Anti-War advocates
The band’s first topic of rebellion is war. Rise Against is an anti-war advocate.
They are currently rallying against the Iraq war and all of the global conflicts related to it.
The band wrote a song entitled “Hero of War” which is not the same as the average anti-war
song anyone has heard. The song is a beautiful acoustic one that is very slow and somber.
McIlrath comments that he wanted to do something different, something that
people would actually pay attention to because it was new, “I really felt that I
wanted to comment on this elephant in the room, and I didn't want to be
redundant. I didn't want to write the same anti-war song. I think ‘Hero of War'
is a fresh approach to an old problem” (Usinger). This became a very well-known
anti-war song popular among anti-war protestors. The band even had the
opportunity to sing it to anti-war protesters outside of the NATO Summit in
Chicago. Part of verse one’s lyrics read as follows, “So I lifted my gun and I
fired away and the shells jumped through the smoke and into the sand that the
blood now had soaked/She collapsed with a flag in her hand/A flag as white as
snow.” These lyrics are questioning the mainstream idea of a hero. Rise
Against is challenging that definition and asking to society to rethink it.
A hero is not someone who simply goes to war for their country when the time is
right; a hero should ask if the war is just, if there is an acceptable cause, if
perhaps we have over-stayed our welcome and no long have business being in the
war. A hero doesn’t kill innocent people, and the song does a great job
criticizing that. In the song, the soldier ends up taking the life of a woman
who was holding a flag the color white. This white flag is the woman calling a
truce, she is ready to surrender. The number of innocent civilians whose lives
are taken during any war is immense, and for the audience to realize this and
also that perhaps those civilians feel as ready to be done with the war as they
are is eye-opening and can potentially provide society with a change of heart.
They are currently rallying against the Iraq war and all of the global conflicts related to it.
The band wrote a song entitled “Hero of War” which is not the same as the average anti-war
song anyone has heard. The song is a beautiful acoustic one that is very slow and somber.
McIlrath comments that he wanted to do something different, something that
people would actually pay attention to because it was new, “I really felt that I
wanted to comment on this elephant in the room, and I didn't want to be
redundant. I didn't want to write the same anti-war song. I think ‘Hero of War'
is a fresh approach to an old problem” (Usinger). This became a very well-known
anti-war song popular among anti-war protestors. The band even had the
opportunity to sing it to anti-war protesters outside of the NATO Summit in
Chicago. Part of verse one’s lyrics read as follows, “So I lifted my gun and I
fired away and the shells jumped through the smoke and into the sand that the
blood now had soaked/She collapsed with a flag in her hand/A flag as white as
snow.” These lyrics are questioning the mainstream idea of a hero. Rise
Against is challenging that definition and asking to society to rethink it.
A hero is not someone who simply goes to war for their country when the time is
right; a hero should ask if the war is just, if there is an acceptable cause, if
perhaps we have over-stayed our welcome and no long have business being in the
war. A hero doesn’t kill innocent people, and the song does a great job
criticizing that. In the song, the soldier ends up taking the life of a woman
who was holding a flag the color white. This white flag is the woman calling a
truce, she is ready to surrender. The number of innocent civilians whose lives
are taken during any war is immense, and for the audience to realize this and
also that perhaps those civilians feel as ready to be done with the war as they
are is eye-opening and can potentially provide society with a change of heart.
It is important to keep in mind however, that Rise Against is not
anti-soldier. Soldiers are brave and selfless, and this is never once
argued against. The song instead calls war into question while never
insulting the brave soldiers who fight our wars. It is easy for an older
audience to look at a band similar to Rise Against and their song “Hero of
War” and call them un-American for being unsupportive of the war. Older
generations have always been taught not to voice their opinion against anything
the U.S. decides to do because it is unpatriotic. The youth however has become
less afraid to say what they think. Today’s anti-Iraq war protesters can be easily compared to the anti-Vietnam
protesters from the 1960’s. These two generations of anti-war advocates
understand that war is an extremely costly process. Not only do countries
at war lose a lot of money, but they also lose things that we cannot put a
price on, such as the lives of innocent civilians. Looking out for the
country’s well-being is anything but unpatriotic, and Rise Against
is completely understanding of this.
In return for voicing their anti-war opinion, Rise
Against has been deemed a "political-punk”band by many people outside of
their fan base. In an interview McIlrath is asked whether the “extremely
political” stigma they’ve been given is accurate or not, McIlrath replies
“Do I give a shit about what happens in the world I have to live in? Fuck yeah I do!
Don’t you? Does that mean I’m political? Does that make us “extremely
political”? The only reason our band is viewed as being“extremely political” is
because of the lack of bands in the punk/hardcore scene today that are saying
anything important” (Cooper).
This is another extremely youthful approach to this situation. The
band doesn’t want to be labeled just because they care about what is going
on in the world, just as youth does not want to be labeled for the
things they do either.
anti-soldier. Soldiers are brave and selfless, and this is never once
argued against. The song instead calls war into question while never
insulting the brave soldiers who fight our wars. It is easy for an older
audience to look at a band similar to Rise Against and their song “Hero of
War” and call them un-American for being unsupportive of the war. Older
generations have always been taught not to voice their opinion against anything
the U.S. decides to do because it is unpatriotic. The youth however has become
less afraid to say what they think. Today’s anti-Iraq war protesters can be easily compared to the anti-Vietnam
protesters from the 1960’s. These two generations of anti-war advocates
understand that war is an extremely costly process. Not only do countries
at war lose a lot of money, but they also lose things that we cannot put a
price on, such as the lives of innocent civilians. Looking out for the
country’s well-being is anything but unpatriotic, and Rise Against
is completely understanding of this.
In return for voicing their anti-war opinion, Rise
Against has been deemed a "political-punk”band by many people outside of
their fan base. In an interview McIlrath is asked whether the “extremely
political” stigma they’ve been given is accurate or not, McIlrath replies
“Do I give a shit about what happens in the world I have to live in? Fuck yeah I do!
Don’t you? Does that mean I’m political? Does that make us “extremely
political”? The only reason our band is viewed as being“extremely political” is
because of the lack of bands in the punk/hardcore scene today that are saying
anything important” (Cooper).
This is another extremely youthful approach to this situation. The
band doesn’t want to be labeled just because they care about what is going
on in the world, just as youth does not want to be labeled for the
things they do either.