Slumber

Song details

Bad Religion original
Yes
First released
1994
First release
Stranger Than Fiction (album)
Songwriter
Greg Graffin

Lyrics

Slumber

So, you're feeling unimportant 'Cause you've got nothing to say. And your live is just a ramble, No one understands you anyway. Well, I've got a piece of news, son That might make you change your mind. Your life is historically meaningful And spans a significant time. Slumber will come soon And you are helping put it to sleep. Side by side we do our share, Faithfully assuring that Slumber will come soon. Well, now do you feel a little better? Lift up your head and walk away, Knowing we're all in this together For such a short time anyway. There is just no time to parade around sulking, I would rather laugh than cry. The rich, the poor, the strong, the weak: We share this place together And we pitch in to help it die. I'm not too good at giving morals And I don't fear the consequence. If life makes you scared and bitter, At least it's not for very long. Slumber will come soon And you are helping put it to sleep. Side by side we do our share, Faithfully assuring that Slumber will come soon. [4x]

Versions & recordings

Grouped by recording

4

Song statistics

Archive coverage at a glance

70release versions
#66

66th most featured song

45documented shows
#119

119th most played song

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Song Interpretations

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

13

nyarjoJan 20, 2009 · edited Date unknown

This song is anything but sarcastic. I'm terminally ill (literally, though I haven't been given a death date (yet)) and know that I will die before I'm 30. If life makes you scred and bitter, At least it's not for very long That's something that I've had myself every day for most of my adult life, through surgery and endless therapy, loss of hearing and sight, and even the gradual loss of the ability to play video…

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This song is anything but sarcastic. I'm terminally ill (literally, though I haven't been given a death date (yet)) and know that I will die before I'm 30.

If life makes you scred and bitter,
At least it's not for very long

That's something that I've had myself every day for most of my adult life, through surgery and endless therapy, loss of hearing and sight, and even the gradual loss of the ability to play video games, and you have no idea how good it feels to hear Greg say that.
JoLtCoLaRaMpAgEDec 26, 2008 · edited Date unknown
This is basicly BR's 'It's a Fact'.

So rest assured in knowin that what you do don't matter. Someone can do it better anywaaaaays. It's a fact.
legacy memberJul 12, 2006 · edited Date unknown

Maybe I'm a pessimist but I hear this song as (sarcastically) being sung like it's uplifting, when really the lyrics are nothing but. The voice he sings with sounds strangely disconnected and calm. "Slumber will come soon, and you are helping to put it to sleep" Is say you're going to die, and you're helping to kill yourself. Twice in the chorus he reminds you you're going to die. Then after asking if you feel better…

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Maybe I'm a pessimist but I hear this song as (sarcastically) being sung like it's uplifting, when really the lyrics are nothing but. The voice he sings with sounds strangely disconnected and calm.
"Slumber will come soon, and you are helping to put it to sleep" Is say you're going to die, and you're helping to kill yourself. Twice in the chorus he reminds you you're going to die.
Then after asking if you feel better he reminds you again, "we're all in this together for a short time anyway"
He then admits he's not good at making morals, and ends up on a depressing one "if life makes you scared and bitter, at least it's not very long." If your life sucks at least remember you're going to die? Yeah, I feel better now.
legacy memberDec 4, 2005 · edited Date unknown

i wrote about this song in my philosophy class at BGSU. I discussed it reguards to the philsophers Kolak and Martin. I discussed how the first stanza discusses negative feelings that people can have about their lives and how in stanza 2 it discusses accomplishments that most people would claim to enjoy or strive for. Stanzas 4 and five discuss how everyone struggles and instead of enduring the saddness or struggle…

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i wrote about this song in my philosophy class at BGSU. I discussed it reguards to the philsophers Kolak and Martin. I discussed how the first stanza discusses negative feelings that people can have about their lives and how in stanza 2 it discusses accomplishments that most people would claim to enjoy or strive for. Stanzas 4 and five discuss how everyone struggles and instead of enduring the saddness or struggle it is better to enjoy life because its too short.
legacy memberMar 28, 2005 · edited Date unknown

The interesting thing about this song is that it isn't entirely anti-suicide. It seems to have been written to all the depressives out there and tell them that their actions (whatever they may be) will have important, historical impact on the world. This song hits the butterfly theory home. Of course no one wants anyone to kill themselves, but at the same time... Have you ever known anybody who has killed themselv…

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The interesting thing about this song is that it isn't entirely anti-suicide. It seems to have been written to all the depressives out there and tell them that their actions (whatever they may be) will have important, historical impact on the world. This song hits the butterfly theory home. Of course no one wants anyone to kill themselves, but at the same time... Have you ever known anybody who has killed themselves or died "before their time" It obviously changes your perspective. You look at things very differently after that. You behave differently. You choose a different path. One person living or dying, one way or the other, will have a major impact on the shape of this society, and the world as a whole, in the future. It's most comforting to be assured that you are valuable, this should make most feel a little better, but some may feel a little worse. It's all about perspective, and maybe, just maybe some peoples purpose in life is to change the purpose of another's through drastic means. You can never know.
legacy memberMar 23, 2005 · edited Date unknown

I think this song is about the end of the world. "The rich, the poor, the strong, the weak We share this place together And we pitch into help it die". I think they mean that you can't blame the destruction on one person, it's everyones fault that the Eart will be destroyde. "Side by side we do our share Faithfully assuring that Slumber will come soon". This, I believe, means that everyone's helping to destroy the…

