Survivor Guilt Lyrics

[Intro]

"What are you talking about? America is not going to be destroyed."

"Never?
Rome was destroyed, Greece was destroyed, Persia was destroyed, Spain was destroyed
All great countries are destroyed, why not yours?
How much longer do you think your own country will last?
Forever?"

[Verse 1]

Block the entrances, close the doors
Seal the exits because this is war

All gave some, some gave all
But for what? I want to know


[Hook]

Carry on, don't mind me
All I gave was everything
And yet you ask me for more
Fought your fight, bought your lie
And in return I lost my life
What purpose does this serve?

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About

Genius Annotation

This song was inspired by the film adaptation of Joseph Heller’s novel, Catch-22 and features dialogue from one of the movie’s central scenes, where Art Garfunkel’s character argues with an Italian soldier about America’s military importance. Frontman Tim McIlrath explained to Spin magazine

Garfunkel says to him, ‘How can Italy be powerful when they were occupied by Nazi Germany?’ and the soldier just sort of laughs at his stupidity and tells him, ‘Well, we’re still here — where are those people who occupied us? They lost.’ It’s this interesting anti-war statement and you can just see it blowing the soldier’s mind.

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

Credits
Lyricist
Mastering Engineer
Assistant Mixer
Recorded At
The Blasting Room, Fort Collins, Colorado
Release Date
January 1, 2011
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