"Hero of War", alternative lyrics (non stupid-naive-hippie version)

The song "Hero of War" by the band "Rise Against" is currently very popular around the world.

I get so f***ing pissed-off every time I hear this song, and most of all, I get pissed because in a purely musical aspect, I find it very good, but the lyrics are just stuffed full of naive hippie bullshit (which is of course to be expected from a band of hippie vegetarian pot-heads like the band members of "Rise Against").

The worst thing is that this kind of stupid cheap hippie socialist propaganda that make up these lyrics of this song appeal so efficiently to people of lesser intelligence, and they now got it extremely widely spread by the popularity of this song.

The video makes the naive hippie propaganda even more apparent:



So, the only way to solve this problem of mine was to write my own alternative lyrics for this song. :) They are a political reply and non-naive counterpart to the original lyrics. I sing them in my head every time I hear the song, so that I can still enjoy the great musical aspects of it, without having to go outside and run around the block afterwards each time.

So, without further ado, here are my alternative lyrics to "Hero of War" by Rise Against, side by side with the original ones, for comparison (sing these new lyrics "in your head" while listening to the song from the video above, for best experience):

New alternative lyrics		Original hippie lyrics
He said, "Son, are you a failure in life?		He said, "Son, have you seen the world?
Well, that can be fixed, with just a measure of strife		Well, what would you say if I said that you could?
Just carry these lies, you'll even get paid		Just carry this gun, you'll even get paid"
By the ones we’ll betray”		I said, "That sounds pretty good"
They think they’re so good, doing everything right		Black leather boots, spit shined so bright
Thinking ahead, and standing up for the fight		They cut off my hair but it looks alright
But not even they		We marched and we sang
Will be able to stop, a sharp knife from behind		We all became friends as we learned how to fight
A socialist twat, that’s what I’ll be		A hero of war, yeah that's what I'll be
When I lie in my bed, I’ll feel so proud of me		And when I come home they'll be damn proud of me
I’ll carry these lies, to the grave if I must		I'll carry this flag to the grave if I must
Because they make me feel good, everyone else can be cussed		'Cause it's flag that I love and a flag that I trust
Invited them in, to talk and drink tea		I kicked in the door, I yelled my commands
Al Qaeda came first, Hamas after some plea		The children they cried but I got my man
We said please sit down, but they didn’t comply		We took him away, a bag over his face
Instead they loaded their guns		From his family and his friends
They raped all the girls, they tortured the men		They took off his clothes, they pissed in his hands
They hid behinds kids, in case we’d try to defend,		I told them to stop but then I joined in
So if someone struck back, they could cry to the press		We beat him with guns and batons
Always prepared for betrayal		Not just once but again and again
A socialist twat, that’s what I’ll be		A hero of war, yeah that's what I'll be
When I lie in my bed, I’ll feel so proud of me		And when I come home they'll be damn proud of me
I’ll carry these lies, to the grave if I must		I'll carry this flag to the grave if I must
Because they make me feel good, consider all else unjust		'Cause it's flag that I love and a flag that I trust
She appeared, with a mysterious grin		She walked through bullets and haze
I asked her to come, I welcomed her in		I asked her to stop, I begged her to stay
And she came up,		But she pressed on
I opened my arms, then she pulled the pin		So I lifted my gun and I fired away
And the blast, ripped through the flesh		And the shells jumped through the smoke
Our media at home, they said it was fair		And into the sand that the blood now had soaked
We gave her our trust, in the flag in her hand		She collapsed with a flag in her hand
A flag white as snow		A flag white as snow
A socialist twat, that’s what I’ll be		A hero of war is that what they see
When I lie in my bed, I’ll feel so proud of me		Just medals and scars, so damn proud of me
I’ll carry these lies, to the grave if I must		And I brought home that flag, now it gathers dust
Because they make me feel good, everyone else can be cussed		But it's a flag that I love, it's the only flag I trust
He said, "Son, are you a failure in life?		He said, "Son, have you seen the world?
Well, that can be fixed, with just a measure of strife”		Well, what would you say if I said that you could?"

These lyrics are best enjoyed with the original hippie-lyrics in mind. Also, do note that even though these alternative lyrics don't have the exact number of syllables as the original lyrics at each line, they are still well-fittable into the music, in exactly the same way as the original lyrics have different numbers of syllables fit into the same musical passages at different points. Just try to "sing it in your head" along with the music, and you'll see.

It would be really great if someone could make a "video reply" on YouTube, where these lyrics are transcribed into the original video! (I don't know how to make videos :-/)

Or even better, if you can sing, please make a complete song video with them. You can for example use the following instrumental-only video to overlay your singing on, along with a transcription of the lyrics:



Either way, I hereby release the full rights to these lyrics, for anyone to do whatever they want with, and I encourage you to spread them as much and far as possible!

PS.
This blog is usually in Swedish, but since this song is in English, and since I want these lyrics to get as much exposure as possible, I wrote the entire post in English this time.

PS2.
Someone made a comment on the official YouTube video for Hero of War, referencing this blog post. Please go to this video on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DboMAghWcA) and click the "thumbs up icon" for that comment, to make it listed at the top, in order for more people to see these lyrics! To find this comment, search for "TackForDetMona" on that page (which is the name of the user that wrote the comment). It only needs 10 votes, so your help is valuable!