Annotations for Gun

Lyric: ’Cause I’m holding up my gun
Annotation:
He thinks he’s now invincible because he has a weapon – like many young men who are taught from birth that they should join the military because it will make them better and they will be protecting their loved ones.

Lyric: Because the government
 Because the government wants your gun
Annotation:
The government often plays a role in influencing young men to join the military at a young age by making it seem like they will finally make their life matter as a result. However, these young men are used as weapons, as ammunition, to serve the bigger goal. The people are just guns, and the leaders are their owners.

Lyric: As soon as I get my gun (Don’t even have a gun!)
 As soon as I get my gun (Don’t even have a gun!)
 As soon as I get my G-U-N (Don’t even have a gun!)
Annotation:
It’s not unheard of for soldiers to be sent to fight without a weapon- during WWI, for instance, the Russian army had one gun for every three men. It’s possible the speaker will never receive his gun.

Lyric: They’re teaching me to kill, who’s teaching me to love?
Annotation:
Gerard is talking about the military- how everything is so vicious and we used to be sent off to the military at such a young age and we barely saw our loved ones before we died in battle.

Lyric: As soon as I get my gun (Don’t even have a gun!)
 As soon as I get my gun (Don’t even have a gun!)
 As soon as I get my gun (Don’t even have a gun!)
 As soon as I get my gun (Don’t even have a gun!)
 As soon as I get my gun (Don’t even have a gun!)
 As soon as I get my gun (Don’t even have a gun!)
 As soon as I get my gun (Don’t even have a gun!)
Annotation:
The “Don’t even have a gun!” can be interpreted as the speaker’s conscience chiming in that he hasn’t even gotten what he allegedly wants, and he’s still been making these big claims about what he’s going to do.

Lyric: They’re teaching me to kill, who’s teaching me to love?
Annotation:
The soldier is questioning what he gave up to be fighting for the USA, and he’s missing his family back home. The USA trains our military to kill, which will do good in war times, but we also need to be taught how to love, which will prevent wars. Violence leads to violence, love leads to love.

Lyric: Can I bleed enough to fill up what the engine takes?
 We don’t know
Annotation:
Will giving everything be enough? Here, the protagonist wonders if his death would be significant in the war. Would all the blood in his body be enough to fuel even one tank? The protagonist is worried that his death will amount to nothing, and his death won’t help anyone. This doesn’t seem to phase him though, and he continues on. In 2013,  Gerard wrote a tweet about the song, stating: “Gun” was written after meeting many of the men and women who were wounded in Afghanistan.  The metaphor of blood as engine fuel could be alluding to the complex history of the United States interest in oil during foreign conflict. Harvard’s school of International Affairs stated that  “25% to 50% of wars since 1973” were connected to oil.

Lyric: Well, as soon as I get my gun, as soon as I get my gun
 They’ll put me on vacation, underneath the sun
 As soon as I get my gun, as soon as I get my gun
 I’ll holler and flash it at my belting blood
Annotation:
The soldier is fantasising about battle, not a vacation but he perceives fighting to be something glorious. He thinks that he’ll be fighting underneath the sun and how his blood is probably racing from the adrenaline he’s feeling hence “belting blood”

Lyric: But if you’re watching up above
 They’re teaching me to kill, who’s teaching me to love?
 Now, baby
 Isn’t it crazy?
Annotation:
The soldier is speaking to someone who he thinks is looking over him. He’s been taught that the only way to win is through the violence of war yet no one is telling him how to love someone else. Which he realises is a bit crazy.

Lyric: Well, if I’m old enough to die for your mistakes
 Then let’s go
Annotation:
many people who join the army are quite young, (in World War I people would lie about their age just to go) but the Army is willing to take just about anyone to fight for their country. Die for the mistakes that the country has made. However, the new/young soldier its still willing to go.

Lyric: As soon as we get your gun
 A heckle for a pistol is a lot of fun
 It’s just the kind of place we run
Annotation:
Many recruiters search for young people that find it exciting to be able to use guns and participate in war. They look out for suchlike adolescents in public places like malls and sometimes even come to schools. These young people often don’t know how reality looks like for a soldier that has to fight for their country and it is therefore very easy to lure them with false promises. The verse represents the position of these Army recruiters and the state in general that is dependent on these easy convincable people.

Lyric: Like a hole from an IED
Annotation:
IED stands for Improvised Explosive Device. It is a bomb constructed and used in an uncommon way. The one shown below was made using a cell phone.

Lyric: Well, as soon as I get my gun
 I’ll point it out the window, at the setting sun
 As soon as I get my gun
 I’ll tell you all about it when you fall in love
 As soon as I get my gun
 I’m gonna make a call
 Well, as soon as I get my gun
 Get my gun
Annotation:
The soldier is very excited to go off to war and help his country. He keeps telling everyone that as soon as he gets on the battlefield (“as soon as I get my gun”) he will be fighting and being a hero. “I’ll tell you all about it when you fall in love” refers to a person in a romantic relationship with him who may be excited and/or scared about their partner going off to war. “I’m gonna make a call” refers to him calling everyone one knows and telling them the “good” news.

Lyric: I’m never gonna have a son (Don’t even have a gun!)
 She’s never gonna have a son (Don’t even have a gun!)
 I’m never gonna have a S-O-N
 And now I’m never gonna have a S-O-N
Annotation:
The soldier was killed in the war and will never be able start a family with his lover. He died at such a young age he didn’t get to do all the things wanted in life like have kids with her. This lyric could also mean that the soldier might not want a son because only/mostly men had to go and fight in the war (the song probably takes place in the past); he doesn’t want his son to grow up and waste his life fighting and killing innocent people in a pointless war. Therefore, he wants a daughter instead of a son. This concept is also referred to in  Mama from  The Black Parade. In the the song there is a similar lyric talking about how if the narrator had been a girl he wouldn’t have to fight in the war, You should’ve raised a baby girl I should’ve been a better son

Lyric: Well, the uniform isn’t sewn
 They make ’em like we give ’em out to anyone
Annotation:
This line contradicts the first in which the government is saying they don’t want just anyone to be a soldier. They want “you,” but once the soldier gets his uniform and sees how poorly made it is he realizes that the government just wants anyone as long as they can fight.

Lyric: We could get somebody else, but we want someone like you
 We could get somebody else, but we want someone like you
 We could get somebody else, but we want someone like you
 We could get somebody else, but we want someone like you
 We could get somebody else, but we want someone like you
 We could get somebody else, but we want someone like you
Annotation:
One of the most well-known military recruitment strategies is to make someone believe they’re a fundamental part of society—this flattery coerces people to join. Perhaps the most famous example would be the  Uncle Sam poster used to recruit men for both WWI and WWII:

