A. M. D. G. Another sick song by atr. They still have it; this is better than all of Overcome, which wasn't too bad itself. This song is about my favorite topic! -fighting the good fight, as St. Paul would put it. The message is really straight forward: defy evil, defy fear, defy hatred, defy tyrants, defy the oppression of sin, defy Satan. We are many, that is, we Christians are strong in number, but most importantly in spirit. With the power of God on our side, and with His Holy Spirit, we have the strength to eradicate the strongholds of evil. Now the tide is turning: As Gen 3: 15 said, although evil won the battle on Good Friday, good won the war on Easter Sunday. Satan is a defeated foe, and his eternal banishment is quickly approaching. Let evil beware! We who stand on the firm rock of Jesus Christ are coming, and we will bring your doom. A. M. D. G.

A. M. D. G. Ok, most people have it right, that the fight inside is referring to a spiritual, internal battle between good and evil, or the desires of the spirit and those of the flesh. I hope to expound on a few of the above ideas and add a few of my own to help clarify the true underlying meaning of this song (although it may not be 100% congruent with the songwriters), as well as to dispel any erroneous interpretations, not to put any one down, but rather to give the meaning that Red would be in accordance with. I'm sure that they, however, would likewise encourage others to apply the lyrics to their own lives in more specific ways. First off, Red is a Christian band: they themselves are Christians along with the lyrical content of their songs. This song in particular, The Fight Inside, is off of their album "Innocence and Instinct." This fact must be noted while deciphering the meaning of the song. Innocence and Instinct is a concept album, and this track just so happens to be the focal point of that concept. This concept, according to Red, is based off of the struggle between "the good and the bad" inside a person, with some of their ideas coming from Dante's Divine Comedy: The Inferno and Charles Baudelaire. The fight inside that is being referred to is the direct result of original sin, or rather it's left-over remains after baptism, concupiscence, which is the inclination toward evil. According to C. S. Lewis we are like "the bent ones," who are weighted down by this sinful nature; we are like a cracked windshield: we function properly and are inherently good, yet our vision is obscured. Concupiscence distorts are reason and blinds us from the truth. Think of life as a journey to the top of a mountain, with the summit being heaven. There are many things that catch your attention off to the side of the path that distract you and keep you from proceeding up the mountain: that's what concupiscence does. St. Paul explains this "fight inside" in depth in his New Testament letters. For example, he says that he does the things which he does not wish to do, in comparison to the song which says, "All the pain, I want it to end, but I want it again." If you and I know something is wrong and we know there will be consequences attached, why do we do it anyways? Why do we make the same mistakes over and over again, even when we resolve avoid them? Because, like the song says, there is a fight going on inside of us every day, a spiritual battle that is raging inside of us. And I hate to say it, but every person has that battle, and not one of them can win it alone. Only by accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior will you ultimately win the battle within yourself. You must claim the victory that Jesus won for you on the cross. Alright, in regards to specific lyrics, he says, "enemy, familiar friend" because the temptation (the name I'll give to the "fight inside')has a double personality: at one moment it seems so appealing and friendly, and the other it is his bitter enemy that he resents and tries to get rid of. "My beginning and my end" refers to the temptation also, saying that it is always there, that it is the catalyst of his superficial joy and the pain that follows. It gets him going, and then it brings him down, coinciding in meaning with the lyrics in "Death of Me," a song whose lyrics are linked inextricably to "The Fight Inside," for they both refer to the malicious nature of worldly passions. Just listen to the song! Take what the band stands for and believes in, add it to what they personally have to say about their music, and then you will know what they are going for, and in this case, it is rather profound- so profound that t our salvation hinges on this concept! The speaker says in this song that the fight inside him is hurting him, and without God it is breaking him, again, meaning that this is a repeating occurrence. (And yes, I am sure that the "You" referred to in the hook is God). If you blow all this off, take it for granted, and just forget about it, you're risking the chance of living for eternity with God in heaven. And if not, then so what. What do you have to lose? If you don't believe in the fight inside, or if you just ignore it and wish it away, then you have already lost the battle. You must arm yourself with the knowledge of truth, for the battle rages on and it will not end until we die and ultimately when Jesus comes again in glory at the Parousia. "It's nothing, it's everything" sums up this paradox. The fight inside may seem insignificant and unimportant, but ultimately the outcome of that spiritual battle determines where you will spend the rest of eternity. The voice in your head whispers to you, "That's nothing, who cares. Just do it," when in reality, committing that sinful action will cost you everything. Do not lose hope, for just as the song implicitly suggests, if we have God on our side then we have already won the battle within us. And God bless anyone who actually read this whole thing, because it will truly pay off in the end. A. M. D. G.

A. M. D. G. Just like a lot of other Christian bands, Red writes songs that are applicable to all people, although they have special meanings for Christians. It's good to view this song and others like it in different contexts- which ever one that is to help you with the situation your currently in. But I ask all those who feel so compelled, to use these songs as a divine dialogue: to listen to God's message of love for you through them. This song in particular has a very deep meaning and it never ceases to comfort me and bring me peace.