chorus there is a profound paradox in having an epiphany about the fallacy of epiphany. I would say that the epiphany itself is not a fallacy, but what is done with it. The whole chorus is about things going from good to bad, so it starts out good, only it becomes corrupted. An epiphany starts out as an experience of one person, who might try to explain it. But when reason comes in, it becomes a goal in itself and people become slaves of their reason to someone elses epiphany. They exploit the epiphany in which they have never taken part (they exploit it to themselves or to others).

The second verse wants us to 'bear witness' of this exploitation. The 'profit of our loss'. Our values have become the values of reason. Valuables on the market, as well in religion as in all parts of life. We have lost our true values and replaced them by profit. We can be so much, but these new values 'ran us aground'.

The third verse says it quite plain. We don't need reason, 'prove', to show what is real to us. Because reasoning only turns it into 'cold blue untruths'. An epiphany only makes sense in the 'total' of ones life. You cannot just isolate the epiphany and follow it blindly as a dogma. It only makes sense in your own perspective. This doesn't mean we cannot share our insights, but it has to become your own insight and not someone else's. In your perspective it must make sense to be meaningful. It cannot be subscribed to you.
legacy memberFeb 7, 2008 · edited Sep 3, 2010
Epiphanies can be deceiving, and I think this song is suggesting that a person should be careful not to act on an epiphany. So, the song is suggesting that a person should think before they act.
legacy memberJun 27, 2006 · edited Sep 3, 2010

If think there is one thing that no one mentioned (at least explicitly), is that this song directly or indirectly categorizes science as a religion. After all science is subservient to one's perspective a medium from which scientists get Epiphanies, and it has failed to be an absolute explanation for everything. For example, for every new theory that comes out there is always at least one exception where that particu…

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If think there is one thing that no one mentioned (at least explicitly), is that this song directly or indirectly categorizes science as a religion. After all science is subservient to one's perspective a medium from which scientists get Epiphanies, and it has failed to be an absolute explanation for everything. For example, for every new theory that comes out there is always at least one exception where that particular theory is not valid, so we arrive at scientific progress. Thus the Epiphany is only valid for those that are persuaded to overlook that exception, until a new explanation arrives.
legacy memberJul 17, 2004 · edited Date unknown

""New Age of reason, brain treason to trick the mind" -This is talking about how people are believing that it is reasonable that an absolute right and ground breaking decision can come at any time. It states how this can't happen and your brain is abandoning you and tricking you into believing these crazy thoughts about anything and everything can possibly be the absolute right which can not exist. "Only to discover…

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""New Age of reason, brain treason to trick the mind" -This is talking about how people are believing that it is reasonable that an absolute right and ground breaking decision can come at any time. It states how this can't happen and your brain is abandoning you and tricking you into believing these crazy thoughts about anything and everything can possibly be the absolute right which can not exist. "Only to discover that our minds have led us away so far from the painful truth of who we are." -The thoughts that just hit us and are supposed to be ground breaking is taking us away from actually believe the one absolute truth that ever has been or ever will be that everyone can agree on. We are all people and therefore have our own opinions and beliefs on everything. No one person is right. It's all about what each person thinks is right. "What's Right is Wrong"-What one person thinks is right. Another thinks is wrong. We can never have one uniform belief of what is right and wrong in the world. "What's come has gone"-These ideas hit us and we believe with all our heart that it is right. But another idea hits us and suddenly our past belief we were so sure of has disappeared and we have new ideas on life. "What's clear and pure is not so sure"-Like above, what we once thought was obviously a right and perfect thought without any doubts in our mind has now become something that we aren't sure of how perfect it really is. "All promises become a lie all that's benign corrupts in time."-The world can never be perfect with everyones differing thought and every changing beliefs. All promises about doing one thing to create a great world is now thought of as being wrong and is now a lie. People think it can't be. And they change there thoughts. Things that we once thought were not bad have corrupted because people think differently. Thought processes change. And in time what once was good and pure are now bad and evil. "The profit from the loss"-The knowledge that there is no one truth that is uniform in the world. "Values ran us a ground"-We thought something was great and right but it now is thought of as a bad thing. "If it's real to me do I have to prove it to you"-One person has an Epiphany and believes it's true. But others don't think the same way. But people keep thinking that they are right because it seems so true and pure. But others think it is the exact opposite. "The Fallacy of Epiphany"-One large belief of truth crashes and becomes bad. No idea can last forever as truth and be thought of as truth to everyone. And Epiphany will never stand. It can never be true. THE BIG PICTURE: We are all different and trying to believe that there is one real true belief is pointless. There will always be different people with different beliefs. Everyone is unique so an epiphany of one person can't be an absolute truth. I think this is about battles based on beliefs. Such as 9/11 & War on Terrorism where the Al Quida believes America is evil and killing Americans is right. And the Americans believe America is right and killing is evil. And also the war between Isreal and Palistinians. This shows us there will always be different opinions. No one man is absolutly right. The thought of truth can not exist.
legacy memberJul 17, 2004 · edited Date unknown

