Henchman Lyrics
Stranded in a life in which your struggle for acceptance is a never-ending chore
Upbraided for your actions past and present and rewarded for the ideas of the future's bright open door
The henchman is the human analogue of the suffering multitudes who, like good dogs, sit and lick for their reward
[Bridge]
So what good advice
Have I got for you
To insure against your likely metamorphosis into this reprobate?
[Outro]
Don't be a henchman
Stand on your laurels
Do what no one else does, and praise the good of other men for good man's sake
And when everyone else in the world follows your lead
Although a cold day in hell, it will surely be
That's when the entire world shall live in harmony
One, two!
About
A henchman, historically defined as an attendant to a person of high nobility, is presently a derogatory term for a person willing to serve someone of higher social standing in dishonest or criminal ways.
In “Henchman,” Bad Religion uses the term as an analogy for what they believe to be the sheeplike complacency of the modern man, describing people’s desperate desire for acceptance, often at the expense of their individuality. The band warns against the temptation to sink into this harmful aspect of society, encouraging listeners not only to pave their own paths, but to praise and encourage those around them to do the same, ironically asserting that that society can only have true unity when others follow the lead of those who become their own people.
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