Oh my gosh, you won’t believe this! According to Jay, in the song “Heaven Is Falling,” the line “King George and his rainbow cabinet” is actually referring to George Bush! Can you believe it? George Bush used the term “U.N. Rainbow Cabinet” to describe his closest advisors when Jesse Jackson called him out on the lack of minorities in his administration. But get this, even though he called it a “rainbow cabinet,” it was mostly made up of white males. Can you say hypocritical?
And that’s not all! Brett, the genius behind the song, said in a 2004 interview that “Heaven Is Falling” is actually an anti-war protest song. Specifically, it’s protesting the Gulf War that happened in 1991. Brett wrote the song out of anger and frustration because he wanted to do something about the war. He was surrounded by all these punk kids saying they were ready to go fight if they got drafted. Can you imagine?
But wait, there’s more! The part in the song that goes “As I walk beneath the valley, I shall fear no evil” is actually inspired by Psalm 23:4. In that Psalm, the writer describes God as a protector and provider. It’s one of the most well-known passages in the Bible. So cool, right?
And get this, the phrase “thousand points of light” that you might have heard before was actually from George H. W. Bush’s inaugural address in 1989. He was encouraging people to make individual contributions to society. Pretty inspiring stuff, if you ask me.
Now, let’s talk about the releases of this awesome song. It first appeared on a split 7″ called “New World Order: War #1” with none other than Noam Chomsky. How cool is that? And for the album “Generator,” the song was re-recorded and the drums were played by Bobby instead of Pete. Gotta love those little details.
And guess what? In 2004, a remastered version of “Generator” was released, which included both versions of “Heaven Is Falling.” So you can enjoy it in all its glory.
Oh, and did I mention that there are some pretty rad cover versions of this song? Blender recorded a fast and messy cover for the album “Fuck Hell – This is a Tribute to Bad Religion.” And The Ataris also did a cover for the compilation “Rock
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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