The Art of War

Album: Dark Is The Way: Light Is A Place (2010)
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Songfacts®:

  • This track about relationships was inspired by The Art of War, the warrior creed of the ancient Chinese military commander and author Sun Tzu. Frontman Stephen Christian explained to Billboard magazine how the song reflects the philosophies of the book. "I was reading the correlation between those who strategize relationships and those who put actual emotions behind it. Sun Tzu was so calculated. Every move that he would make or that he wrote was basically how to approach your enemy, befriend him and strategize out a friendship. It kind of felt like how cold and calculated relationships can be sometimes; like, who has the upper hand. Isn't that kind of defeating the whole point of a relationship, whether it's a friendship or a girlfriend or a boyfriend or a marriage? If you're trying to strategize and plan it out and read self-help books and figure out the other person, it seems like it takes out the whole allure of what a relationship really is."

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