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So now I am older than my mother and father
When they had their daughter
Now what does that say about me
Oh how could I dream of such a selfless and true love
Could I wash my hands of
Just looking out for me
Oh man what I used to be
Oh man oh my oh me
Oh man what I used to be
Oh man oh my oh me
In dearth or in excess
Both the slave and the empress
Will return to the dirt I guess, naked as when they came
I wonder if I'll see any faces above me
Or just cracks in the ceiling
Nobody else to blame
Oh man what I used to be
Oh man oh my oh me
Oh man that I used to be
Oh man oh my oh me
Gold teeth and gold jewelry
Every piece of your dowry
Throw them into the tomb with me
Bury them with my name
Unless I have someday
Ran my wandering mind away
Oh man what I used to be
Montezuma to Tripoli
Oh man oh my oh me
When they had their daughter
Now what does that say about me
Oh how could I dream of such a selfless and true love
Could I wash my hands of
Just looking out for me
Oh man what I used to be
Oh man oh my oh me
Oh man what I used to be
Oh man oh my oh me
In dearth or in excess
Both the slave and the empress
Will return to the dirt I guess, naked as when they came
I wonder if I'll see any faces above me
Or just cracks in the ceiling
Nobody else to blame
Oh man what I used to be
Oh man oh my oh me
Oh man that I used to be
Oh man oh my oh me
Gold teeth and gold jewelry
Every piece of your dowry
Throw them into the tomb with me
Bury them with my name
Unless I have someday
Ran my wandering mind away
Oh man what I used to be
Montezuma to Tripoli
Oh man oh my oh me
Lyrics submitted by rockisgroovy, edited by Rannoch
"Montezuma" as written by Ralf Stemmann, Michael Holm
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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On to the song itself… this is going to be quite long detailed, but it might be worth it :)
I think the lyrics are about growing up and realizing what's really important in life. The speaker is reflecting back on 'what he used to be' from a new perspective.
"So now I am older than my mother and father when they had their daughter.
Now what does that say about me?"
He starts by posing a question - now that I've reached the age where my parents already had a child, what does that mean? I am no longer a child myself, being taken care of constantly and free to be completely selfish and self centered. I am in the next phase of my life.
"Oh how could I dream of such a selfless and true love
Could I wash my hands of just looking out for me?"
In direct relation to the previous line, the selfless and true love is that of a parent to his or her child - changing our priorities and truly putting someone else above ourselves – but it also pertains to any ideal of unconditional love. The speaker is asking himself if he can even dream of something so noble and pure at this point of his life, and wonders if he could actually change his ways: 'wash his hands' of being selfish and thinking only of himself.
"Oh man what I used to be Oh man oh my oh me"
This is such a simple line yet it has so much depth and emotion in the context of the song and its melody. We've all said this to ourselves before in one way or another when thinking about our past, especially our childhood. The speaker is evolving and maturing, and from this new perspective he can look back on what he used to be with this beautiful mix of sorrow, compassion and longing that I get when I listen to this tune.
"In dearth or in excess
Both the slave and the empress will return to the dirt I guess
Naked as when they came"
Beyond any ego, material possessions, wealth or status (as exemplified by the comparison of an empress to a slave) - we all leave this world just as we came into it, naked and without anything at all. He is realizing that his endless pursuit after these things is meaningless and empty.
What is important then? Here it comes:
"I wonder if I'll see any faces above me or just cracks in the ceiling
Nobody else to blame"
When it's our time to die and leave this world, will we be surrounded by our loved ones or will we be staring at the ceiling all alone? The answer to this question is totally up to you and how you live your life, hence there is 'nobody else to blame'. This is just as relevant to the empress as it is to the slave, and all the money in the world can't change that.
"Gold teeth and gold jewelry, every piece of your dowry
Throw them into the tomb with me, bury them with my name
Unless i have someday ran my wandering mind away"
This part is a bit trickier. I take it almost as a confession, showing how he is still very connected to his ego: wealth (gold teeth and jewelry), selfish love (symbolized by the dowry, the 'price' of a bride, unlike the priceless, selfless love in which there is nothing specific to gain) and his status or reputation in the eyes of society, his 'name'.
He wants all of these things to be buried with him, unable to let them go even when he dies and they become of no use. This is beautifully contrasting his earlier realizations, and shows how he is still unable to actually live by them... unless he will someday ‘run his wandering mind way’.
To me that means silencing the voice in your head that is never satisfied, that constantly wants more and always wanders off instead of being present and grateful in the moment.
We're almost done now when this line totally throws me off:
"Oh man what i used to be
Montezuma to Tripoli"
As far as I understand this is reference to the "Marines' Hymn", the official hymn of the United States Marine Corps. In the original piece the line goes:
"From the Halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli
We fight our country's battles in the air, on land, and sea"
I see it delivering a double punch: the first is a metaphor for the entire process the song talks about in the form of a battle. The Halls of Montezuma represent his current self-centered state of being and the shores of Tripoli are the promised land of unconditional, selfless love. He is fighting the battle, so to speak, of conquering himself.
A second meaning could be that the song serves both as a personal account and a political one, where that same process is relevant for the US as a nation: ‘washing its hands’ of looking out only for itself and realizing that it's not as important if you're the emperor or the slave as it is that you are good to others, to the world at large.