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I think this song is about the end of the world.
"The rich, the poor, the strong, the weak
We share this place together
And we pitch into help it die". I think they mean that you can't blame the destruction on one person, it's everyones fault that the Eart will be destroyde.
"Side by side we do our share
Faithfully assuring that
Slumber will come soon". This, I believe, means that everyone's helping to destroy the Earth. And I belive that the Eart will take a nap after we're dead and then the evolution will begin again from the beginning.
ikillkennyDec 2, 2004 · edited Date unknown

I always viewed this song as a lullaby that Greg was singing to his son. I believe he wrote this when his son was very young, as evident by the first four lines (since he is so young he cannot talk yet and his life is being controlled without his knowledge). Some of the other verses support this being a lullaby, such as "There is just no time to parade around/Sulking, i would rather laugh than cry/The rich, the poo…

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I always viewed this song as a lullaby that Greg was singing to his son. I believe he wrote this when his son was very young, as evident by the first four lines (since he is so young he cannot talk yet and his life is being controlled without his knowledge). Some of the other verses support this being a lullaby, such as "There is just no time to parade around/Sulking, i would rather laugh than cry/The rich, the poor, the strong, the weak/We share this place together/And we pitch into help it die". I view this song as encouraging, it's trying to provide a lesson for later in life. Of course, it's also almost a humorous song as he's telling his new born son all of these heavy philosophies when he can't even speak yet.
legacy memberNov 12, 2004 · edited Date unknown
I heard somewhere that "Slumber" has bits and pieces as well as an overall melody of a lullaby of the same name Greg sang for his children. I don't remember where...?
legacy memberJul 21, 2004 · edited Date unknown
This song is really one giant affirmation that is actually believeable. It's message basically says "look, if you want to end your life, don't do it 'cuz it will affect more people than you think." It's a song that will definitely help someone realize their full potential and their place on this planet. Great song.
PS: Hey Doug, I go to U of F too. We should hang out.
legacy memberJul 11, 2004 · edited Date unknown

I would have to agree w/ the idea that the song is about how life is short and that you should waste time being depressed. but I truly believe that this song saved my life. About 3 years ago my life had seemingly fallen apart. I had a run in w/ the law I was having a terrible social life and felt uncomfortable at school and my father had expressed extreme hatred towards me. I had thought about committing suicide when…

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I would have to agree w/ the idea that the song is about how life is short and that you should waste time being depressed. but I truly believe that this song saved my life. About 3 years ago my life had seemingly fallen apart. I had a run in w/ the law I was having a terrible social life and felt uncomfortable at school and my father had expressed extreme hatred towards me. I had thought about committing suicide when I listened to this song. I believe the part where it goes your life is historically meaningful and spans a significant time is what stopped me for doing something dumb. And now my life is going pretty well and I am just about where I want to be. And I would like to thank BR for writing such a great song.
legacy memberJul 11, 2004 · edited Date unknown

This is a song that will help you get through your tough times. I'm not one to make music my entire life, but I do make music a very large part of my life because it is very important to me. Almost exactly a year ago, I was downtown here in Gainesville, Florida (I go to UF), and some drunken redneck hit me in the face, knocking out four of my teeth. I was supposed to go see BR in Jacksonville less than a week later,…

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This is a song that will help you get through your tough times. I'm not one to make music my entire life, but I do make music a very large part of my life because it is very important to me. Almost exactly a year ago, I was downtown here in Gainesville, Florida (I go to UF), and some drunken redneck hit me in the face, knocking out four of my teeth. I was supposed to go see BR in Jacksonville less than a week later, but I didn't feel well and couldn't go to the show. After this lovely "welcome to college" event, which happened during my first semester here, my whole world came crumbling down around me (and I swear it has nothing to do with the sole fact that I missed a BR show). I fell into a severe depression, and this song helped me keep my spirits up at times. Every time my situation got me down, I would look at the piece of paper on my desk that said that one simple word, 'SLUMBER,' and I would think. I would think about the words to the song, and how they related to what I was going through at the time, and it comforted me. It made me feel a little better, helped me to lift up my head and walk away, knowing that we're all in this together for such a short time, anyway. Thanks, Greg.
legacy memberJul 11, 2004 · edited Date unknown

I think the song is great. It was years before I grew up really started paying attention to the lyrics on Stranger Than Fiction, but all the lyrics still get to me. In a good way. I think in this song, Graffin pretty much means that life is short and we'd better try to make our lives worth while. Like the line 'If life makes you scared and bitter, at least it' not for very long'. He's sort of uh, I guess 'sardonicall…

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I think the song is great. It was years before I grew up really started paying attention to the lyrics on Stranger Than Fiction, but all the lyrics still get to me. In a good way. I think in this song, Graffin pretty much means that life is short and we'd better try to make our lives worth while. Like the line 'If life makes you scared and bitter, at least it' not for very long'. He's sort of uh, I guess 'sardonically' would be the word I'm looking for, saying that life's short and if you're going to spend it being depressed, then don't worry, because life's short. So in a way he's also saying 'ey buddy, cheer up!' That's my rough take on this excellent song.
legacy memberJul 11, 2004 · edited Date unknown
This song, I think is about the end of the world and the point that all of us as a whole are killing it. Graffin also makes the point that we should not waste our time with stupid little worries cause our lives are short and we will all be dead one day.