Oh my gosh, you won’t believe it! “Single Raise Your Voice” was the very first single from No Substance, and it came out in Europe just a week or two before the album dropped. And guess what? Inside the CD, there’s a super cool picture of the band with Campino, the lead singer of Die Toten Hosen, who even appeared in the promo video! When Greg Graffin saw the single for the first time, he was like, “This is ridiculous?” because they never have any control over what goes on the cover of their singles – that’s all up to Sony.
But wait, there’s more! There are actually two versions of “Raise Your Voice.” The European release of No Substance has Campino singing some lines, while all the other versions only have him in the background vocals. And get this, as of 2019, the European version is the one you’ll find on Spotify. How cool is that?
Now, let’s talk about the meaning behind the song. According to Graffin, it’s all about the band’s main message of not blindly following any leader. They’re sick of all the troublemakers in politics, religion, and the media. Can’t blame them, right?
And get ready for this, the music video for “Raise Your Voice” was actually filmed at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, the same place where Robert F. Kennedy was tragically killed in 1968. Talk about a powerful location! The video was directed by the awesome German director Kai Sehr, and they had about 20 actors involved. How epic is that?
Now, here’s where things get really interesting. Graffin was inspired to write this song after seeing a news report about an attack on an American abortion clinic. Two employees were killed by an anti-abortionist, and none of the doctors had the courage to intervene because they were afraid of another attack. Greg believes that anyone who doesn’t have the guts to stand up and do something will just become an opportunist, like a bunch of rats or voles. Deep stuff, right?
And there you have it, folks! That’s the scoop on “Single Raise Your Voice.” Rock on!
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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