Good music can be thought provoking. Lately, I’ve been listening to the newest album by Red Vox, a psychedelic/indie rock band.

A few of the songs have been worthy of my research; the song “Why Die on a Hill” has particularly been interesting. I looked up the title of the song in Google, and found out the title is a variation on an expression.

A variation on an old military phrase, the original expression is “Is this the hill you want to die on?” In some cases, the question was literal. Soldiers would hunker down on a spot and hold it, most times against impossible odds.

When it absolutely needed to be defended, soldiers would reply “No better place to die,” an assumed end response to the expression.

In more modern contexts, however, the expression is used when someone verbally defends a point of view despite overwhelming negative feelings or objection against it, most likely leading to a suffered reputation, relationship, what have you.

Knowing about the band since it began and knowing about some of the lead singer’s other projects even longer, I felt this song to be a change from Red Vox’s usual lyrical content.

Not a bad change, mind you. While not the base of the message, many people would probably interpret this as politically charged.

But it’s not one sided or pandering to any single group—it’s a broad message to all those who participate in discussion of any nature.

We, as complex human beings, are more than just one-dimensional characters.

I know this isn’t seen much these days, but we have the capacity to think from more than one perspective.

This is the point that’s being made within the song.

I think it wouldn’t be wrong to say we’ve all been ready to die on a hill at one point or another. The biggest problem is not realizing our error, and most definitely not taking our own blame for our mistakes. We may have the capacity to be complex enough to see different sides, but we can also be stubborn enough to forgo respect for other people’s opinions and beliefs before our own.

Think with an open mind and open heart, people. Show respect for your fellow human being as a human being. There is no better feeling during a deabate, than being respected by the person you are deabating.

Ideologies are important, but perhaps not absolute. Our values can change as quick as the tides, but us homo sapiens tend to stay the same as a whole.

Also, leave a little respect for Mother Nature, too. She could use it right now.