Mountains Made of Steam

Somehow, all of Silver Mt. Zion's songs get back to the relevance of the government and it's involvement in the world. Well, most of them anyway.

Most of them deal with the terror induced by war.

I think in a general sense, this song seems to be about the sinking of a naval regiment. But looking a little further into this song, it seems to evolve into... well, more of a battle against anxiety and panic. The sinking of a naval regiment may just be a vessel for this type of communication.

Uh, what I mean to say is that this song, of course, puts the pressure on believing. Believe in dreams. And dreams of course, symbolize adherent hope. So, Efrim projects the message that we should all believe in a connotational hope, though, (what I love about this song) is that it is in vain.

Look at the whole song. The entire effort feels like it is in vain. As if you really are on a sinking boat and everyone is panicking. You can probably tell why Efrim cracks "PLEASE BELIEVE" so loud, due to this.

It is as if this song tells you to pray and to hold on to what you have, but you look pretty pitiful in comparason to your ultimate demise. Sinking. Drowning. Suffocating.

Steam, essential, is a water vapor kept under pressure to be used as a force. Steam engines aptly support this fact. So, steam is power. Mountains made of steam, essentially, are mountains made of vapor power. Hope and steam aren't too far apart in comparason. But, c'mon, "Mountains Made of Hope" doesn't sound as catchy. Steam sticks in more sharp satire, as having your head full of "hot ssteam" just means you have some foolish fanatical idea not worth supporting.

This song seems even more brutal now. Hope in vain. Well, that's just my interpretation...

I admire this group to death.

the meaning of this song to me seems pretty simple to find. asmz are anarchists. anarchy is generally regarded, even by anarchists, as a huge, fantastical idea of a perfect world with all people working together and living in peace that is entirely impossible; an idea that is huge and far-reaching, yet seen as being entirely invalid, as edemaomega pointed out, an idea that is a mountain made of steam. yet, efrim, and many others, believe whole heartedly in their ideals and find comfort and youthfulness and romance in it, and ask others to believe in it as they do, declaring that, despite all of the bullshit our society dumps on the collective unconscious, and despite all of the addictions we all have to aspects of modern society, there is a hope and a chance of really being free.

"Somewhere there's a soldier Sleeping in a field Somewhere there's a mother, a mother, a mother A mother, a mother, a mother"

a strong visual. somewhere in a field in some foreign country a soldier lies dead. killed by an enemy soldier, killed by the war, killed by the wealthy fucked up leaders who control the world. this soldier was a son or a daughter. they graduated from school, made friends. they had a life. now they dont. there is a woman once a mother who is no longer.

there is nothing worth fighting in a war for. life is not about dollars or oil or corporations. none of those things are worth dying for. life is not that big. the meaning of life and happiness is found in small things like love, friendship, living out your dreams, art. "Please believe in gentle dreams, The sweetness of people, Whistling in their sleep." the things that modern society tells us lead to happiness, like money and pride, are rejected. modern society is a huge useless nothing, a mountain made of steam.

the final chorus is a reference again to the difficulty of believing in and staying true to such a seemingly hopeless dream.

does somebody know, whether this song was released on some record, or is it only played on shows?

It's on the album that came out today.

Horses in the Sky

i think edemaomega summed it up perfectly. the best part about the song is that it's not fixed on something in particular. the whole "hope in vain"-theory can be applied to pretty much anything (such as my fucked up life).

i join edemaomega in admiring this group to death.

This song unfuckincredible... I love it ... Amazing and beatiful

it's awesome man...

Silver mt. zion totally rocks

If you go to their site and look at the lyrics for mountains made of steam, it shows a rocket being launched from a battleship, with what appears to be what could be called a "mountain" made of none other than steam.

Personally, Horses In The Sky is the best album of ASMZ, but all the others come very close. Mountains Made Of Steam and God Bless Our Dead Marines are the most awesome songs ever... They really hit you emotionally, especially when you are able to sense the passion Efrim puts into these songs; and when the choirs sing at the end of God Bless Our Dead Marines. That's just amazing. Just wanted to share this with you guys.

Now, when I first heard this song, and in particular the sentence 'Somewhere there's a soldier | Sleeping in a field', I thought this was a reference to Le Dormeur Du Val (The Sleeper in the Valley) by Arthur Rimbaud. Anyone of you had the same thing/can justify this?

Nizz

Wow. I only clicked on this song because I vaguely remembered Silver Mount Zion being said to be of relation to GYBE....I wasnt expecting this gut punch. The Cracked, amateurish vocals make it somehow even more hard hitting, more pressing