Anthropoid

Album: VII: Sturm und Drang (2015)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This track honors a group of Czech paratroopers who assassinated Reinhard Heydrich, the brutal architect of the Final Solution during World War II. Randy Blythe explained the story behind the song to Rolling Stone. "When the Nazis came into Czechoslovakia, the Czechs put up some resistance. So the Nazis sent in Reinhard Heydrich, who is the 'Young Evil God of Death,' the 'Blonde Beast,' the 'Butcher of Prague.' As you can tell, he wasn't a pleasant person."

    "He destroyed the people of Prague and crushed their will, except for a group of Czech-born, British-trained paratroopers who were like, 'OK, we need to raise the morale of the Czech people. They carried out the only successful assassination attempt on a high-ranking Nazi Party official [Heydrich]. They f---ed this dude up and then hid out in the crypt of this church in Prague, the Cathedral of Saint Cyril and the Methodius, for about a month and then somebody ratted them out. There were seven of them left, and the Nazis busted in the church and a firefight ensued. Three were killed upstairs and they retreated to the crypt for, I believe, eight hours. Four men held off 800 Nazi storm troopers and eventually when they ran out of bullets, they killed themselves in the basement of that church."

    "You can go to the basement of that church and see where they were trying to dig out of the basement into the sewer system to escape . They fought until they were out of bullets."

    "Those dudes were what I consider superior men, and I wanted to honor them with a song. So that song is about them and killing the Butcher of Prague. It's an honor."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat World

Jim Adkins of Jimmy Eat WorldSongwriter Interviews

Jim talks about the impact of "The Middle" and uses a tree metaphor to describe his songwriting philosophy.

Weezer

WeezerFact or Fiction

Did Rivers Cuomo grow up on a commune? Why did they name their albums after colors? See how well you know your Weezer in this Fact or Fiction.

Charlotte Caffey of The Go-Go's

Charlotte Caffey of The Go-Go'sSongwriter Interviews

Charlotte was established in the LA punk scene when a freaky girl named Belinda approached her wearing a garbage bag.

Music Video Director David Hogan

Music Video Director David HoganSong Writing

David talks about videos he made for Prince, Alabama, Big & Rich, Sheryl Crow, DMB, Melissa Etheridge and Sisters of Mercy.

Edwin McCain

Edwin McCainSongwriter Interviews

"I'll Be" was what Edwin called his "Hail Mary" song. He says it proves "intention of the songwriter is 180 degrees from potential interpretation by an audience."

Chris Squire of Yes

Chris Squire of YesSongwriter Interviews

One of the most dynamic bass player/songwriters of his time, Chris is the only member of Yes who has been with the band since they formed in 1968.