What does Screaming At the Wailing Wall mean?

Flogging Molly: Screaming At the Wailing Wall Meaning

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Album cover for Screaming At the Wailing Wall album cover

Screaming At the Wailing Wall Lyrics

So God how come every wrong's been done?
With deals no Christ should allow
Once the communist now the terrorist
With blood as thick as yours
Now a caravan of clouds
Warns us all of winter showers
Then rattle comes the rain
With each bullet...

  1. 1TOP RATED

    #1 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
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    Feb 25th 2007 !⃝

    I think this song is one of Flogging Molly's easier song to figure out:

    So God how come every wrong's been done?
    With deals no Christ should allow
    Once the communist now the terrorist
    With blood as thick as yours

    The first 2 lines deal with evangelical christians who conduct wars based on what they think are Christ's words. clearly a swipe at George W. Bush and evangelicals in general. The nest 2 lines refer to 2 different invisible enemies from 2 different eras, in the '50s the enemy was communism and the Soviet Union. Now the enemy is the terrorrist lurking the shadows. With blood as thick as yours could refer to efforts to dehumanize the invisible enemy.

    Now a caravan of clouds
    Warns us all of winter showers
    Then rattle comes the rain
    With each bullet screams your name

    These lines seem to refer just to war in general

    So how come this gatherin' storm
    Pours little on the truth?
    Where the smokin' gun's a familiar
    song let loose
    With the bombed out cars
    Come the falling stars
    From a heaven we'll never know

    This gathering storm pours little on the truth refers to the lie of WMD on which the war in Iraq is based. The smoking gun's a familar song could refer and to the lie of WMD which was sold to the the world, or the fact the bush adminstaration keeps calling this a war for liberation. With the bombed out cars come the falling stars from a heaven we'll never know could refer to American bombs being dropped on Iraq. and as far as a heaven we'll never know, I see this as the fact that the US is a mostly christain nation bombing Muslims, who will never know the Christian heaven.

    And the nameless names
    On the misspelled graves grow tall
    We're still screamin' at the Wailing Wall

    Obviously refers to uncounted numbers of Iraqis who have died and perhaps the number of troops as well. Screaming at the wailing wall a believe to be the refer to the fact that many Christians and people in general are frustrated with what they see as religon being used as a weapon of war

    I'll liberate your peoples' fate
    Spoke the Burnin' Bush
    But the song of beasts
    Grow with oil soaked teeth
    Their dollor is mighty and true

    The Burning Bush is another biblical reference but here it refers to George W Bush, who is burning with anger at Saddam, and he claimed he would liberate the iraqi people from Saddams rule.. The could also be a reference to the fact that Bush said 'god told me to invade iraq. Obvioulsy beast with oil soaked teeth would refer to Halliburton Bush, and that Oil was the real reason we went to war. Thier dollar is mighty and true as in, in the end money rules all.

    Now the eagle soares the sky
    Over refugee and child
    And to all there is no end
    Another day in perfect Hell

    The Eagle is an age old reference to America, it soars over the refugges of the war and children. To all their is no end refers to the fact no noe knows when the War in Iraq will and and also the fact that the war on terror has no forseeable end. Obviously war is hell hence the last line.

    The All Hail would appear or be a refence to many peoples beleif that Bush has become more of a dictator than president.

    A repeat of the chpurs and reminder at the end that Bush said he was liberating the iraqis from a terrible fate under saddam. and a last scream of frustration.

  2. 2TOP RATED

    #2 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Feb 22nd 2009 !⃝

    Flogging Molly aren't against communism, I'm not saying they're for it, but they're against capitalism and Bush, just like communists. And whoever reffers to communism as "the enemy" needs to get their history straight, the Soviet Union was the enemy, and in my opinion they were not communists, nor is North-Korea. A communist state would not have a dictator, communism is all about being equal to each other, no one's above anybody. Not saying communism is the way to go, because it has never been tested out before. Then again, capitalism is not the way to go either, just look at the fucking economy today. Capitalism is just as faulty as the Soviet Unions' interpretation of communism.

    Ok back to the song, it's already been said, but it's about the various conflict we're facing today, and Bush (George W. Bush), as Dave has stated in various interviews, he loves the people in America, but he does not at all agree with the government.

  3. 3TOP RATED

    #3 top rated interpretation:
    anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Nov 2nd 2005 !⃝

    Must Flogging Molly songs have somewhat clear meanings but they're sometimes hard to get. I noticed none were posted here so here's one:
    Screaming at the Wailing Wall, I believe, is about the violence both in Northern Ireland (that is after all a big focus of this band) and in the Middle East.
    The Wailing Wall is a wall that is the remnant of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem.
    This song is about how terrorism keeps becoming a part of everyday life for people in areas of conflict and it seems like peace will never come. ("From the bombed out cars, to the falling stars, from a heaven we'll never know..." and also "Another day in perfect hell...")

