Day 474 - Violent Femmes - Hallowed Ground

474. Violent Femmes - Hallowed Ground

From the album Hallowed Ground
(Slash Records, 1984)

"After the surprise success of their landmark debut, Violent Femmes could have just released another collection of teen-rage punk songs disguised as folk, and coasted into the modern rock spotlight alongside contemporaries like the Modern Lovers and Talking Heads. Instead they made Hallowed Ground, a hellfire-and-brimstone-beaten exorcism that both enraged and enthralled critics and fans alike.

Like Roger Waters purging himself of the memories of his father's death through The Wall and The Final Cut, bandleader Gordon Gano uses the record to expel his love/hate relationship with religion, and the results are alternately breathtaking and terrifying. Contrary to initial public response, Hallowed Ground is not a parody. Gano, the son of a Baptist minister, may wear his faith like a badge of honor, but it's a badge, not a shield, and what keeps the songs so volatile is the fact that they're filtered through the eyes, ears, heart, and loins of a teenager. Like the first record, all of the songs on Hallowed Ground were written during Gano's high-school years -- he was barely in his twenties when it was released -- resulting in a perfect rendering of the sweetness and brutality of the postpubescent teen ...

Christian imagery aside, Hallowed Ground is not as polarizing as some make it out to be. ... The Femmes are nothing if not true to themselves, and Hallowed Ground is a testament to their tenacity, courage, and sheer obliviousness to industry ogling. Each track is as naked as it is bursting with ideas, and as the landscape changes, the band changes with it, leaving the listener at a crossroads; with each incantation, growling invective, and honey-whispered promise, they're forced to either jump off the gospel train or ride it along with them into the mouth of Hell." (source: AllMusic.com)

One of the things that makes Hallowed Ground such a brilliant song is in the brevity and conciseness of the lyrics. The song starts with a quote from Hosea 9:7 setting the tone for what is to follow.

"The profit is a fool, the spiritual man is mad,
For the multitude of thine iniquity, and the great hatred."

In the first verse Gano references the coming apocalypse (Armageddon?) and a lost generation searching in vain for shelter.

Everyone's trying to decide,
Where to go when there's no place to hide.
I follow the bombs as they're coming down.
This must have been hallowed ground.

In verse two Gano boldly declares his faith in the eternal Lord and risen Savior, Jesus Christ, the "one they can't bring down."

No matter what they decide to have done.
Burn up the clouds, block out the sun.
My hope is in one they can't bring down.
My soul is in hallowed ground.

The third verse is an alter call of sorts inviting the listener to join him at the cross.

I see the fear, it's on the rise.
Let's catch the enemy by surprise.
Bury your treasure where it can't be found.
Bury it deep in hallowed ground.

Here is the original album video version of the song: