Preston Billingsley

2 November 2014
Dr. Nystrom
English 1301-07

Holy Wars: The Punishment Due

The thrash-metal titan Megadeths Holy Wars: The Punishment Due has stood over
two decades as one of the greatest works of heavy metal. When looking into the meanings and
interpreting the musical styling of Mustaine, the composer of this piece, one might begin to see
trends and patterns of morbid happenings. But, if the listener takes the piece and puts it under
the microscope, the listener would find that this song contains a background statement of the
misery and despair that the speaker experiences as a result of the lingering Holy War that
plagues the world, even today.
The piece begins after a chunky and incredibly fast-paced intro, followed immediately by
a harmonic guitar fill. The measures are accompanied by a rapid and powerful percussion set.
After the songs famous introduction, that lasts a minute and a half and sets the pace for the
rest of the composition, the vocalist Dave Mustaine comes in with the opening line: Brother
will kill brother, spilling blood across the land. Killing for religion; something I dont
understand. Mustaine begins the song with a statement of confusion with the state of affairs
in the Middle-east. Mustaine offers an opinion with this opening line by claiming that one could
not truly understand why men kill each other based on their beliefs, calling those involved
Brothers to draw attention to the atrocity of humans killing humans. Fools like me who cross
the sea, and come to foreign lands ask the sheep for their belief, Do you kill on Gods

command? is Mustaines response based on the nearly constant Western presence in the
Middle-east, and how the Westerners often question why one would kill for his god.
Mustaine continues his exclamation: A country thats divided surely will not stand. My
past erased, no more disgrace. No foolish, nave stand. Our front man states that any nation
that stands in halves against each other Surely will not stand, and that the past of those
involved in the war could not have any bearing on their future because of the now-raging Holy
War. Mustaine continues: The end is near, its crystal clear, part of the master plan. Dont look
now to Israel. It might be in your homelands. This is a realization that Gods War is really just
a part of a plan for the path of humanity, and this plan is happening in the homelands of three
of the most influential religions.
Mustaine then dives right into the chorus, which is backed by a heavily pounded drum
beat: Up on my podium, as the know it all scholar. Mustaine begins to explain the several
positions for leaders in this Holy War. The Know-it-all Scholar being the first; he claiming to
be a leader because he is versed in the workings of history. Then, he lists the next leader:
Down in my seat of judgment. Gavels bang, uphold the law. Mustaine mentions that this
leader claims his followers from the socially just; that they should follow him because he fights
for the lawful cause. Up on my soapbox, a leader out to change the world. The listener is now
faced with leader three; a man out to revolutionize the world. Down in my pulpit as the holierthan-thou, could-be messenger of God. Leader four: a holy man: a man sent by God: the
Zealot. A man that claims his leadership because his god told him to. He claims to be the vessel
through which the Lord speaks to his people. The chorus stands to inform the listener of the

types of men that lead the forces of the Holy War, and how each of them is ridiculous in his
own way.
Now, the listener is faced with the next verse. This verse seems to be from the point of
view of the Middle-Easterner. Wage the war on organized crime. We have the common view
from the Arabic world that the Westerners are just in this Holy War for profit. Sneak attacks.
Repel down the rocks behind the lines. The listener is now told of the response from the
Easterners; how they retaliate against the Wests incursion. Some people risk to employ me.
Some people live to destroy me. Either way they die. Mustaine tells the audience of the
turmoil and chaos of the allegiance of these people, stating that one cannot truly own, or
destroy, the people as a whole.
The third verse begins: They killed my wife and my baby, with hopes to enslave me.
First mistake: Last mistake. Mustaine continues to tell the story of the Easterner; telling the
listener of the terror that the Westerners bring upon the East, and how it is meant to break the
spirits of the Easterners and bring them to their knees; and then about how this is the first
mistake of the West. Then Mustaine speaks of the reason that Western soldiers are in the East.
Paid by the alliance to slay all the giants. Next mistake. No more mistakes. The lyricist tells the
listener of the Wests next mistake, and how there will be no more of these mistakes made.
The outro begins after a complicated guitar solo that is easily recognized from this work
even today. Fill the cracks in with judicial granite. Mustaine begins the conclusion by stating
that this war must be stopped and the damage repaired with the Granite of justice. Because
I dont say it, dont mean I aint thinking it. The listener is told that much of the distaste of this

ongoing war is not spoken, but is in the hearts of the people. Next thing you know, theyll take
my thoughts away. Mustaine tells the listener that the Easterners fear a full oppression, and
that they believe that the West is trying to fully control them. I know what I said, now I must
scream of the overdose, and the lack of mercy killings. Mustaine finishes the song with a brutal
statement: That the war is an overdose of religious belief and interpretation, and above all, that
these killings of the infidels are, in truth, not because of infidelity.
Throughout Holy Wars: The Punishment Due, the listener is bombarded with the
brutal, unspoken truth of the war that we hold to be a part of life, even to this day. We are told
that Brother will kill brother, spilling blood across the land. And, in all reality, we are all
brothers, and we are slaughtering each other just because we do not hold the same beliefs.

Holy Wars: The Punishment Due

1990: Capitol Records
Megadeth
Composer: Dave Mustaine
Brother will kill brother
Spilling blood across the land
Killing for religion
Something I don't understand
Fools like me, who cross the sea
And come to foreign lands
Ask the sheep, for their beliefs
Do you kill on God's command?
A country that's divided
Surely will not stand
My past erased, no more disgrace
No foolish naive stand
The end is near, it's crystal clear
Part of the master plan
Don't look now to Israel
It might be your homelands
Holy wars
Upon my podium, as the
Know it all scholar
Down in my seat of judgment
Gavel's bang, uphold the law
Up on my soapbox, a leader
Out to change the world
Down in my pulpit as the holier
Than thou could be messenger of God
Wage the war on organized crime
Sneak attacks, repel down the rocks
Behind the lines
Some people risk to employ me
Some people live to destroy me
Either way they die, they die

They killed my wife and my baby

With hopes to enslave me
First mistake, last mistake
Paid by the alliance, to slay all the giants
Next mistake no more mistakes
Fill the cracks in, with judicial granite
Because I don't say it, don't mean I ain't thinkin' it
Next thing you know, they'll take my thoughts away
I know what I said, now I must scream of the overdose
And the lack of mercy killings mercy killings mercy killings
Killings killings killings killings
Next thing you know, they'll take my thoughts away