Text written by WikiBrother Gabriel Brandino , from @moshinhell
The song "Bat Country" by Avenged Sevenfold has become one of the band's classics, and today we're going to explain what it actually means.
The song is a clear allusion to the 1971 *Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas Hunter S. Thompson .
The book tells the story of journalist Raoul Duke (who is the author's own alter ego), who is sent to cover a motorcycle race in Las Vegas along with his partner, Dr. Gonzo.
They believe this will be the best work trip ever, but with a suitcase full of drugs and hallucinogens, the trip begins to take a different turn.
What was supposed to be one of the best trips turns into chaos with much destruction and several hallucinations for the two.
Years later, the work became a cult of cinema, starring Johnny Depp and Benicio Del Toro . In Brazil, the film is called Fear and Loathing.
The name of the A7x song is a reference to a passage in the book where Raoul is completely out of his mind from the hallucinogens and sees several giant bats in the sky.
Then, when they pass through Las Vegas, he turns to Dr. Gonzo and says, "We can't stop here. This is bat country."
"He who makes himself a beast /
Gets rid of the pain of being a man."
This first verse of the song is a quote from the 17th-century British author, Dr. Samuel Johnson , and is also present at the beginning of Thompson's book.
“I tried driving all night long
The weather chased by the heat, the arid and empty landscapes
No oasis here to see, the sand is singing immortal words to me”
Here they are probably both already traveling through the deserts of Las Vegas under the effects of drugs.
“Caught here in a burning flame, I won’t lose my will to stay
These eyes won’t see the same, after I transform today”
The last verse is clearly a reference to the use of hallucinogens.
"Sometimes I don't know why we prefer to live rather than die.
We look towards the sky for answers to our lives." And here, apparently, it's about one of the duo's moments of normalcy and sobriety, where they begin to reflect on life.
"I am too strange to live, but too rare to die."
This is a phrase that is present in the book, and that the author has always uttered to himself.
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