Meaning of “Wrong Side of Heaven” by Five Finger Death Punch
This single was derived from Five Finger Death Punch’s similarly-titled studio album, “The Wrong of Heaven and the Righteous Side of Hell, Volume 1” (2013). Five Finger Death Punch (5FDP) is a heavy metal outfit from Las Vegas that has been around since the mid-aughts.
The aforementioned album is one of their more notable efforts, in that it peaked at number 2 on the Billboard, in addition to achieving RIAA platinum certification. “Wrong Side of Heaven” is also one of their biggest hit singles, having topped Billboard’s US Hard Rock Digital Song Sales chart, in addition to thus far going gold in Denmark and silver in the UK.
The following members of Five Finger Death Punch wrote this song individually and collectively co-produced it with Kevin Churko:
- Zoltan Bathory
- Jason Hook
- Chris Kael
- Ivan Moody (frontman)
- Jeremy Spencer
Nick Peterson served as the track’s video director, and the song was released through Prospect Park Records on 30 July 2013, being the third and final single from the aforementioned LP.
The Lyrics of “Wrong Side of Heaven”
Throughout the years quite a few American artists, including the likes professional musicians, have criticized the way their government treats its veterans, i.e. US military personnel that have actually fought in foreign lands.
That’s because many of such individuals, after returning home from combat, are plagued by memories of bloodshed, devastation or whatever other harrowing events they witnessed on the field.
That psychological malady is what is often referred to as post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD.
Traditionally when artists speak of this reality, they criticize the government for not doing enough to help such individuals after they return home from war. And the music video to this track is based on a similar theme, i.e. focusing on the plight of homeless American vets.
But the lyrics take a different approach to the topic at hand. Or let’s say that as far as PTSD goes, i.e. the negative psychological ramifications of being a soldier, Five Finger Death Punch rather focuses on the moral aspect of being called to duty.
As explained by the band’s guitarist Zoltan Bathory, the term “wrong side of heaven” alludes to the notion that those who sign up to fight on behalf of the United States often do so under the belief that they are fighting, in his own words, “for the greater good”. But as time progresses, they start to realize that they’re putting their lives on the line for politics that “nobody really understands”.
“Arms wide open
I stand alone
I’m no hero
And I’m not made of stone
Right or wrong
I can hardly tell
I’m on the wrong side of Heaven
And the righteous side of Hell
The wrong side of Heaven
And the righteous side
The righteous side of Hell”
As a soldier you’re out there killing and being killed yet at the same time not being fully aware of the rationale behind the war you’re directly engaged in. So as further implied by Zoltan, one may also slowly start to come to the realization that the side they’re warring on behalf of isn’t necessarily the right one.
That’s what he means by “wrong side of heaven”, i.e. a soldier being compelled to believe that he or she is fighting the good fight but, by the time all is said and done, realizing that they’re probably not. Instead, they rather discover that they’re waging war on behalf of “the righteous side of hell”.
And yes, this argument is being made by the same Zoltan Bathory who more recently became a playable character on Call of Duty, a popular videogame which itself has been criticized for glamorizing war. But the message being relayed in this song is pertinent nonetheless.
Those above analogies about heaven and hell are the types that are easy to understand yet difficult to put into words. But what it all boils down to is 5FDP basically inferring that it isn’t only direct memories of war which constitute PTSD.
There is also a moral dimension one has to contend with as a veteran and more specifically as one who was employed by an aggressive country like the United States. Or put otherwise, upon signing up soldiers may have been deceived, so to speak, into believing that they were enlisting on the “side of heaven”. But later they come to understand, the hard, unforgettable way, that they were not and therefore having to deal with the related guilt.
