what do we say about this?
October 11, 2007 by eunchan
Behold, I’m about to post something quite controversial from a k-rap group called “Epik High”. This is originally from: http://www.dramabeans.com/2007/10/yes-but-what-does-it-say:
Epik High - scapegoat
Lord, I’m falling farther away from you
I’m falling farther from false preachers
Those weeping casualties are smiling
Bibles are growing musty from negligence
I believe, in spite of myself I believe
In your name, we’re building a fortress higher than the tower of Babel
There’s killing but we’re still here, washing in holy water the reddened boots that trampled the battlegrounds
We’re forgetting it all, guarding our exemption from taxes like exemption from sin
Giving our tithes to the government
The national flag waving and the holy cross drooping,
We’re collapsing from the weight of malice
Committing sins; hungry, we’re chewing on the fruit of the Tree of knowledge
We’re naked and bare in the forest, lighting fires
We’re weeping and wailing
Almighty Lord, where the hell are you?
Is it all a lie that you’re almighty?
Is it all a lie that you’d save those weeping in pain?
Why’d you make us to stand, if you’d only make us kneel?
Why’d you make us to walk, if you were going to bury us in the ground?
We commit sins with our two hands that open to talk to you
Isn’t it to put cold handcuffs on us as we pray for repentance?
What is prayer? There’s never an answer
On a day like this, I can’t hate you
How can I break off the last leaf?
If you’re all-powerful and all-knowing, how can you pretend not to know me?
Everything depends on you
That one lost sheep hoped and spoke your name till the end
You said faith was the key?
You’re hidden behind the clouds, whatever you say
Today, show us blue sky before you’re hidden behind black clouds
Is it all a lie that you’re almighty?
Is it all a lie that you’d save those weeping in pain?
On this religion’s warground the devil’s heirlooms use the holy blood
to fill the dusty tombs of god’s people,
cloudin’ the vision like nuclear mushrooms
to see who gets to put which book in our hotel rooms
Is it the military or the oedipus complex
which kills the holy father for industrial contracts?
Just facts in this hell that we’re livin’ in
Dear god help us we are all your children
It doesn’t matter if you say it’s already too late
I don’t need to hear you say there’s a higher meaning
Is it all a lie that you’re almighty?
Is it all a lie that you’d save those weeping in pain?
My comment:
I’d say that this is misunderstanding and rebellious streak from this group of rappers or the lyricist of this song. I believe that this somehow got to do with South Korean government favouring over Christians’ agendas…and these people are questioning them…cos they don’t understand it…why Christians really don’t mind to die for their God. And they probably are also questioning the integrity of their government in these sentences…and I’m guessing and speculating what they’re actually saying in this song:
In your name, we’re building a fortress higher than the tower of Babel - sesuatu yang berkedok nama Allah orang Kristen?
Bibles are growing musty from negligence - what is it they’re actually saying here? I dun really understand…probably message for false Christians and false preachers who don’t take importance in the Bible?
There’s killing but we’re still here, washing in holy water the reddened boots that trampled the battlegrounds - pembunuh2 yang tidak dihukum?
We’re forgetting it all, guarding our exemption from taxes like exemption from sin - sindiran kepada orang Kristen kapitalis?
The national flag waving and the holy cross drooping - sindiran kepada pemerintah?
On this religion’s warground the devil’s heirlooms use the holy blood
to fill the dusty tombs of god’s people,
cloudin’ the vision like nuclear mushrooms
to see who gets to put which book in our hotel rooms - dominasi kekristenan di Korea Selatan? Apakah ini protes dari orang2 yang beragama lain?
Is it the military or the oedipus complex
which kills the holy father for industrial contracts? - sindiran kepada pemerintah lagi2?
It’s getting suspicious that there are lots of false preachers in Korea (well yea, I’ve heard some names before, but I have never heard it from Korean themselves until this song)…Hmm, why aren’t there any MRII in Japan and South Korea =P ? *isenx*
Hey, I saw this post here via the trackback link.
I think the song is meant to be interpreted a little less literally. The lyrics are speaking from a global perspective, not a strictly Korean one. For instance, the “washing… the reddened boots” line — everyone’s culpable for killing everyone else. We’re fighting on this holy warground, our boots stained with other people’s blood who have fallen in the name of their own god/religion, and we wash the blood off with holy water — justifying our killing in the name of “religion.”
The same sentiment applies to the English part of the rap about books in hotel rooms — everyone worldwide is killing everyone else, sending bombs to each other (a reference to 9/11?) in a nuclear haze. And it’s all to see which religion prevails, which is “right” — since the books in our hotel rooms are (currently) Bibles.
And I don’t think they’re speaking of false preachers literally. At least, not in a strictly in the sense of people running churches under false pretenses for money. Rather, I interpret it as a poetic way of saying people who proclaim religion falsely.
Of course, you’re free to interpret as you like, but I don’t see the song as misunderstanding or rebellious. Actually, I find their words insightfully keen. Just my thoughts.
Couldn’t agree more with javabeans