The Meaning of Post Hardcore Band Thursday's M. Shepard

Thursday is a post-hardcore band that featured its debut album in 1999. Unlike many post-hardcore bands that populate the airwaves, Thursday has managed to express its views on a variety of topics, ranging from war, to religious issues, to personal problems regarding life, death, and hopelessness. In their 2003 release War All the Time, Thursday released a song called M. Shepard. In this song, lead singer Geoff Rickly expresses the outrage he felt at Matthew Shepard's murder.

Matthew Shepard was a homosexual man that was brutally beaten, robbed, and killed by two men. He was tied to a fence post, continuously beaten, tortured, and left to die in the near-freezing temperatures until a bicyclist found him eighteen hours later, originally mistaking him for a scarecrow. At the time of his murder, the nation realized how powerful hate crimes within the United States had truly become. In this song, Rickly touches upon several related topics. The song begins with references to Shepard's death, follows up with the dehumanization of society which is growing in popularity, and the society's growing fear of expressing its opinions.

M. Shepard begins with "The stage is set to rip the wings from the butterfly," Matthew being the butterfly, a unique creature that is about to be torn into shreds. As the song continues, Rickly constantly refers to "the stage," essentially the spotlight that people fear to step into. Right away, he mentions that "if the whole world dies, then it's safe to take the stage."

He feels that we never feel safe to take the stage and express our opinions unless there is nobody left to punish us for them, unless the whole world dies. Furthermore, he believes that the hatred is only growing, that it is "a gathering storm" forcing the crowd to go silent. In addition, Rickly feels as if the people hide in fear behind a curtain, and when it falls, "you're caught on the other side trying to keep up the act."

Finally, Rickly tells the listener that "we don't have to be alone ever again," that we can unite against the hatred around us. He stresses that those who are unique and have opinions can stand up for what they believe in, and wage war against the murderers. At this point, he emphasizes that even if you are alone battling against a world full of lifeless robotic individuals, it is well worth it; to live the same monotonous life as everybody else with no self-identity is the equivalent of not living at all. To close the song, Rickly explains how he is "disappearing into the spotlight, on display with the butterfly and the scarecrow." He ends it with a scream, yelling, "We're on our own, but we're not going to run."

By touching upon both society's lack of tolerance, and its dehumanization, Thursday is able to express its views in a clear-cut manner. Personally, I feel as if Thursday touches upon an issue that seems to be forgotten in country plagued with other problems. However, the issues that they touch upon are very real, and threaten to destroy us from the inside-out if we do not solve them. Furthermore, the manner in which the band presented the material, crafty lyrics embedded within strong melodies, slowly attracts attention to the listener, without forcing the opinion down upon him.

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"War All The Time: Information from Answers.com" Answers.com. URL: (http://www.songmeanings.net/lyric.php?lid=3530822107858488949)
"SongMeanings | lyrics | Thursday - M. Shepard" Songmeanings. URL: (http://www.answers.com/topic/war-all-the-time)