You can look at Bad Religion, and, really, almost everything I've ever done was an exercise in creativity. I've always had a desire to challenge and question authority, and that's where the fire inside comes from. I challenged authority out of a desire to make things better, not to be nihilistic about it.
Greg GraffinFolk music usually has an emphasis on the lyrics and melody. And those lyrics are usually relevant in some way. And it's populist in scope, which is also true of Bad Religion. So it's more meant to draw some parallels between the two. And I think even my voice and my delivery can be thought of as a little bit folky.
Greg GraffinI've written almost 200 songs with Bad Religion. No matter where you look in our history, the focus has been trying to instill some of these disturbing realities about the world, some of the implications of evolution into an artistic format that can be interpreted by people who may never study evolution.
Greg GraffinWe delude ourselves into believing that morality comes from somewhere else, whereas in reality we behave as we've been told to behave.
Greg GraffinAs Iโve said, Iโve never believed in God, which technically makes me an atheist (since the prefix โaโ means โnotโ or โwithoutโ). But I have problems with the word โatheism.โ It defines what someone is not rather than what someone is. It would be like calling me an a-instrumentalist for Bad Religion rather than the bandโs singer. Defining yourself as against something says very little about what you are for.
Greg Graffin