Epiphany may be the best song on 'Process of Belief'. It presents a very relativistic view of knowledge. The things that we are most certain of today may be revealed as untrue tomorrow. We grasp at simplifying concepts to explain the disorder around us, but these epiphanies are fleeting. Life cannot be easily categorized into black and white (e.g., right and wrong), and the things that we look to for hope (e.g., t…

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Epiphany may be the best song on 'Process of Belief'. It presents a very relativistic view of knowledge. The things that we are most certain of today may be revealed as untrue tomorrow. We grasp at simplifying concepts to explain the disorder around us, but these epiphanies are fleeting. Life cannot be easily categorized into black and white (e.g., right and wrong), and the things that we look to for hope (e.g., the pure, the benign) are all impermanent as well. We insist on tricking ourselves into these false beliefs to make life easier ('our minds have led us away so far from the painful truth of who we are'), but ultimately it only limits our potential ('our values ran us aground on the shoal in the sea of what we could be').
legacy memberJul 17, 2004 · edited Sep 3, 2010

The 'Age of Reason' from 1660 to around 1800 took place in England. It was a time when peoples' minds started deviating from the previous train of thought (being why and not how). With the new trend being one where society was looking for answers to the questions and mysteries of the world, religion began to take a back seat among more and more people. In fact, Alexander Pope wrote 'Essay on Man' which I think Greg m…

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The 'Age of Reason' from 1660 to around 1800 took place in England. It was a time when peoples' minds started deviating from the previous train of thought (being why and not how). With the new trend being one where society was looking for answers to the questions and mysteries of the world, religion began to take a back seat among more and more people. In fact, Alexander Pope wrote 'Essay on Man' which I think Greg might make reference to in the chorus.

The contradiction I am finding is where he is stating 'the fallacy of epiphany' (relating to treason tricking the mind) but at the same time talking of this period where the movement was away from the traditional supernatural explanations. Perhaps my outlook on his reference to the age of reason is wrong and he is speaking of a more recent alteration in ways of thinking.
legacy memberJul 17, 2004 · edited Date unknown

The line 'A new age of reason, brain treason to trick the mind, what good is searching if nothing's there to find?' is saying that looking for a new truth is pointless because there is no universal 'right', only different opinions. 'We arrive at this place of no return my brothers' is saying once you change a certain belief, there's no going back because your old truth no longer exists. 'What's right is wrong, what's…

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The line 'A new age of reason, brain treason to trick the mind, what good is searching if nothing's there to find?' is saying that looking for a new truth is pointless because there is no universal 'right', only different opinions. 'We arrive at this place of no return my brothers' is saying once you change a certain belief, there's no going back because your old truth no longer exists. 'What's right is wrong, what's come has gone, what's clear and pure is not so sure, it came to me. All promises become a lie, all that's benign corrupts in time. The fallacy of epiphany,' is pointing out the cons of an epiphany, how it totally turns everything you once thought to be true inside out. 'Come forth bear witness, see the profit from your loss. Beg for forgiveness only after you tally the cost,' seems to me like a confessional, like asking to be absolved for following the wrong religion. Tallying the cost refers to all the wars created and wasted lives by following a religion that isn't 'right'.
legacy memberJul 17, 2004 · edited Sep 3, 2010

This song is attacking a static tenet of most organized religion. To illustrate, Christianity revolves around the idea that there is one fundamental truth in life, and consequently, anyone that happens to have a different view is wrong. This theory is premised on the idea of prophets and biblical revelations. In this song, Greg is stating that their 'epiphany' is inherently flawed. He asks why 'revelations always f…

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This song is attacking a static tenet of most organized religion. To illustrate, Christianity revolves around the idea that there is one fundamental truth in life, and consequently, anyone that happens to have a different view is wrong. This theory is premised on the idea of prophets and biblical revelations. In this song, Greg is stating that their 'epiphany' is inherently flawed. He asks why 'revelations always fade to cold blue untruths' and adds that truth and meaning are all relative to ones perspective, which directly contradicts the very notion of dogmatic religious montras.
legacy memberJul 17, 2004 · edited Date unknown

An 'epiphany' is a sudden realization and understanding of the nature of all things that comes from a profound event or subjective experience. Religious people claim such 'epiphanies' consistantly when they talk of 'visions,' God talking to them, etc. When BR sings about 'The Fallacy of Epiphany,' they mean that subjective experience can fool you into thinking reality is something it is not, and that we have been led…

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An 'epiphany' is a sudden realization and understanding of the nature of all things that comes from a profound event or subjective experience. Religious people claim such 'epiphanies' consistantly when they talk of 'visions,' God talking to them, etc. When BR sings about 'The Fallacy of Epiphany,' they mean that subjective experience can fool you into thinking reality is something it is not, and that we have been led away (by our own minds) from the truth of who we are. It's really a song about taking these supposedly profound experiences, such as seeing God, with a grain of salt.
legacy memberJul 17, 2004 · edited Date unknown
In my view, the song is a statement proclaiming that only when we cure the problems that the world presently suffers from can we begin to make things better for ourselves and for humanity.