“21 guns” was released as the 2nd and last single of their 8th album 21st Century Breakdown which is a rock-opera. It means that all the songs from the album make a story and 21 guns is the end of this story. 21 guns is a soft rock song with a slow rhythm. Used instruments are acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass guitar and drums.

The album follows the story of a young couple through the problems of the American society during Bush era. In 21 guns the couple takes refuge in a house because they’re chased by police who doesn’t hesitate to open fire against them. At first sight it doesn’t seem to be a protest song but that’s also the interesting point: there are many ways to interpret the song

Behind the lyrics is actually hidden a protest song against war. The name of the song is a clue, “21 guns” refers to the 21-gun salute that consists of shooting 21 volleys as funerals for a soldier who’s dead. The song tells how you will go out and fight, but then regret it in the last place. So even tough there are no direct mentions of it, we can easily refer this song to the Iraq War.

-"When it's not worth dying for? “ It implies that US should not occupy Iraq.

-"Did someone break your heart inside?
You're in ruins"
This is mentioning how people in America suffered from losing their relatives because of war.

-«to have control to create a fire » A fire implies a war. It’s sent to the government which thinking he would fix the problem by invading Irak finally just ended up.

So « 21 guns » was written about war. But what kind of war is left up to the listener, 21 guns is also a song that applying in daily life.

And it’s because of these multiples ways to interpreting the song that 21 guns didn’t create controversy. Nobody could complain about the lyrics because nothing is mentioned, all is implicit.

This song made us reflect, because everyone could have a different interpretation, so it was not easy to find what is said behind the words. We found