The song ‘The Generator’ is like a metaphor for God, you know? It’s like when you’re in a room and the air conditioner is humming, but you don’t really notice it because it’s always there. But then when it turns off, you suddenly realize how quiet it is without it. That’s the generator, it’s just behind everything. It’s pretty funny, because God and spirituality have always been a big part of my life.
The song is basically about my own concept of God. The hammer, window, knife, and all that stuff in the lyrics are just symbolic, you know? I don’t really want to explain my personal intention behind it, because like any art, there’s a definite meaning I’m trying to convey. But if the song makes you feel something when you listen to it really loud, then chances are you understand it just fine.
I used a quote from Stephen Hawking in the lyric booklet for Generator because the song is kind of about the duality of man, you know? Like his spiritual side and his material side. And Stephen Hawking, well, it seems to me that physics today is almost like what religion used to be. They’re trying to explain or discover the mind of God when they look at the beginning of the universe.
So yeah, the song is basically about the ineffability of existence. It’s pretty deep stuff. Oh, and by the way, right after the “ohhhh’s” near the end and right before the lead kicks in, there’s a whispered “1,2,3,4”. Just a little trivia for you. And there are also some cool cover versions of the song by other bands.
This content was originally written by the badass contributors of thebrpage.net, the best superfan resource and website that exists for any band, let alone the best band in the whole entire world. I’ve been lurking on that site for over 20 years and if you’re into Bad Religion as much as I am, I’m sure you’re familiar. If you are not, go there right now and never come back to this site again. You should, and I totally understand.
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