1.

First of all I'd like to point out this song is a story, nor is it about what you 'feel' it is about in
your life. Giving abstract meanings like this helps nobody.
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21 Guns is a direct slap in the face to the US Govt for the war on terror.The significance of
the title, as others have pointed out is when a battleship releases all of it's ammunition to
show its peaceful intentions through disarming itself.

""Do you know what's worth fighting for,

When it's not worth dying for?

Does the pain weigh out the pride?""

This is mocking the US for it's rationalization for the war.

""And you look for a place to hide?

Did someone break your heart inside?
You're in ruins""
Referencing to 9/11 and how the US started the war out of fear without consideration for
what would happen, and how it was because after 9/11 the US was in 'ruins'.

""Lay down your arms

Give up the fight
Throw up your arms into the sky,
You and I""
This is the call against the fighting. This song is a modern day protest song after all.

""When you're at the end of the road

And you lost all sense of control
And your thoughts have taken their toll
When your mind breaks the spirit of your soul
Your faith walks on broken glass
And the hangover doesn't pass
Nothing's ever built to last
You're in ruins""
Green Day is saying the US will gain nothing from the war and come out the way it went in,
'in ruins.'

""One, 21 guns
Lay down your arms
Give up the fight
One, 21 guns
Throw up your arms into the sky,
You and I""
Another call for opposition against the war.

""Did you try to live on your own""

This is saying the US has alienated itself with it's policies of policing the world.

""When you burned down the house and home?

Did you stand too close to the fire?""
This is a direct reference to the amount of destruction the US has caused in the Middle
East.

""Like a liar looking for forgiveness from a stone

When it's time to live and let die

And you can't get another try
Something inside this heart has died
You're in ruins""
These lines are the key to the song as it ties it together. Green Day is saying that once the
US realized it made the wrong decision it was already to late, it had destroyed the middle
east, alienated itself, and it won't be able to resolve the problems it caused. Again it is in
'ruins,' just as it had been after 9/11, which was the cause for the war on terror which was
meant to bring it out of ruins. The US will make no progress from 9/11 by starting a war.

""One, 21 guns
Lay down your arms
Give up the fight
One, 21 guns
Throw up your arms into the sky

One, 21 guns
Lay down your arms
Give up the fight
One, 21 guns
Throw up your arms into the sky,
You and I""
Green Day is restating their message by saying the way to avoid this outcome of being in
permanent state of post-9/11 is to end the war on terror.

"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?"
First two lines are pretty self explanatory. do you kow what's important to you, even if it
isn't worth dying or?

"Does the pain weigh out the pride?

And you look for a place to hide?
Did someone break your heart inside?
You're in ruins"

You're in pain, but you're just too proud to get help, so you're hiding your emotions. You're
in pain or "ruis" becau you've lost someone very important to you.

"One, 21 guns
Lay down your arms
Give up the fight
One, 21 guns
Throw up your arms into the sky,
You and I"

This to me is like... Someone is trying to deal with pain by themselves, and thi other person
is knd of sying "give up on pushing people away and just let me help you through this"

"When you're at the end of the road

And you lost all sense of control
And your thoughts have taken their toll
When your mind breaks the spirit of your soul"

This person is feling really lost and hurt, and thinking about what happened and analyzing
things is making everything worse.

"Your faith walks on broken glass

And the hangover doesn't pass
Nothing's ever built to last
You're in ruins"

Maybe they're losing their faith in love or "forever" ("Nothing's ever built to last") or even
god because of what happened. Secnnd line, the pain isn't get any better. They're in ruins.

"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"

they're trying to do things on their own and still trying to deal with eveything by
themselves, and they're taking it to an extreme by not letting anyone in ("Did you stand too
 close to the fire")And they just can't do it alone, like you can't get forgiveness from a
stone.

"When it's time to live and let die

And you can't get another try
Something inside this heart has died
You're in ruins"

They're realizing that they can't get that person back and they have to move on and
continue living their life, but soemthing is missing in their heart, and it's never going to
heal; they're never going to be quite the same. They're going to continue to be in rins for a
long time, ut they know they have to move on some time.

"One, 21 guns
Lay down your arms
Give up the fight
One, 21 guns
Throw up your arms into the sky

One, 21 guns
Lay down your arms
Give up the fight
One, 21 guns
Throw up your arms into the sky,
You and I"

Then I think when this is repeated at the end, the person is realizing they need help, and
they need to stop fighting people who want to help and ind a new way to mourn their loss,
mabe with someone who was also close to the deceased.

And I think taken into the context of the album it's about Christian losing Gloria.

May 2nd, 2010 5:36pmreport

Most people don't seem to know the difference between the 21 gun salute and the 3-
volley salute. The latter is indeed used for funerals while the former refers to a warship
emtpying its guns, effectively disarming itself to show the lack of hostile intent.

This meaning fits well into the general theme of the song: surrender, giving up the fight
that is not worth dying for.