Quality Or Quantity

Song details

Bad Religion original
Yes
First released
1990
First release
Against The Grain (album)
Songwriter
Greg Graffin

Lyrics

Quality Or Quantity

Offer me eternity, and I'll trade a cup of coffee and a dime, Looking for a handout behalf of those who have so little time. But who wants to live on just 70 cents a day? Padding your pockets doesn't make this a better place, Cereal and water is a feast for some, you say, Your price tag on existence can't cover your double-face. Quality or quantity, quality or quantity, Quality or quantity: A choice you have to make. Dipping in the icing, bringing home the largest turkey from the field, Breaking all the piggy banks, scooping up the booty, Licking all the right holes, bolstering the payroll, Why reduce life to a dollar amount per day? And why let the world think this is the American way? Your uneaten greens are a feast for some, you say, Survival and living are concepts you can't equate. Quality or quantity, quality or quantity, Quality or quantity: Don't tell me they're the same! Quality or quantity, quality or quantity, Quality or quantity: A choice you have to make.

Versions & recordings

Grouped by recording

3

Song statistics

Archive coverage at a glance

44release versions
#136

136th most featured song

1documented show
#198

198th most played song

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Song Interpretations

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

3

legacy memberApr 27, 2021

i think this song is genius. the lyrics are basically about being satisfied with the crumbs passed on to you. the real genius shows in the guitar riff in the verse. if you listen closely, it sounds very similar to the main riff in best for you off of suffer (1988). in my opinion this was very deliberate and draws the line to this songs title. you might not notice it at first, but everything you're served is the same…

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i think this song is genius. the lyrics are basically about being satisfied with the crumbs passed on to you. the real genius shows in the guitar riff in the verse. if you listen closely, it sounds very similar to the main riff in best for you off of suffer (1988). in my opinion this was very deliberate and draws the line to this songs title. you might not notice it at first, but everything you're served is the same thing but with some added (or subtracted) spice.
Anesthesia Mona LisaJun 24, 2012

To me, it seems like a very harsh commentary on charities and its recipients; the wretched might as well be dead than have to live on 70 cents a day, eating cereal and water and uneaten greens. It's a bad quality of life for them, so why bother? Couple this with the American need to accumulate weath and material possessions, giving our measly 70 cents a day and patting ourselves on the back for it. We could afford t…

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To me, it seems like a very harsh commentary on charities and its recipients; the wretched might as well be dead than have to live on 70 cents a day, eating cereal and water and uneaten greens. It's a bad quality of life for them, so why bother? Couple this with the American need to accumulate weath and material possessions, giving our measly 70 cents a day and patting ourselves on the back for it. We could afford to do so much more, but we just do the minimum (if that), thus prolonging the deaths of the starving, not improving their lives.
legacy memberJul 11, 2004 · edited Sep 7, 2010

To me, this is illustrating Bad Religion's disgust at America's double standard on charity. We give 70 cents a day and applaud ourselves as good people while working our hardest to raise that $80,000 a year to $100,000 because the $80,000 just isn't enough for us. The following line also functions as a bash on our new digital world where everything can and will be reduced to a number (I'm a programmer, I'd know), '…

Read moreRead less
To me, this is illustrating Bad Religion's disgust at America's double standard on charity. We give 70 cents a day and applaud ourselves as good people while working our hardest to raise that $80,000 a year to $100,000 because the $80,000 just isn't enough for us. The following line also functions as a bash on our new digital world where everything can and will be reduced to a number (I'm a programmer, I'd know), 'why reduce life to a dollar amount per day, why let the world think that this is the American way', and America seems to revel in this ability.