[Read JDM]

Most of Creed's songs mean a lot to me because there's a theme which runs through them, and that's the theme of man's struggle. It's a theme we all can relate to, even if we choose not to let it become an issue in our lives. It's about existence -- what it means, why it sucks, and so on.

In several instances, Scott alludes to the theme of man's struggle in its purest, most pristine form, as he references the bastardization of the innocence of youth. "Like children with no vision do exactly what they're told," in Say I. "So let the children play inside your heart always, and death you will defy," in Never Die. He also goes on to paint pictures of the inevitable corruption of every man, as in Wrong Way, "What makes our youth run from the thought that we might die?" And most recently, "Children, don’t stop dancing. Believe you can fly away." This idea that children should keep dancing, should keep believing they can fly -- it's just so beautiful. The idea that a child's innocence could last is wonderful, but yet it can't happen. It just can't. Every child is "Born in [their] own misery," as stated in Torn, and to deny this might be conceived as, in Unforgiven, "Childish with my reasoning and pride."

I think a few of you have touched upon this theme in talking about counciling, about how even the most misbehaved children are, in their hearts, tortured souls. See, because it's the idea that a man can reason that makes a man's childhood die, that makes a man into a monster. (The good news, however, is that a man need not become what he hates).

And as this theme evolves, it shows man falling away and wrestling with both his enemies as well as his innermost demons. In Bullets, "I’m trying to find a reason to live but the mindless clutter my path," and "At least look at me when you shoot a bullet through my head." In What If, "Forked tongues in bitter mouths can drive a man to bleed from inside out." Or In America, "What is right or wrong, I don't know who to believe in." And what makes it all so difficult is the fact that there's only so much time we get on Earth to decide just what the Hell is going on here. Such as in To Whom It May Concern, "I didn't mean to rush you, but time keeps pushing so much." Or in One Last Breath, "I thought I found the road to somewhere... in His grace."

The point is, the world is a wicked, wicked place, and a man becomes as bad as the world in which he lives because he's been scorned so many times. I don't think there's a coincidence that so many of Creed's songs mention children and the innocence of youth. Scott's own background is one of a kid who wanted to be just that -- a kid. Life doesn't let that happen too often, and that's where man's struggle takes hold. How does it affect us? Do we learn from it? Give into it or defeat it?

The chorus in One defines this struggle better than anything else: "I feel angry. I feel helpless. Want to change the world." Imagine that. Imagine an anger, a ferocity, a strength so powerful that it's somehow, and in some strange way, the same thing as helplessness. That blows my mind. But to me, it's what we all go through. We all have our own obstacles, our own strong points and our own detriments, and the solution to our troubles is to rise up, to overcome, to see that, "There's a peace inside us all" and to "Let it be your friend." Or to put it into Star Wars terminology, to choose against the Dark Side of the one and only Force.

I view Is This The End as an important song in terms of conveying this theme. "When two worlds collide, one steals a life like a thief in the night." You can take that to mean so many things, and you can read into the biblical reference as much or as little as you'd like, but the idea here is, again, that the Earth is a temporary place, and that you have to decide is the Earth the end? Is it? No one knows for 100% certain, and it's the crux of man's struggle. Man is here for only a period of time, this much he knows, but he must choose for himself what to do with that time. "I cry out to God seeking only his decision. Gabriel stands and confirms I've created my own prison." But on the other hand, "Hurray for a child that makes it through."

You've got to look at the world and what it's done to you, and laugh it off. As in Bullets, "I laugh aloud because my life has gotten inside someone else’s mind." You've got to realize that life is a linear project, a straightforward and anti-climactic waste of a non-existant thing called time -- unless, of course, you make the most of it. The world binds you only as much as you allow it to. That's why you ask yourself, "Is this the end?" Because if the Earth is the end, then you will be affected adversely by Earthly, worldly and fleshy things. But if it's not the end, you can transcend. You can shed the chains of materiality. Your life can mean something. You can return to the innocence of your youth, and, unlike when you were young, you can have the experience to appreciate the beauty of your own innocence.

But I don't know how I got off on this tangent so I'm going to bed now..........