Although their earlier releases contained Satanic themes and imagery, from the third album on, the band's primary subject matter centered around pirates, sailing and other historical events. In 1987, the band released the album Under Jolly Roger, which was a switch to pirate-based and historical themes, creating and influencing the later named pirate metal subgenre of heavy metal in the 2000s in the process. While the historical lyrics were very superficial at first, the lyrics for later albums were intensively researched, by frontman Rolf Kasparek in particular.
After this album, from 1988 to 1992 (for the albums Port Royal, Death or Glory, Blazon Stone and Pile of Skulls), Running Wild mainly wrote historically based lyrics. In addition to lyrics about pirates, the band also addressed subjects like the Wars of the Roses, the Battle of Waterloo, or the colonization of the New World by the Conquistadors.
In April 2009, Kasparek announced that Running Wild had split up. Their intended last show was at Wacken Open Air in July that year. It was recorded for CD and DVD release and appeared as The Final Jolly Roger in 2011. The split would prove temporary as they reunited in 2012. Running Wild played live for the Wacken Open Air festival in 2015. As of 2021, the band have released 17 studio albums, with their most recent being Blood on Blood.
Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Running_Wild_(band)
Studio albums
Gates to Purgatory (1984)
Branded and Exiled (1985)
Under Jolly Roger (1987)
Port Royal (1988)
Death or Glory (1989)
Blazon Stone (1991)
Pile of Skulls (1992)
Black Hand Inn (1994)
Masquerade (1995)
The Rivalry (1998)
Victory (2000)
The Brotherhood (2002)
Rogues en Vogue (2005)
Shadowmaker (2012)
Resilient (2013)
Rapid Foray (2016)
Blood on Blood (2021)
Live albums
Ready for Boarding (1988)
Death or Glory Tour – Live (1989)
Live (2002)
The Final Jolly Roger (2011)
Compilation albums
The First Years of Piracy (1991)
The Story of Jolly Roger (1998)
The Legendary Tales (2002)
20 Years in History (2003)
Best of Adrian (2006)
Black Demons on Stage (2010)
Greatest Hits (2011)
Riding the Storm: Very Best of the Noise Years 1983-1995 (2016)
Singles and EPs
"Victim of States Power" (1984)
"Bad to the Bone" (1989)
"Wild Animal" (1990)
"Little Big Horn" (1991)
"Lead or Gold" (1992)
"The Privateer" (1994)
"The Rivalry" (1998)
"Revolution" (2000)
"Crossing the Blades" (2019)
The Brotherhood
Running Wild Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The demon crushing your chest
We watch your despair, your struggle of life
We bet on who's coming best
Increasing our fortune, choking your breath
Living on our Cockaigne
With caviar, diamonds, champagne
We are sucking your life and your blood
War, the bloody lucrative tool
To work on your doubts and fear
Gold, we sold our soul onto
The greedy and cold profiteer
Ruling the world with a stick and a carrot
Slavery's our believe
Juggle with intrigues, justice is blind
Never giving reprieve
Brothers in arms, your arm feels the needle
The poison injecting the fear
We render homage to the evil inside us
The demon, the cold profiteer
We take what we get to get what it takes
To work on your doubts and fear
"Gimme the headline, I´ll give you the war"
The greedy and cold profiteer
The lyrics to Running Wild's song "The Brotherhood" convey a message of a group of powerful individuals who rule over society with an iron fist, crushing the hopes and dreams of the common man while they amass more wealth and power for themselves. The lyrics describe how these individuals are cold and rapacious, and they watch over the common people and bet on who will come out on top or who will fall. They live a luxurious lifestyle, stealing from the poor and feeding themselves with riches like caviar, diamonds, and champagne. They are portrayed as sucking the life and blood out of the society and the individuals that they rule over.
The main tool that these individuals use to control society is warfare, which is portrayed as a bloody lucrative tool that is used to work on the doubts and fears of the people. The lyrics reveal that these individuals have sold their souls for gold and profit, and their greed has made them into cold and profiteering individuals who show no mercy or compassion. They rule society with a stick and a carrot, juggling the power dynamics and playing games with the justice system. The song ends with the message that this brotherhood, the individuals who rule society, honors the evil inside them, the demon, the cold profiteer, and they take whatever they can get to continue to amass more power and wealth.
Line by Line Meaning
Cold and rapacious we rule it all
We are heartless and greedy in our power and control over everything.
The demon crushing your chest
We cause you to feel an overwhelming sense of despair, fear, and hopelessness.
We watch your despair, your struggle of life
We observe your difficulties and challenges, but do not use our power to help you overcome them.
We bet on who's coming best
We gamble on your failures and successes, deriving pleasure from your misfortunes.
Increasing our fortune, choking your breath
We are accumulating wealth and power at the expense of oppressing and suffocating those below us.
Living on our Cockaigne
We indulge in a life of extravagance, luxury, and pleasure while disregarding the suffering of others.
We steal from the poor to feed on the rich
We take resources and opportunities from the disadvantaged to benefit ourselves and maintain our lavish lifestyle.
With caviar, diamonds, champagne
We indulge in the finest and most expensive pleasures money can buy.
We are sucking your life and your blood
We are exploiting and draining the energy, resources, and potential of those beneath us.
War, the bloody lucrative tool
We use conflict and violence as a profitable means of expanding our power and influence.
To work on your doubts and fear
We manipulate your insecurities and anxieties to control and exploit you.
Gold, we sold our soul onto
We have prioritized the pursuit of wealth and power above all else, even at the cost of our own morality and humanity.
The greedy and cold profiteer
We are selfish, heartless, and driven solely by the desire to accumulate wealth and power for ourselves.
Ruling the world with a stick and a carrot
We maintain control over the masses by offering rewards and punishments to incentivize compliance with our desires.
Slavery's our believe
We see those beneath us as nothing more than objects to be used and manipulated for our benefit.
Juggle with intrigues, justice is blind
We engage in deceitful and manipulative tactics to maintain our power and influence, and are able to evade consequences for our actions due to our corrupt influence over the justice system.
Never giving reprieve
We are relentless and unforgiving in our pursuit of power and wealth, and never show mercy or compassion towards others.
Brothers in arms, your arm feels the needle
We are united in our pursuit of power and wealth, and will do whatever it takes- including engaging in violent acts- to achieve it.
The poison injecting the fear
We use fear and intimidation to control and manipulate those beneath us, causing them to feel powerless and helpless.
We render homage to the evil inside us
We prioritize our own selfish desires and disregard the well-being of others, even at the cost of causing harm and suffering.
We take what we get to get what it takes
We are willing to engage in any and all actions necessary to achieve our goals and obtain wealth and power, regardless of the consequences for others.
"Gimme the headline, I´ll give you the war"
We are willing to manufacture conflict and tension in order to generate attention and profit, even if it causes harm to others.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
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