Witch Hunt
Petra Lyrics


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Everybody look there's a new bandwagon in town
Hop on board and let the wind carry you around
Seems like there's not enough to keep us busy 'till the Lord comes back
Don Quixote's gotta have another windmill to attack

[Chorus]
Another witch hunt looking for evil wherever we can find it
Off on a tangent, hope the Lord won't mind it
Another witch hunt, takin' a break from all our gospel labor
On a crusade but we forgot our saber

There's a new way to spend all our energies
We're up in arms instead of down on our knees
Walkin' over dollars trying to find another dime
Never mind the souls 'cause we really haven't got the time

So send out the dogs and tally ho
Before we sleep tonight we've got miles to go
No one is safe, no stone's left unturned




And we won't stop until somebody gets burned
Bro Bro Bro Bro Bro Bro Brothers

Overall Meaning

The lyrics in Petra's "Witch Hunt" address the issue of Christians who have diverted from their main purpose- preaching the gospel- and have taken up other activities as a way of keeping busy while waiting for the Lord's return. The first verse highlights the tendency of people to jump on bandwagons, any new trend or activity that comes around, just for the sake of it. Petra describes this as akin to Don Quixote's never-ending search for a windmill to attack. In essence, it's a futile exercise that provides a false sense of accomplishment.


The chorus emphasizes the idea of Christians engaging in witch hunts, searching for evil wherever they can find it. The phrase "witch hunt" has historical roots in the persecution of people, typically women, who were accused of practicing witchcraft. The song implies that Christians have replaced their primary mission with a false mission of accusing and trying to find evil in others. This mission is not productive towards spreading the gospel, and it only serves to waste time and cause tension.


The second verse attributes the Christian's shift of focus to the scarcity of activities to engage in while awaiting the Lord's return. Instead of focusing on prayer and evangelism, they walk over dollars to find extra dimes, something insignificant in the grand scheme of things. The final lines describe Christian's aggressive, almost violent approach to their mission, where they seek to expose and condemn others' faults, becoming judge and jury of non-believers.


Line by Line Meaning

Everybody look there's a new bandwagon in town
There is a new trend or popular belief emerging.


Hop on board and let the wind carry you around
Join the new trend and see where it takes you.


Seems like there's not enough to keep us busy 'till the Lord comes back
We are bored and feel the need to find something to do.


Don Quixote's gotta have another windmill to attack
We are searching for something to fight against, like Don Quixote and his imaginary windmills.


[Chorus] Another witch hunt looking for evil wherever we can find it
We are searching for something evil to fight against, regardless of whether it actually exists or not.


Off on a tangent, hope the Lord won't mind it
We are sidetracked from our true purpose and hope God won't disapprove.


Another witch hunt, takin' a break from all our gospel labor
We are using our energy to focus on something other than spreading the gospel.


On a crusade but we forgot our saber
We are fighting without proper preparation or equipment.


There's a new way to spend all our energies
We have found a new way to use our energy that isn't productive.


We're up in arms instead of down on our knees
We are fighting physically rather than praying for guidance.


Walkin' over dollars trying to find another dime
We are pursuing small gains while neglecting more important matters.


Never mind the souls 'cause we really haven't got the time
We are neglecting the spiritual needs of ourselves and others.


So send out the dogs and tally ho
We are aggressively pursuing our goal.


Before we sleep tonight we've got miles to go
We still have a long way to go before achieving our goal.


No one is safe, no stone's left unturned
We are searching everywhere and targeting anyone.


And we won't stop until somebody gets burned
We will not stop until someone suffers as a result of our actions.


Bro Bro Bro Bro Bro Bro Brothers
This line does not have significant meaning and may be a repetition for emphasis or rhythm purposes.




Lyrics © Capitol CMG Publishing
Written by: BOB HARTMAN

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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Most interesting comment from YouTube:

@lovejoypeaceforever

Jesus Satisfies Both the Law's Demands and it's Curses (5-minute study)

The second Adam’s perfect holiness of human nature, and obedience of life to the precept of the law as a covenant, are as necessary to the justification of sinners as is His suffering of its penalty.

The doctrine of justification by faith establishes the law, the whole law, the honor of the precept as well as that of the penal sanction. But this it could not do if it did not represent the righteousness of Jesus Christ as consisting in His active obedience as well as in His passive.

Active obedience, strictly speaking, cannot be said to satisfy vindictive justice for sin. And, on the other hand, suffering for punishment gives right and title unto nothing, it only satisfies for something; nor does it deserve any reward.

Christ’s satisfaction for sin could not render His perfect obedience to the precept unnecessary; nor could His perfect obedience make His satisfaction for sin by suffering the penalty unnecessary, because it was not of the same kind.

The one is that which answers the law’s demand of perfect obedience as the ground of title to eternal life; the other is that which answers its demand of complete satisfaction to divine justice for sin.

The meritorious obedience of Christ to the precept could not satisfy the penal sanction; and the sufferings and death of Christ, could not satisfy the precept of the law.

The commandment of the law as a covenant requires doing for life; the curse of that law demands dying as the punishment of sin. These, though they are never to be separated as grounds of justification, yet are carefully to be distinguished.

The perfect obedience of Christ is as necessary to entitle believers to eternal life as His suffering of death is to secure them from eternal death.

His satisfaction for sin, applied by faith, renders them innocent or guiltless of death; and His obedience makes them righteous or worthy of life:

"For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous" (Romans 5:19).

As the latter, then, is as necessary to complete their justification, according to the gospel, as the former, so it is as requisite as the former to establish the honor of the law.

"Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law" (Romans 3:28).



All comments from YouTube:

@mssofia378

Petra is the best Christian Band ever 🕯️🕊️🙏✝️ inspired by their lyrics and lives!💖 Thank you for being there for all of us!! And continuing to be

@gensaikawakami341

The Don Quixote line was totally priceless! It's low-key a sick burn without being rude.

@donniedarko1345

Haven't heard this in over 30 years. Wow. Memories when my dad brought me and my sis to christian music concerts! Good times.

@panasker

I went on tour with Petra Via Steve Taylor in 1984/85, they were a fab bunch of guys, even Amy Grant, who we played with at the greenbelt Fest in London, about the same time, loved these guys. This is still my fave record of theirs. -Ethan Tudor W. , Actor/Host of "The NeverHood Show" over at Blog Talk Radio.

@intertunetv

gotta love how these themes still hit home today

@crissyblueyes09

Loved this as a kid and still love it today!!

@ronschwigel8140

timeless christian band

@MrScottdrummer

Memories as a kid 1984/1985, great album. But still love back to the street 86- 2013 with John on vocals.

@srhbth

Wow, I never thought I would hear this song again. My parents had this record when I was a kid and this was my favorite song, probably because of the little snippets from the Wizard of Oz... Thanks for sharing it!

@tsjanine1195

FOR THE MANHATTEN D.A.!!!

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