What comes to mind when you hear this song, and what you think its about....


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RI5dr4ZixI&feature=related


I'm asking this for a reason btw....

I couldn't make out most of the words, but it seems to be about a guy searching for some sort of meaning or purpose to a situtation he finds himself in.

As I walk through the valley
of the shadow of LA
The footsteps that were next to me
have gone their separate ways
I've seen enough now
to know that beautiful things
don't always stay that way
I've done enough now
to know this beautiful place
isn't everything they say

I heard that evil comes disguised
Like a city of angels
I'm walking towards the light

Baptized in the river
I've seen a vision of my life
And I wanna be delivered
In the city was a sinner
I've done a lot of things wrong
But I swear I'm a believer
Like the prodigal son
I was out on my own
Now I'm trying to find my way back home
Baptized in the river
I'm delivered
I'm delivered

[M.Shadows:]
You're from a small town
You're gonna grow up fast
underneath these lights
Down in Hollywood
on the boulevard the dead come back to life
To the praying Mother
And the worried Father
Let your children go
If they come back
They'll come home stronger
And if they don't you'll know

They say that evil comes disguised
Like a city of angels
I'm walking towards the light

Baptized in the river
I've seen a vision of my life
And I wanna be delivered
In the city was a sinner
I've done a lot of things wrong
But I swear I'm a believer
Like the prodigal son
I was out on my own
Now I'm trying to find my way back home
Baptized in the river
I'm delivered
I'm delivered

Baptized in the river (on my own)
Baptized in the river (on my own)
I wanna be delivered
(on my own, on my own).......

I wanna be delivered
I confess I'm a sinner
I've seen a vision of my life
And I wanna be delivered!

Many rock songs use religious imagery to discuss secular topics, and I think this is what this song is doing. Though the use of religious imagery and symbolism is not dumb enough to be offensive, it's fairly standard and unimaginative.

I'm not saying that I don't like the song--Good Charlotte is a decent pop band and this is an interesting and entertaining video.

With some videos (I'm thinking of Rammstein here--they're like one of the best examples) the subject of the video and the subject of the song are MILES AND MILES apart. This is not always a bad thing; frequently (again, as with Rammstein) it can be quite humorous: They're singing about one thing, and they're showing us something else.

With this video the imagery pretty much goes in synch with the song's lyric; the religious imagery in the video reinforces the song's pseudo-religious message.

What the guy is really talking about here, however, is just his disgust with modern life and disillusionment with shallowness. Also there's a commentary on the name "Los Angeles" which, though it has grown to be a global symbol for decadence, means, of course--as so many others have tiresomely observed--"the angels". No points for originality here.

[rant]And: Why is it that the image of a good-looking, young, confident, smiling American female in a bathing suit has grown to stand so much for corruption, anyway? That totally sucks! What would you rather look at? An obese and wrinkled woman with a mustache in baggy clothes and support stockings, wearing glasses and a frizzy wig...???!! Is that gonna make you have your spiritual epiphany??? And these guys have even less of an excuse; I mean, they're AMERICAN ROCK STARS, for God's sake! Like they only date innocent young churchgoing virgins...? Yeah, right! [/rant]

M. Shadow's verse makes the religious imagery a bit less hazy, though it's still not really intended to be a religious commentary: He's likening the experience of being corrupted by the sins of the BIG CITY to a baptism by fire of sorts--a young person leaving home for L.A. will either be transformed and strengthened, or he'll be destroyed.

I mean, I don't know much about Good Charlotte--they may have been sincerely trying with this song to make some sort of religious or spiritual statement, but if that was to be the case, then the statement is: "Large American cities will chew you up and spit you out, but people should not fear the experience because it's like a modern-day baptism. Be fearless and take the baptism. If you survive you'll then be better able to fight the forces of corruption."

That's not like a really cutting-edge spiritual statement, if that's indeed what it is.

Anyway, those are my thoughts. I hope this was helpful. yours in Chaos, Scarlett