Simple question:

Does anybody know exactly, or at least have an idea of, what the lyrics on Skillet's song "Rippin, me off" are supposed to mean? Specifically the first line of the Chorus, "You say that God is dead, but you're rippin, me off."

I don't see any context in which to analyze as the rest of the song would not imply any meaning into this line in my view.

Thanks

Well, I believe that John wrote that song after attending a Marliyn Manson concert. i think the story goes that some people were describing Skillet's music to that of Marilyn Manson's and then he went to see what he was all about. And I guess Marilyn was being pretty "anti-christ" and Jon didn't really like how they were being compared to him and yeah. I probably am not doing the best job of explaining.

Here is my humble opinion, which I think is pretty right, but since I am not John, I could be wrong. Rippin Me Off is about how quite a few people do not take the idea of God, or any god, seriously. They are ignorant and they say that there is no God, but that is not true. Essentially they are trying to feed us a lie, which is a rip off, and thus the chorus. If you look at the lyrics of the verses, they are addressing those who believe the lie, (They say Jesus is doing nothing, They say God is powerless, etc.)

So back to the line in question, here is an analogy: If a person in power gave you advice for which you paid for, and it turned out to be wrong, would you feel ripped off? Of course you would. If you paid to see Marilyn Manson in concert and he told you that God was not real, would you feel the same way? I would, and it seems like John did also.

when we don't take God to His fullest and let soceity dictate our lives, we're rippin' ourselves off from His pefect will.

(yeah, i believe John said how he was angered at how Marilyn Manson was rippin' off this generation through his lies and hateful remarks.)

^yes, that is what I was trying to say...

hey guys.. here's the deal. I read an article a while back with John about that song. And that first guy that talked about it was pretty much right. He heard about people comparing Skillet's music to Marylin Manson so he went to one of his shows to check it out. And MM started to rant to the crowd about Jesus, and was getting the crowd all riled up against God. So then John just yells super loud "hey, you're just ripping us off". So then he went home and wrote that song based off of that experience. So I'm pretty sure the songs just talking to MM... or people like him and how're they're wrong, and all that. Okay... I'm out.
-Jeff