In this post, we will break down the lyrics of Disciple’s song “The Executioner” and discuss how it talks about dying to sin.
Photo of current Disciple band members.
Disciple is a Christian hard rock band that formed back in the early 90’s. Led by lead vocalist Kevin Young, Disciple has released twelve albums and a few EPs. Their newest album, Skeleton Psalms, was released earlier this year. Disciple is known for their high energy and their boldness with sharing their faith.
Their song “The Executioner” is from Skeleton Psalms and focuses on dying to sin and being made alive in Christ.
Here is the music video, so check it out if you haven’t listened to it yet.
Now, for the lyrics.
I never was the picture of a model son
A crooked criminal they caught holding the gun
It got so hard to see the truth from all the lies
Slowly becoming more and more what I despise
I never should've left my foot inside the door
Never content and always craving something more
I feel the darkness closing in on every side
It’s time for something deep inside of me to die
The song begins by depicting a life of sin that many of us are probably familiar with. Sin blurs our vision of the truth and makes us focus on pursuing our selfish desires, leaving us never satisfied. Yet, the last line of this verse, “It’s time for something deep inside of me to die,” shows that we don’t have to stay living a life of sin. We can change. But how?
The executioner puts the cross upon my back
How beautiful, the breath that is my last
By believing in and following Jesus, our sinful life is put to death, and we receive a new life in Christ. As said by Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” So, the “executioner” and all the lyrics about death in this song are actually good things referring to the spiritual death of our sin (like when the song says, “How beautiful, the breath that is my last”).
Start praying over me last rites
I’m giving up the ghost inside
I’m hanging on the nails I drive
This cross is where I come to die
And I’ve waited so long
This is the hill I’ll die on
Start praying over me last rites
This cross is where I come to die
The references to crucifixion (“cross” and “hanging on the nails”) allude to Galatians 2:20a, which says “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.” Jesus took on our sin through His death on the cross, so for those of us who decided to follow Him, our sinful lives have also died with Jesus. And just as Jesus rose from the dead, when we give out lives to Him, we are also given a new life.
So, the lyric, “This cross is where I come to die” represents our sinful past lives being put to death through Jesus’s sacrifice.
You’re not allowed to see the cards against my chest
I never trust nobody with my wretchedness
So I sit and try to fight this fight alone
I fake allegiance, can’t decide which side I’m on
So I scream, beat my head against the wall
Forget the walk, can’t even crawl
I abuse the wounds that grace healed
You say you love me but it’s hard to love myself
Sin can make it feel like we are isolated (“try to fight this fight alone”) and unloved (“it’s hard to love myself”). Yet, God has shown His love for us through sending Jesus to die for us.
Lead vocalist and founding member Kevin Young explained the meaning of the song by saying, “The song is about coming to grips with your flaws, your failures, your shame, your sin. It’s realizing that no, I don’t want to celebrate anything about what I’ve done in this life. I want to lay my life down in exchange for a better one that God has for me.”
Skeleton Psalms album cover
Let the hammer swing down
I’ve made my peace
Said my goodbyes
There’s no eulogies
When this convict dies
My beautiful executioner
Kevin Young also said about the song: “We wanted to do a video that had an executioner in it, a video about really coming to grips with letting go of your life. I think that’s the part of Christianity that’s so beautiful. You get to this place where you’re ready to let go of all that you’ve had, ready to surrender and give yourself to God. We’re always ready to receive from Him. But the moment when we’re ready to surrender everything to Him, that’s the death to ourselves. The idea of laying down my life becomes this beautiful idea, as opposed to a dark and sinister idea. I sing ‘my beautiful executioner.’ This is what I want.”
So, in this song, “The Executioner” is really God, who transforms us by taking away our sin and giving us a new life.
I’ve made my peace
Said my goodbyes
There’s no eulogies
When this convict dies
Let the hammer swing down
I’ve made my peace
Said my goodbyes
There’s no eulogies
This cross is where I come to die
This song reminded me of Romans 6: 3-4, which says, “Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”
As depicted in Disciple’s music video, through baptism, we symbolically reenact Jesus’s death, burial, and resurrection, representing us dying to our sin and being raised to live a new life through Jesus. The lyrics, “I’ve made my peace” and “There’s no eulogies” mean that we don’t regret or mourn the death to our sin and past life. Instead, we rejoice because we now have something, Someone, better to live for. Someone who loves us completely and has good things planned for us.
Clarks, J. (2023, January 13). Disciple releases brutal new single “The Executioner” alongside new album Announcement - TCB. TCB. https://www.thechristianbeat.org/disciple-releases-brutal-new-single-the-executioner-alongside-new-album-announcement/
Disciple. (2023). Band. Retrieved December 14, 2023, from https://disciplerocks.com/band/
Genius Contributors. (2023). Disciple – the executioner. Genius. Retrieved December 14, 2023, from https://genius.com/Disciple-the-executioner-lyrics