    It also has a reference to the Burning Bush (part of bibical lore, supposedly God spoke to Moses and told him to lead the Jewish people from slavery thorugh a burning bush) in one lyric ("I'll liberate your people's fate/ Spoke the Burnin' Bush.."). I however, also think this is a possible reference to George W. Bush and his father as well and how neither of their policies has helped improve the Middle East situation too much. (Maybe I'm going out on a limb here, though.)

    Anyway, the message of this song is mostly that fighting is bad, terrorism is a big problem, and peace needs to be acheived somehow.

  4. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Apr 5th 2018 !⃝

    Lots of good ideas here, but they are words written by pissed off men, just as the ancient references were for the Big 3, whether from God or not.

    The irony is that the song is about the folly of men down through the ages who seek power through natural law, the survival of the fittest (most powerful). We went to Iraq for its strategic position in the cradle of civilization. Oil or not, a presence in the region for anyone with power would be a significant chess piece in world politics.
    The characters aren't important, just the message that, to move beyond the folly of war, requires a great deal more courage than humans are presently capable of. Piety gets in the way just as much as the seven deadlies. Why do you think Russia's in Syria?

  5. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Dec 13th 2013 !⃝

    Totally speculating...

    Israel/Palestine:

    First of all, the Wailing Wall is a Jewish thing.

    "So God how come every wrong's been done?
    With deals no Christ should allow"

    Jews and Muslims don't believe that Jesus was devine, hence no Christ would allow.

    "Once the communist now the terrorist
    With blood as thick as yours"

    Israel has socialist political policies. And residents have been asked to believe in terrorism as a cause and not equality.

    " Now a caravan of clouds
    Warns us all of winter showers
    Then rattle comes the rain"

    The USA and Israel have been greatly exaggerating (due to "cloudy" information) the Palestine aggressiveness. Forcasting Nuke war?

    " With each bullet screams your name"

    Shame on those who are killing.

    "So how come this gatherin' storm
    Pours little on the truth?
    Where the smokin' gun's a familiar
    song let loose"

    The powers that be bullshit us again and again.

    "With the bombed out cars
    Come the falling stars
    From a heaven we'll never know
    And the nameless names
    On the misspelled graves grow tall
    We're still screamin' at the Wailing Wall"

    All of us are responsible for the atrocities that are happening on our watch. The falling stars are the people that thought they were doing good by killing others. Misspelled graves means so many people are dying that it's hit or miss.

    "I'll liberate your peoples' fate
    Spoke the Burnin' Bush
    But the song of beasts
    Grow with oil soaked teeth
    Their dollor is mighty and true
    Now the eagle soares the sky
    Over refugee and child
    And to all there is no end
    Another day in perfect Hell"

    Bush... basically ignored the situation because he was pissed at Saddam. The Muslims are the blood soaked teeth, they're pissed. And the have oil. Now, USA has drones and we are going to help Israel, so there is no end to it.

  6. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jan 7th 2010 !⃝

    I think that the meaning is the mass population has stopped caing about violence but the people who the violence is being done to a calling out for justice but to no avial so it is like arguing with a wall.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  7. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    May 5th 2009 !⃝

    I think you are all connecting this way too much with the current war. The song, while it clearly took some inspiration from the current war in the Middle East, is about war in general, and especially wars started "on God's behalf."

  8. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Sep 7th 2008 !⃝

    ...IRA isn't purely communist, though if my memory is right they do have some socialist ideals.

    However I don't think that's what they are talking about. I think the meaning of the lyrics is simply to point out the shift of the West's enemy from Communism to terrorism.

  9. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Apr 26th 2008 !⃝

    Thank god for the person above me. I swear, few people understand the fight for a free and united Ireland.

  10. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Apr 3rd 2008 !⃝

    Who ever said the IRA was commie, you're a dumbass. Learn the history if your goin gto talk about it.

  11. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Dec 11th 2007 !⃝

    It's about northern ireland, not Jerusalem:

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/1677082.stm

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  12. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Sep 20th 2006 !⃝

    It's both the USA and the IRA. The usa first hunted commies, then hunted terrorists. The IRA was first commie, then became terrorists.

    Burning bush is both religion (for ira and islam) and bush dubya.

  13. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Aug 15th 2006 !⃝

    Just a note, the two lines before that referenced in the above comment are:

    but the song of beasts
    grow with oil-soaked teeth
    their dollar is mighty and true


    "oil-soaked teeth" as opposed to "blood-soaked teeth" show why nations are fighting the war in the middle east in the first place. Instead of spilling blood, they are spilling oil.

  14. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Jul 21st 2006 !⃝

    Both of you had it mostly right, but you needed to go further on the george bush thing. The burning bush is an allegory to george bush and to the bible, but when he says "now the eagle soars the sky over refugee and child" is about how america always goes in to help any cause they feel they can benefit from, hence, "their dollar is mighty and true".

  15. vw4lifee
    click a star to vote
    Jan 13th 2006 !⃝

    I am pretty sure that you are right, Floggin' Molly songs are like the old Irish songs in the fact that there is the surface meaning, but if you really hear the song then you will pick up the true meaning of what they are trying to say without saying it directly. Great job on that!


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