Keep Your Rifle by Your Side (Choir Version)

"Keep Your Rifle by Your Side (Choir Version)" by The Hope County Choir"

Keep Your Rifle by Your Side (Choir Version)" is a haunting, gospel-infused track from the 2018 soundtrack album Far Cry 5 Presents: When the World Falls, composed by Dan Romer and performed by the fictional Hope County Choir. Originally created as in-game propaganda for the doomsday cult Project at Eden's Gate in the video game Far Cry 5, the choir rendition transforms the song into a swelling, choral anthem with layered harmonies, evoking the style of American spirituals or folk hymns. It blends rustic Americana with ominous undertones, using male and female voices to build a sense of communal resolve and eerie devotion.

Lyrically, the song is a defiant call to arms, urging believers to stay vigilant against "sinners"—outsiders who threaten their way of life. Key verses paint a picture of impending raids ("They'll look high and they'll look low / They'll look everywhere we go / But when the sinners find us we won't hide") and emphasize preemptive action ("They'll come loud and they'll come fast / But we shoot first and we can last"). The recurring refrain, "Keep your rifle by your side," serves as both a practical mantra and a spiritual imperative, intertwined with pious declarations like "Singing, 'Oh Lord, this Earth was made for us' / Singing, 'Oh Lord, this sinful life just ain't enough.'" Themes of protection extend to family and faith ("They'll have our children in their sights / But if they don't have faith their eyes are blind"), culminating in a resolve to resist superior forces ("They'll have bombs and they'll have tanks / 'Cause they've got money in their banks / But we won't fall as long as we can fight"). The narrative arc moves from warning to unwavering commitment, ending on a personal vow: "When I see your face I know I must protect my place / I'll keep my rifle by my side."

Musically, the choir version amplifies the song's propagandistic fervor through call-and-response vocals and a slow-building crescendo, contrasting the game's more stripped-down folk or guitar interpretations. It has gained cult status beyond the game, often memed online for its ironic blend of piety and paranoia, and repurposed by some as an anthem of rural self-reliance.

Relation to the Second Amendment and Christian America

The song's fusion of armed vigilance and fervent religiosity mirrors core tensions in American cultural identity, particularly the interplay between the Second Amendment—enshrining "the right of the people to keep and bear Arms" for a free state's security—and the notion of a "Christian America," where faith justifies defense against perceived moral decay or tyranny.

In Far Cry 5's Montana setting, the cult's ideology satirizes extreme fringes of this worldview: a theocratic militia viewing guns not just as tools but as divine instruments to safeguard a God-ordained homeland from "sinners" (echoing biblical dominion themes like Genesis 1:28's call to "subdue" the earth). https://www.learnreligions.com/what-is-dominion-theology-4588861The lyrics' insistence on shooting first aligns with Second Amendment interpretations that prioritize individual self-defense as a "God-given right," rooted in natural law and echoed by Founding Fathers like Elbridge Gerry, who saw resistance to tyranny as a Creator-endowed duty. https://www.gunowners.org/This resonates with "Christian America," a concept blending Protestant exceptionalism with nationalism, where the U.S. is seen as a covenant nation under God—much like the song's claim that "this Earth was made for us." https://www.nature.com/Groups like the NRA have amplified this by framing gun rights through religious rhetoric, portraying disarmament as a satanic assault on biblical self-preservation (drawing from passages like Luke 22:36, where Jesus tells disciples to buy swords). https://credohouse.org/Post-Far Cry 5, the track became a meme among gun enthusiasts, reclaimed as a pro-Second Amendment rallying cry for "patriotic rednecks" defending family and faith against government overreach—flipping the game's cult narrative into a symbol of heroic resistance. https://www.reddit.com/Yet, it also critiques the perils of this fusion: the cult's zealotry highlights how "Christian" dominion can veer into violence, challenging believers to balance Jesus' peacemaking (Matthew 5:9) with stewardship of life. https://www.biola.edu/Ultimately, the song embodies America's ongoing debate—guns as liberty's bulwark or idolatry—tied to a faith that both sanctifies and scrutinizes them.

Lyrics Source: https://www.musixmatch.com/