Is This The End?

[Tremontifanatic]

HEY GUYS!

ITS ME AGAIN, ONLY MY SECOND DAY ON THE MESSAGE BOARD AND I FIGURED ID ENTERTAIN YOU GUYS A LITTLE. SO TODAY'S TOPIC IS, THE CREED SONG THAT HAS HAD THE BIGGEST AFFECT ON YOU....FOR EXAMPLE, IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN THE FIRST CREED SONG YOU HEARD, OR JUST ALL OF THEM OR WHAT.

I KNOW FOR A FACT THAT I LOVE EVERY ONE OF THEIR SONGS, BUT ONE SONG IN PARTICLAR THAT I LOVE IS IS THIS THE END. ITS PROBABLY THE CREED SONG THAT STOPPED ME FROM JUMPING OFF A BRIDGE OR SLITTING MY WRISTS AT ONE POINT, AND NOW WHEN I DO COUNCILING ON RETREATS AT MY OLD HIGHSCHOOL, I USE THAT SONG FOR GUIDANCE WITH SOME GUYS.

THE THING I LEARNED ABOUT IT IS, WHEN I WAS LISTENING TO IT, I ALWAYS LISTENED TO HIM SAYING...THIS IS THE END....LIKE...HES ASKING...IS IT THE END....BUT THATS NOT WHAT THE SONG MEANS AT ALL...WHAT HES SAYING IS....IS THIS THE BEGINNING...LIKE..IS THAT ALL YOUVE GOT GOD?...IS THIS THE END?...CAUSE IM NOT DONE FIGHTING

GIMME FEED BACK GUYS

[souldancer]

Hi, OK for a 'gal' to give feedback

Unfortunately i have not heard that song (would love to have it) but I did read the lyrics, and like you - I feel that it is about LEAVING BEHIND the old, raging, dark world (now it's gone) to BEGIN TO MOVE to look to the Light ! Beautiful, hopeful, and positive! Thanks for sharing that, and I would like to hear more about your work with HS students, whatever you feel comfortable sharing. Thanks.

[CreedKevin397]

Yea, I love that song too. I don't know if its the one that has most effect on me, but I still love it. My favorite part is when he says "Well as though we rise, as the day breaks the dawn...and as the moon hides the sun, oh the sun....No more sorrow....All those crying days are gone....No more sorrow, now it's gone. Now it's gone....Now it's gone." Really amazing lyrics. I wish they would have put it on Human Clay or something so it would get more exposure, it's a great song.

[TeriB19]

So many songs have moved me and had a major influence, so I'll pick one and rant about it. Wash Away Those Years. It's such a release to listen to that song, especially for anyone who has experienced the pain of abuse. "She whispered softly to tell her story about how she had been wronged". Very tough to begin speaking about, but you definitely feel 'wronged'. "Do not hide your tears, they were sent to wash away those years". So many people who are the victims of abuse do want to hide their tears away from everyone, keep them bottled up. But to open up and tell your story, then let the tears flow is very cathartic. For an all male band to create a song about that topic, and such a touching and well made song, IMHO, is just a credit to how outstanding they are.

[faceless kiwi]

What's this life for, is definatley a song that has touched me very deeply. The lyrics are amazing.

And weathered. From the first time i heard the song, it felt like the song was written for me, definately the creed song i can relate my life 2 the most.

[Dogstar]

There are so many for me, but WTLF is the one that touches me the most.

[allison]

It's my new favorite song! I am listening to it over and over. I love it so much, everything about it.

[Tremontifanatic]

SO LETS SEE....WHAT CAN I SAY ABOUT COUNCILING.....

I DO IT CAUSE I WANT TO....I DONT GET PAID...IT JUST FEELS REALLY GOOD....CAUSE ITS AN ALL BOYS SCHOOL...AND THESE GUYS WALK IN THINKING THEYRE TOO TOUGH TO OPEN UP........BUT LIGHT UP SOME INSENCE AND CANDLES...AND TALK ABOUT PERSONAL EXPERIENCES...AND PEOPLE START TO RELATE......THEN TELL OF THEIR EXPERIENCES...THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN...YOU HAVE A ROOM OF 10 GUYS CRYING ON EACHOTHERS SHOULDERS...LOL.....but it is truly moving...and i swear ive never been so full of emotion like when i do it....and i use is this the end....on the last night before we leave...and it really touches the guys deep...and i give them my definition of the song
towards the end of the session...the counciling leaders make them write letters to one another telling them what they think of a guy whom theyve known through 4 years of highschoo...but never got so deep into the persona...and all of a sudden..the nerd from freshman year....isnt so nerdy anymore......and we make their parents, siblings, and best friends at home write them letters too...and put them in a manilla envelope....tell them..go somewhere quiet...on the 500 acres of forest that we do it on..lol..and meditate on "whats in the envelope"........needless to say, thats when all the counciling leaders walk around with tissues for the guys

[souldancer]

Thank you Tremontifanatic - so touching and inspiring!, along with some pain and heaviness on your part. You are a gem for helping in their transformation. Today I was a sub at a high school and had an incident with a student, his words were filled with rage, yet, when I looked in his eyes I saw such sadness and helplessness. There needs to be more resources available to youth/schools - to tap into that deep, soft part within - in a safe place. I honor your work and appreciate your sharing!

[TeriB19]

TF that's a great thing that you are doing. It's a shame there aren't more resources available and more people like you ready to assist for the youth of today. You're doing something wonderful!

[Xterminator27]

I thsi teh end is a great song, Just as good as young grow old

[PaulMcCoygirl]

Quote:

Originally posted by CreedKevin397
<b>Yea, I love that song too. I don't know if its the one that has most effect on me, but I still love it. My favorite part is when he says "Well as though we rise, as the day breaks the dawn...and as the moon hides the sun, oh the sun....No more sorrow....All those crying days are gone....No more sorrow, now it's gone. Now it's gone....Now it's gone." &nbsp;Really amazing lyrics. I wish they would have put it on Human Clay or something so it would get more exposure, it's a great song. </b>

I agree......I bet if they did put it on HC it would have been made a single and been number 1 on the charts.

[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..........

[JenRN]

Whoooaa... Read JDM... that is some serious in depth perceptions! you are so right!!!! I feel the same way so much about those songs. I guess it is really hard to pinpoint a favorite song of Creed.
When I first heard them in 97 it BLEW ME AWAY it was like finally... music I can relate to!! I grew up with a very similiar religious background as Scott Stapp and MOP the entire Cd I feel like everything he is saying I feel or have felt! WTLF and Unforgiven really get me and ONE absolutely touches my soul for sure, I love so many of their songs on all the CD's Weathered really gets played a lot now, relate to it soooo much!!!

[PaulMcCoygirl]

Very well said JDM!!!