Tiny Voices

Song details

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

Lyrics

Tiny Voices

The brown and orange sky holds its breath As the sun retreats to the distant horizon, And our hearts palpitate anxiously as we soon will lay supine And wait for sleep to overcome us. And from somewhere in our black, Subconscious minds when we're asleep, Comes a haunting swelling mass of voices, Resonating, its screams of forgotten victims and the cries of innocence, And the desperate plea for recognition and recompense. Tiny voices, echoes of our heritage, Our long and sallow faces turn the other way, Tiny voices, harbored deep within As we outwardly deny that they have something to say, And if we don't confront them they will never go away. The billions of tiny pinhole embers fade into a morning sky Filled with poignant morose wonder, Waking we bear a cosmetic peace that verifies the turmoil That we carry deep inside. And from somewhere in our black, Subconscious minds when we're asleep, Comes a haunting swelling mass of voices, Resonating, its screams of forgotten victims and the cries of innocence, And the desperate plea for recognition and recompense. Tiny voices, echoes of our heritage, Our long and sallow faces turn the other way, Tiny voices, harbored deep within As we outwardly deny that they have something to say, And if we don't confront them they will never go away.

Versions & recordings

Grouped by recording

2

Song statistics

Archive coverage at a glance

59release versions
#93

93rd most featured song

11documented shows
#170

170th most played song

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Song Interpretations

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

6

legacy memberMar 28, 2024

Open to both interpretations, firstly how we live our own comfortable lives whilst trying not to acknowledge the suffering of other people in foreign countries suffering war, famine etc. Mainly though I think it's about facing up to our individual inner demons and struggles, the ones we ignore and suppress in daily life but that our subconscious reveals to us in dreams when sleep each night. Unless we stop ignoring a…

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Open to both interpretations, firstly how we live our own comfortable lives whilst trying not to acknowledge the suffering of other people in foreign countries suffering war, famine etc. Mainly though I think it's about facing up to our individual inner demons and struggles, the ones we ignore and suppress in daily life but that our subconscious reveals to us in dreams when sleep each night. Unless we stop ignoring and turning our back on what our own minds are telling us, those "tiny voices" will never go away...
legacy memberJun 7, 2018

"Tiny Voices" are our subconscious versions of our moral compass. Apparently sleep is being lost over whatever is haunting our subconsciousnes, and its making our cosmetic peace show turmoil. It seems like we're putting issues on the back burner in hopes that it will resolve itself. I think the tiny voices are nagging at us to make better decisions and don't turn away from problems, but solve them (recognition and re…

Read moreRead less
"Tiny Voices" are our subconscious versions of our moral compass. Apparently sleep is being lost over whatever is haunting our subconsciousnes, and its making our cosmetic peace show turmoil. It seems like we're putting issues on the back burner in hopes that it will resolve itself. I think the tiny voices are nagging at us to make better decisions and don't turn away from problems, but solve them (recognition and recompense).
legacy memberJul 11, 2004 · edited Date unknown
Greg G said the song was influence by the fighting and conflagration in Bosnia at the time he wrote it. It's very much what you all were talking about. We go to sleep every night content, oblivious to the problems of the world, and how we shrug off any bad feelings about those problems with pity and thanks.
legacy memberJul 11, 2004 · edited Date unknown

I always thought this song was about our primal urges surfacing, and our want to be recognized. We weren't made to be in such a society. So many of our common practices seem to go against our natural instincts, that's why there's so much stupid shit going on. IE: War, domestic violence. I think we were meant to leave home much earlier than we do. And who invented this marriage shit? Why does everyone's life have to s…

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I always thought this song was about our primal urges surfacing, and our want to be recognized. We weren't made to be in such a society. So many of our common practices seem to go against our natural instincts, that's why there's so much stupid shit going on. IE: War, domestic violence. I think we were meant to leave home much earlier than we do. And who invented this marriage shit? Why does everyone's life have to stay in the path of growing up, getting married and having kids?
legacy memberJul 11, 2004 · edited Date unknown

I think the last interpretation was pretty dead on, except for one thing. I'm not sure that the suffering that is being mentioned is really about people in third world countries. I always thought it was much more local, and maybe even a mental struggle as opposed to a physical one. I think the line, 'waking a bear a cosmetic peace that verifies the turmoil which we carry deep inside' is a good indication of internal…

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I think the last interpretation was pretty dead on, except for one thing. I'm not sure that the suffering that is being mentioned is really about people in third world countries. I always thought it was much more local, and maybe even a mental struggle as opposed to a physical one. I think the line, 'waking a bear a cosmetic peace that verifies the turmoil which we carry deep inside' is a good indication of internal conflict. About what is anybody's guess. My initial feeling was about how we treat others and how we are treated in return.
legacy memberJul 11, 2004 · edited Date unknown

This song is about the fact that we go to sleep every night and wake up every morning happy and content suppressing our knowledge about all the pain and suffering occurring in third world nations. Meanwhile, in our subconscious minds, while we sleep, we hear these 'tiny voices' screaming for help, but we are still not inclined to do anything about it. In the first verse it says we go to bed soon to lay 'supine' wh…

Read moreRead less
This song is about the fact that we go to sleep every night and wake up every morning happy and content suppressing our knowledge about all the pain and suffering occurring in third world nations. Meanwhile, in our subconscious minds, while we sleep, we hear these 'tiny voices' screaming for help, but we are still not inclined to do anything about it. In the first verse it says we go to bed soon to lay 'supine' which cleverly defines both as 1. lying on your back face upwards and 2. not inclined to take action.