Hello everyone!
Today, I'm talking about two songs: "You Want A Battle? (Here's A War)" and "Venom", both by Bullet For My Valentine. Why am I talking about two songs at once instead of writing two different posts about each song?
Well, the meaning of the two songs and the videos are pretty related, so I think I'll go with that. If we put the two songs together we have a full event that is more complete if we don't talk only about one of the songs.
First of all, I should start clearing up what the songs talk about - abuse. Even though in the videos the example which is shown is domestic abuse, the meaning itself can include any other kind of abuse. Both songs talk about abuse, from the same perspective, which is the person abused, the victim.
The difference between the songs is that they show different parts of the process that the victim's going through inside, the physical process they're going through... I hope you understand what I mean.
"You Want A Battle? Here's A War" talks from the perspective of the victim when the victim is being abused. Meanwhile the song passes by, the victim is suffering because of the abuser, but know the victim is realizing what's happening, which is unfair and he/she doesn't want the situation to carry on that way. What does he/she want? Revenge. The victim is tired of being the victim and wants the abuser to realize what he/she has done the only way he/she can truly realize that... going through the same.
The song also talks about how the abuser needs to abuse others to feel alive, to be alive. Usually, abusers, bullies have a very low self esteem, and they abuse others to feel better with themselves.
At the end of the song, it seems like the victim finally has escaped from the abuser - the abuser is gone. Nevertheless, the consequences for the person who's been abused don't end there, that's why I decided to talk about both songs together, and why Bullet For My Valentine probably made the decision of making the video of "Venom" as a continuation of the previous one.
Now the victim's "free", the abuser is gone. What happens? That isn't enough. The victim can't forget the abuser, what happened... it all comes back in flashbacks, as a "taste of your venom". The victim wants to move on, not to ever look back... but everything's there, even though the abuser is gone. If you've ever read anything about abuse, you will know what I'm talking about. Wherever you look for information about abuse, there's something they always mention... the psychological aftermaths, which are the "venom" the song talks about.
Also, the song talks about how, even though the victim has recognised what the abuser was doing and has separated from him/her, the victim feels that he/she deserves the abuser, what the abuser was doing... whether it's because the abuser is telling them so or not. However, the victim expresses clearly the hatred towards the abuser, who is also playing the victim, something that hurts the victim even more.
No matter how hard the victim tries, it's like the victim can't forget what happen, can't avoid those feelings... it's like being trapped without a way out.
I know that you can probably come to all these conclusions by yourselves by listening to the song, but I thought that it was interesting to mention how the songs are related and how they talk about something that happens more than people think. People usually have the wrong idea of what abuse actually is for two reasons:
- They think that emotional abuse isn't abuse, and try to excuse it in different ways. They don't take it as seriously as it has to be taken.
- They think that once the abuser's gone, everything's okay again - and it isn't always okay.
People don't usually talk about this topic, and I'm glad that this band did, and the way they did it was brilliant - expressing the feeling as they truly are and in a very deep way. It hits home.
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