Oli Sykes has revealed that one of the songs on Bring Me The Horizon‘s new album ‘POST HUMAN: NeX GEn’ is “a critique of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict”.
The track in question is the album’s seventh track, ‘a bulleT w/my namE On’, which is a collaboration with Underoath. One line in particular stuck out to fans – “And if Jesus Christ returns/We’ll just kill the fucker twice,” which was sung by Underoath’s Spencer Chamberlain, who was Christian for much of the band’s career.
Sykes replied to a comment on YouTube which had ended up leading to a debate among several commenters about religion. In it, he revealed what the track had been referring to and his own shifting thoughts on religion, despite having written rather strongly atheistic lyrics throughout his career.
“While I do not believe in a personified god, and have lyrics that reflect this perspective, I also have friends who are believers and whose faith has profoundly helped and transformed them for the better, and believe if organised religion brings out the good in a person, then it is a great thing,” he began. “I consider myself spiritual and believe in a higher power, and actually think ‘deist’ would describe me better than atheist. But anyway! Although I find it a lil amusing people getting mad over the Jesus lyric, since I asked an artist with a religious background to sing this line, I want to explain the idea behind the song.
“The song as a whole is a critique of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, firstly in the sense of how we, the public discuss and view geopolitical issues through a lens of blame and justification rather than from a perspective of empathy and emotional engagement, usually with an extremely superficial understanding of the conflict (due to most of information being absorbed via click baity headlines, sound bites and memes rather than in-depth research).
“And secondly of how the war itself is being handled by the people in power.
In a recent comment on YouTube, Oli Sykes (Bring Me The Horizon) has provided clarification on Bullet With No Name and how the lyrics of the track are in reference to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. pic.twitter.com/jAQO0aK4tt
— State of the Scene (@SOTSPodcast) May 31, 2024
He then turned his attention to the lyric that “caused a stir”, saying: “if Jesus Christ returns, well just kill that fucker twice” is intended to serve as a critique of those in power who depose figures of moral or ethical opposition, even (or especially) if those figures advocate for peace and justice.
“The song is written from the imagined perspective of a war victim, and the entire section containing the lyric in question is meant to encapsulate a sense of despair and rage that even if a figure as significant as Jesus were to return to save the victims of Palestinian/Israel, the governing bodies would most likely eliminate them- just like Jesus was executed before. Likewise the ‘back hurt your knife’ lyric is meant to reflect the twisted logic often employed by those in power, who deflect responsibility and instead shift the blame on victims for the trouble caused by their own oppressive actions.
“The lyric was influenced by the location of the conflict and its religious significance, more than my desire to shock and offend :P!”
He concluded: “To summarise!!! the song was intended to reflect my emotions on the ongoing conflict and humanitarian crisis in Gaza, not my hatred for the big JC. I was taking a shot at how the Western world is not only failing morally to address the rights and humanity of innocent Palestinians and Israelis but is also perpetuating a cycle of violence and suffering. Moreover, it highlights the tragic reality that, in these wars on both sides, real human beings—just like you and me—are dying, guilty for nothing except being born in a war zone. So if me believing in your specific god is necessary for you to listen to us, im sorry. But this song has a deep meaning to me and in this particular situation i thought it would be cool to share.”
In a four-star review of the album, NME wrote: “Few modern rock bands have made an album that is such a bombardment of sound and colour. Post-Jordan Fish, they continue to be what they’ve always been: a creative force that transcends the personalities of its individuals. It entirely justifies the four-year wait, which already feels like ancient history. Buckle up – because this is still BMTH’s world, and we’ll be living in it for quite some time yet.”
Meanwhile, Bring Me The Horizon have also been revealed as the most streamed rock band on the planet.
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