j0kAmEl

I am not sure if anyone has posted about this, but I did a little bit of searching and couldn't find anything that was very comprehensive regarding the subject. A lot of people have different ideas about the meaning of Eulogy, but I think I have a pretty solid analysis.

I think that the song is about L. Ron Hubbard, a man who invented a cult called Scientology. From the limited amount of research I did, I found that Scientology essentially finds minions to join the religion that are at a weak point in their lives and want to find salvation in something. There are many ludicrous claims such as there are souls of dead aliens from millions of years ago in all people, causing us to be possessed and evil, and the only way to get rid of them is through Scientology classes that, coincidentally, are all very costly. However, the promises that Scientology guarantees are very hopeful and sound very nice, so the price may seem right to those in a weak state. It would make sense that Maynard and many others would frown upon these practices of exploiting people at their weakest. Now for analysis:

"He had alot to say.
He had alot of nothing to say.
We'll miss him."

-These lines are fairly simple, Hubbard had a lot to say about his hokey religion, which is why he had "nothing to say." "We'll miss him" is probably sarcastic and just saying that we won't really miss him.

"So long.
We wish you well.
You told us how you weren't afraid to die.
Well then, so long.
Don't cry.
Or feel too down."

-These lines are basically saying how Hubbard promised that he would die for the cause, in a martyr-ish way, but he isn't actually doing it. If he isn't afraid to die, then so long, don't cry, just do it.

" Not all martyrs see divinity.
But at least you tried."

-Hubbard's religion never really reached it's fruition, as many find it to be hokey and full of falsehood. I think sarcasm underlies these lines as well.

"Standing above the crowd,
He had a voice that was strong and loud.
We'll miss him.
Ranting and pointing his finger
At everything but his heart.
We'll miss him."

-Somewhat of a repeat of earlier messages, with the addition of "ranting....heart," which is essentially saying that Hubbard would talk and point people in directions, but would never use his heart, as he may have been manipulating people and not using good intentions.

"No way to recall
What it was that you had said to me,
Like I care at all."

-Not too sure with these lines, however I would guess that it means that what Hubbard said had no real meaning and was bololgna, and extremely unimportant.

"So loud.
You sure could yell.
You took a stand on every little thing
And so loud."

-Hubbard was a very prominent figurehead for the religion, and talked a lot in a loud manner which made him more influencial and convincing. He took a stand on every issue so that followers would have a place to turn on every issue. (Note: I have not done too much research, so this analysis in this section and a few others is entirely speculative).

"Standing above the crowd,
He had a voice so strong and loud and I
Swallowed his facade cuz I'm so
Eager to identify with
Someone above the ground,
Someone who seemed to feel the same,
Someone prepared to lead the way, with
Someone who would die for me."

-My favorite part of the song, this is talking from the perspective of a follower who has been at a weak point in their life and wants something to identify with when they have no where else to turn. Clearly this is taking the stance that the whole idea of Scientology is a facade. However, followers are eager to identify with someone of higher ground, someone they look up to. That leader made the claim that he would die for his followers. This goes into the next lines very well:

"Will you? Will you now?
Would you die for me?
Don't you fuckin lie.

Don't you step out of line.
Don't you fuckin lie."

-He is asking whether the leader will really die for his subjects. And he wants a straight answer, no lies. At this point, he is realizing that the leader is lying, and follows with:

"You've claimed all this time that you would die for me.
Why then are you so surprised to hear your own eulogy?"

-If the leader is so willing to die, why is he surprised to hear a speech commending his death, which he should be expecting.

"Come down.
Get off your fuckin cross.
We need the fuckin space to nail the next fool martyr.

To ascend you must die.
You must be crucified
For your sins and your lies.
Goodbye..."

-The leader is not ready to die for his people, he is a phony. He needs to get off of his cross (which I know has biblical references to Jesus, but I believe this is more of a metaphor for sacrifice than Jesus) since he is not ready to die. The next martyr needs to get on, one that is actually willing to die. The last little bit may be an attack at Hubbard himself, saying that he must be crucified for all of the wrong that he did.

Just a little analysis that a lot of people seemed to have skipped over. Also in the FAQ under this song it quotes Danny saying that the song is about Hubbard, which was my main inspiration for doing this research.