I would love to hear your guys' opinions on this line, as it's quite open ended. Personally, as far as the impact and meaning the song holds for me go, I choose to basically disregard whatever political aspects and stay with the soulful, spiritual and intimate confession of a man.
That’s it for now. Congratulations for making it this far!
Have a beautiful day and don't forget to smile :)
Oh, man what I used to be,
Oh man, oh my, oh me
Perfect explanation, there is so much soul, passion, and meaning behind those simple lines.
The dowry
Excellent bringing those verses together
Montezuma
That part always confused me, but bringing up the Marine's Hymn it pulls it all together.
I am very impressed at how it was able to be pieced together.
My only modification to the interpretation would be to re-think what is going on in the 6th verse
Gold teeth and gold jewelry
every piece of your dowry
throw them into the tomb with me
bury them with my name
I think in this verse he is pleading with the rest of the world, with all of society, to throw away its selfish habits with him when he passes. Asking that he would be the last to have to suffer with these lonely realizations.
Really sets the mood for the rest of the album, no?
i think it's pretty clear that this is about the USA. how we've outgrown the european way of life and really changed the world with out american ideology. we have a dream that is just and good but it is hardly ever realized anymore.
i think the part about foreign excess is from his point of view. since america is the queen of excess, the foreign part is every other person who lives excessively and he shall endure it as he sees it making slaves of people and he hopes to return to an agrarian way of life. he and all people who think similarly.
there's the possibility of regaining honor and prestige for our nation (the faces on murals on church ceilings) and it's also possible that it will continue to deteriorate away and form cracks. and whatever happens it will be due to the people of america, whether they work to redeem it or do nothing.
but it's probable the latter will happen, and in the process people will lose everything. and the people in power will take it all with them to their graves, and they will also take all the good that america once stood for.
unless of course the "wandering mind" of america is run away and it gets its shit together.
the montezuma to tripoli put me on this train of thought, and although its pessimistic, i think the song supports it and its also pretty realistic. thoughts? comments?
He notes that by his age his parents had already started having children and worries that maybe he should be getting on with his life, perhaps he cannot wait for his "true love".
Mortality presses upon him and he remembers that once dead everyone is equal, which to me suggests further questioning of his romantic ideas for his own life because in the end maybe none of it will matter.
Finally he openly admits his weakness in his fear of death and desire to take what is valuble with him, expressed in the form of gold jewellery, but more than this it is his wife's dowry which he wants to take with him. This returns to the idea that his love for her is not selfless as he had hoped it would be.
As for cracks in ceilings or faces and montezuma to tripoli I have no idea.
You must be out your mind, you poor thing! Pick up your patriotic little sense of reality and get out! Read Butchbaker and especially Mainten's comment, they are spot-on!
"Montezuma to Tripoli" is a CLEAR allusion to the Marines' Hymn. Say what you want here, but you're wrong ivoandreas. Now that we've established this connection, the rest of the song fits well into a description of the current state of America. How it is in disarray, how it is corrupt and broken, and how it serves the will of corporations and the rich instead of fulfilling the ideas laid out by the Founding Fathers a long time ago. I may have stated the connections in a vague and poorly thought out manner, but I was writing it off the top of my head and was still a little high at the time. I took a little liberty in my expression that "we've outgrown the european way of life" for sure. Whether or not outgrown is the right word choice, people certainly arrived in North America as Europeans, and evolved into Americans over time. The resulting American way of life is the one to which I refer. And if you've taken any courses on modern history you will know that this way of life, an American ideology, is the one that shaped the world most from late 1800's until today. That is what I mean by outgrowing the European way of life."
And Mainten, whose dick you apparently love to suck, also says that my interpretation has merit. So once again, go fuck yourself ivoandreas and learn to accept that there can be multiple valid explanations of the same thing.
or just cracks in the ceiling
nobody else to blame"
when i first heard these lines, i immediately thought of heaven. questioning if it exists at all.
this songs resonates with me as just a reflection of how he used to be and how he is now, whether that is good or bad. just a change. ive often reflected on my life and have been in awe of all that has happened - the good the bad the mediocre, and questioned what is before me.
I believe Robin intentionally made this metaphor ambiguous so that it can be interpreted both ways. In the first layer of metaphor, the narrator asks if he would see faces looking down on him on his death bead. In the second layer, he is asking if there is really a "man upstairs" (although the lyrics uses the plural, so his questioning extends not only to the existence of a God, but also to the existence of souls in heaven and to angles).
That being said, I believe Robin was commenting on the selfish nature of both man and society in today's world. Technology has led us to this narcistic place, but in the end we still end up in the earth the same way as our ancestors.
This song is about death. He's saying he's older than his mother and father when they loved each other and had a child, an obvious declaration that he's still alone. The next verse simply says that he's selfish in the way that he looks out for himself, and doesn't need a girl to over complicate his life, or for him to fall hard for a girl and get his heart broken. The next verse is saying we all die, rich or poor, and he wonders if he'll see his loved ones looking over him when he dies or if he'll be alone simply staring at the ceiling. The next verse he states he wants to be buried with his wealth, unless "he has someday ran my wandering away" meaning he settles down and finally has a significant other or children to pass those belongings to.
Dont over complicate it with retarded comparisons so some random movie you watched when you were ten, or some book that you just finished reading and want to brag about, bringing the illusion you're well read. You dont understand music if you do.