Green Day: 21 Guns Meaning

Song Released: 2009

21 Guns Lyrics

Do you know what's worth fighting for,
When it's not worth dying for?
Does it take your breath away
And you feel yourself suffocating?

Does the pain weigh out the pride?
And you look for a place to hide?
Did someone break your heart...

1. anonymous

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   May 27th 2011 !⃝

   Green Day is a band that is 100% against war the whole "American Idiot" and "21st Century Breakdown" albums both express strongly their distaste and digust with the war that has been going on in Iraq and Afganastan(srry if i spelled that wrong) this song is about takeing our American troops out of war.
2. anonymous

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   May 25th 2011 !⃝

   21 guns is all about how fighting is not worth the effort. that with war only comes more war until someone ends up giving up and giving away what they lived years for.
3. anonymous

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   May 20th 2011 !⃝

   it is awesome. it is talking about the wars that have no real meaning to it
4. anonymous

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   May 14th 2011 !⃝

   This song compares the obvious circumstances of war to an argument with a loved one. It is hard to surrender an argument when one believes he is right, however this song suggests that at some point the argument is not worth degrading or destroying a relationship. Sometimes it is simply better to "throw your arms to the sky" and surrender to each other for the sake of the relationship.
   
   Sometimes one has to do what is best for the relationship and not for oneself.
5. anonymous

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   May 11th 2011 !⃝

   A lot of people don't seem to realize that 21st century breakdown was written as a rock opera. A lot of these analysis are completely ignoring that fact. Anyway, at this point in the story, Christain and Gloria are giving up their revolutionary battle and realizing that fighting is not the best thing for them to do.
6. anonymous

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   May 5th 2011 !⃝

   If this song was about Surrendering when if the fight isn't worth dying for, I think it might imply that you should fight for anything that isn't worth dying for. Dying doesn't have to be of a life, it could be of a certain practice or part of your life. If you're fighting for something that isn't worth the cause, get out. We all need to be fighting for "Death and for Glory" as Theodon says in Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, when they're practically dead, but they go out in spite of the odds and go, because they know they're fighting the Good fight, the one that's worth dying for.
7. anonymous

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   May 2nd 2011 !⃝

   it means you need to give up the fight, what ever your situation might be. Life isnt over. It may seem like the problem is forever but it will be solved. And of course there are other military terms involve
8. anonymous

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   May 1st 2011 !⃝

   I am really impressed by the quality of your responses. Do you think that it has a message beyond the boarders of the US?
9. anonymous

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   Apr 26th 2011 !⃝

   I believe this song is a personal battle with addiction. At the end of each verse it states that "YOU are in ruins". 21 guns I associate with the decision to give up the battle, a feeling of defeat. The 1st time "lay down your arms is stated" I think it means don't pick up the drug, the second time, means reach out to a higherpower or God as we are taught to do in recovery.The verse that talks about the end of the road, broken glass(egg shells), everything crumbling around you, all talks about that end of the line jumping off point, total defeat and desespair.
10. anonymous

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    Mar 31st 2011 !⃝

    Divorce. Plain and simple.
11. anonymous

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    Mar 25th 2011 !⃝

    Honestly, I don't think it's very hard to interpret. This song is simply a love song that uses war metaphors. Clearly, Christian and Gloria are in some sort of fight, but they're realizing that it's not worth it anymore. As others have said, the "21 guns" parts means surrender. Basically, it's a simple song: They got into an argument, but now they realize it was pointless (it wasn't worth fighting for) so they are surrendering to love.
12. anonymous

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    Mar 14th 2011 !⃝

    Did you try to live on your own
    When you burned down the house and home?
    Did you stand too close to the fire?
    Like a liar looking for forgiveness from a stone
    
    This is obviouly talking about a fight with the family. Who lives in the home? The family, they are somehow always family. Whether it's blood, adoptive, or figurative. And the 21 guns salute says that he is no longer hostile toward his family.
13. anonymous

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    Mar 13th 2011 !⃝

    21 guns is referring to christians grief about gloria dying and about how he wishes he could be with her, hence the line, "do you know whats worth fighting for when its not worth dying for." christian is considering commiting suicide, and he has to decide if gloria meant enough to him to destroy the rest of his life to be with her again
14. anonymous

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    Mar 7th 2011 !⃝

    It's about the war in Iraq and all the mess from the Bush administration.
15. anonymous

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    Mar 7th 2011 !⃝

    I wrote about this song in a paper I wrote for English about how environment impacts identity, so I looked at it in a way to fit that, and it ended up meking me think it's a legit meaning. Here you go, straight from my paper:
    
    “21 Guns” by Green Day is about domestic abuse. Knowing the background of the singer, it is easier to tell the full impact of this song, other than a nice melody. The opening two stanzas talk about the fight and flight of living with domestic abuse. “Do you know what’s worth fighting for?” (1). Petty arguments, bills, dinner; the treasures of kids, family, friendship. “When it’s not worth dying for?” (2). Fighting for freedom, equality, choice. “Does it take your breath away/ And you feel yourself suffocating?/ Does the pain weigh out the pride?” (3-5). See the bruises, cuts, and scrapes of the bloody face lying on the floor. “And you look for a place to hide?/ Did someone break your heart inside?/ You’re in ruins.” (6-8) The little kid is peering out from under the bed, watching his mom and dad’s feet move about the room as they yell and scream. The middle two stanzas talk about the pain of waiting, of trying to just make it through from fight to fight, if only just to be able to see the sky one more time. “Your faith walks on broken glass/ And the hangover doesn’t pass/ Nothing’s ever built to last.” (17-19). People tip toe around, always on the edge, always ready to run and hide. The last two stanzas talk about how the victims of domestic abuse are broken by it – literally, if souls and spirits were tangible things, they would be in shards on the ground – and how when they finally get away from it, when they finally find a way out, they end up going back to it because it is all they know. “When it’s time to live and let die/ And you can’t get another try/ Something inside this head has died/ You’re in ruins.” (29-32). The chorus is the call for peace, the call for an end, the call for mercy, if nothing else. A twenty-one gun salute is a sign of surrender. “Lay down your arms, give up the fight… 21 guns/ Throw up your arms into the sky, you and I.” (38-40). Let there be surrender, no more fighting, just “you and I,” here, together. Armstrong is speaking out, not only about the ongoing domestic abuse that is happening today, but also about what happened in his home when he was a child. The experiences have gone, and the memories have lost some of their sting, but the events changed him as surely as they continue to affect others today.

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