Let Them Eat War

Song details

Bad Religion original
Yes
First released
2004
First release
Los Angeles Is Burning (single)
Songwriter
Brett Gurewitz

Lyrics

Let Them Eat War

There's a prophet on a mountain And he's making up dinner With long division and a riding crop. Anybody can feel like a winner When it's served up piping hot. But the people aren't looking for a handout, They're America's working corps. Can this be what they voted for? Let them eat war, [x2] That's how to ration the poor. Let them eat war, [x2] There's an urgent need to feed Declining pride. From the force to the union shops The war economy is making new jobs, But the people who benefit most Are breaking bread with their benevolent host. You never stole from the rich to give to the poor, All they ever gave to them was a war And a foreign enemy to deplore. Let them eat war, [x2] That's how to ration the poor. Let them eat war, [x2] There's an urgent need to feed Declining pride. Kill 'em and eat 'em before they reach for their checks. Squeeze some blue collars, make 'em bleed from their necks. Seize a few dollars from the people who sweat Because it's Freedom or Debt and they won't question it. At a job site the boss is God-like, Conditioned workhorses park at a stop light, Seasoned vets with their feet in nets A stone's throw away from a rock fight, but not tonight, feed 'em death. (Feed 'em death) Here comes another ration (Feed 'em death) 'Cuz they're the finest in the nation, (Feed 'em death) When there's nothing left to feed them with (Feed 'em death) It's freedom or it's death. Let them eat war, [x2] That's how to ration the poor. Let them eat war, [x2] There's an urgent need to feed Declining pride.

Versions & recordings

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Song statistics

Archive coverage at a glance

38release versions
#157

157th most featured song

291documented shows
#31

31st most played song

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Song Interpretations

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

4

legacy memberAug 2, 2005 · edited Aug 22, 2010
It is a piece of history that the French queen Marie Antoinette was extravagant and cut off from the common people. It is even alleged that prior to the revolution one of her subjects told her 'the poor have no bread,' to which she replied: "Let them eat cake."
legacy memberMay 3, 2005 · edited Aug 22, 2010
This is definitely Orwell-inspired in my opinion. It reminds me a lot of the quote in Fahrenheit 9/11 "The war isn't meant to be won, it is meant to be continuous.."
The people need an outside enemy, a Saddam or an Osama to blind them so they wont see the enemy within, they'll accept anything , being poor, unemployed, lied to, undereducated and left behind, just feed them war, and they'll eat anything.
legacy memberSep 23, 2004 · edited Aug 22, 2010

No doubt this song is about the Iraq war and the methods the Bush administration used (and still uses) to get what they wanted. The way they are using propaganda with fear and half-truths to keep the people (blue-collars) down. However, this isn't a new tactic. It has most definitely been done before! Guess who said this: the victor will not be asked afterward whether he told the truth. In starting and waging a war…

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No doubt this song is about the Iraq war and the methods the Bush administration used (and still uses) to get what they wanted. The way they are using propaganda with fear and half-truths to keep the people (blue-collars) down. However, this isn't a new tactic. It has most definitely been done before!
Guess who said this: the victor will not be asked afterward whether he told the truth. In starting and waging a war it is not right that matters, but victory!?
No, it was not W. that said it to his generals before they invaded Iraq, it was Adolf Hitler how said it before they invaded Poland in 1939 and therefore started World War 2!
(Citation is from ?The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany? by William L. Shirer an American correspondent in Berlin during the 2nd World War.)
oblivionpactJul 11, 2004 · edited Date unknown

The main theme of that song is the way that Bush's support comes from the working poor and the working class, and yet these are the people who his policies hurt the most They're taking him hook, line and sinker. It's because his politics are the politics of fear. He and his team ( mainly Karl Rove ) have been extremely sophisticated in the user of the media. Especially these very friendly outlets like Fox News, and…

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The main theme of that song is the way that Bush's support comes from the working poor and the working class, and yet these are the people who his policies hurt the most
They're taking him hook, line and sinker. It's because his politics are the politics of fear. He and his team ( mainly Karl Rove ) have been extremely sophisticated in the user of the media. Especially these very friendly outlets like Fox News, and Rush Limbaugh. These folks really buy the whole program.
-Brett Gurewitz