Friends in the Armed Forces

Album: Common Existence (2009)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This stripped-down post-hardcore anthem lyrically balances between Pro-American and Anti-War sentiments. Frontman Geoff Rickly explained to MTV News: "I think it's a really false split between the two, because I'm an anti-war person, but I have plenty of friends who are soldiers and I care about them. I think trying to make a decision like, 'Oh, you're a pacifist; that means you're anti-soldier and you don't support the troops,' is a terrible lie to put people in the middle of. So this song was about being a pacifist and caring about your friends that are in the armed forces."
  • Quicksand's Walter Schrieffels provides backing vocals on this track.
  • Rickly explained to MTV News the reasoning behind the Common Existence album title: "I just liked the idea that the record is about the shared existence of people in general. It's not so much 'me, me, me and my personal story.' I feel like so much punk rock right now is turned inward and it's like an outgrowing of emo becoming mainstream music. I really wanted to say it's just the same thing everybody goes through - that's 'common existence.' That's what life is. No one needs to get worked up about it."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Randy Houser

Randy HouserSongwriter Interviews

The "How Country Feels" singer talks Skynyrd and songwriting.

Cy Curnin of The Fixx

Cy Curnin of The FixxSongwriter Interviews

The man who brought us "Red Skies" and "Saved By Zero" is now an organic farmer in France.

Director Wes Edwards ("Drunk on a Plane")

Director Wes Edwards ("Drunk on a Plane")Song Writing

Wes Edwards takes us behind the scenes of videos he shot for Jason Aldean, Dierks Bentley and Chase Bryant. The train was real - the airplane was not.

Michael Sweet of Stryper

Michael Sweet of StryperSongwriter Interviews

Find out how God and glam metal go together from the Stryper frontman.

Protest Songs

Protest SongsMusic Quiz

How well do you know your protest songs (including the one that went to #1)?

How "A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss" Became Rock's Top Proverb

How "A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss" Became Rock's Top ProverbSong Writing

How a country weeper and a blues number made "rolling stone" the most popular phrase in rock.