I think much like another song “Anti-Matter” (that's also on the same album as this song), this one is also is inspired by a horrifying van crash the band experienced on Nov 3, 2022. This, much like the other track, sounds like it's an extension what they shared while huddled in the wreckage, as they helped frontman Garrett Russell stem the bleeding from his head wound while he was under the temporary effects of a concussion. The track speaks of where the mind goes at the most desperate & desolate of times, when it just about slips away to all but disconnect itself, and the aftermath.
Old pirates, yes, they rob I
Sold I to the merchant ships
Minutes after they took I
From the bottomless pit
But my hand was made strong
By the hand of the Almighty
We forward in this generation
Triumphantly
Won't you help to sing
Another song of freedom?
'Cause all I ever have
Redemption song
We sing a song for emancipation
The words fill your soul, your every frame
Out with the day with anticipation
We harmonize on the very same song
Won't you sing along
We still so far, we are, we are
(?)
Redemption song
Won't you help to sing
Another song of freedom?
'Cause all I ever have (all I ever have)
Redemption song
Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery
None but ourselves can free our minds
Have no fear for atomic energy
'Cause none of them can stop the time
(?)
(?)
(?)
(?)
Won't you help to sing
Another song of freedom?
'Cause all I ever have ('cause all I ever have)
Redemption song
Won't you help to sing
Another song of freedom?
'Cause all I ever have
Redemption song
Redemption song
Redemption song
Redemption song
Redemption song
Sold I to the merchant ships
Minutes after they took I
From the bottomless pit
But my hand was made strong
By the hand of the Almighty
We forward in this generation
Triumphantly
Won't you help to sing
Another song of freedom?
'Cause all I ever have
Redemption song
We sing a song for emancipation
The words fill your soul, your every frame
Out with the day with anticipation
We harmonize on the very same song
Won't you sing along
We still so far, we are, we are
(?)
Redemption song
Won't you help to sing
Another song of freedom?
'Cause all I ever have (all I ever have)
Redemption song
Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery
None but ourselves can free our minds
Have no fear for atomic energy
'Cause none of them can stop the time
(?)
(?)
(?)
(?)
Won't you help to sing
Another song of freedom?
'Cause all I ever have ('cause all I ever have)
Redemption song
Won't you help to sing
Another song of freedom?
'Cause all I ever have
Redemption song
Redemption song
Redemption song
Redemption song
Redemption song
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Dreamwalker
Silent Planet
Silent Planet
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
Mountain Song
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction
Jane's Addiction vocalist Perry Farrell gives Adam Reader some heartfelt insight into Jane’s Addiction's hard rock manifesto "Mountain Song", which was the second single from their revolutionary album Nothing's Shocking. Mountain song was first recorded in 1986 and appeared on the soundtrack to the film Dudes starring Jon Cryer. The version on Nothing's Shocking was re-recorded in 1988.
"'Mountain Song' was actually about... I hate to say it but... drugs. Climbing this mountain and getting as high as you can, and then coming down that mountain," reveals Farrell. "What it feels to descend from the mountain top... not easy at all. The ascension is tough but exhilarating. Getting down is... it's a real bummer. Drugs is not for everybody obviously. For me, I wanted to experience the heights, and the lows come along with it."
"There's a part - 'Cash in now honey, cash in Miss Smith.' Miss Smith is my Mother; our last name was Smith. Cashing in when she cashed in her life. So... she decided that, to her... at that time, she was desperate. Life wasn't worth it for her, that was her opinion. Some people think, never take your life, and some people find that their life isn't worth living. She was in love with my Dad, and my Dad was not faithful to her, and it broke her heart. She was very desperate and she did something that I know she regrets."
No Surprises
Radiohead
Radiohead
Same ideas expressed in Fitter, Happier are expressed in this song. We're told to strive for some sort of ideal life, which includes getting a good job, being kind to everyone, finding a partner, getting married, having a couple kids, living in a quiet neighborhood in a nice big house, etc. But in Fitter, Happier the narrator(?) realizes that it's incredibly robotic to live this life. People are being used by those in power "like a pig in a cage on antibiotics"--being pacified with things like new phones and cool gadgets and houses while being sucked dry. On No Surprises, the narrator is realizing how this life is killing him slowly. In the video, his helmet is slowly filling up with water, drowning him. But he's so complacent with it. This is a good summary of the song. This boring, "perfect" life foisted upon us by some higher powers (not spiritual, but political, economic, etc. politicians and businessmen, perhaps) is not the way to live. But there is seemingly no way out but death. He'd rather die peacefully right now than live in this cage. While our lives are often shielded, we're in our own protective bubbles, or protective helmets like the one Thom wears, if we look a little harder we can see all the corruption, lies, manipulation, etc. that is going on in the world, often run by huge yet nearly invisible organizations, corporations, and 'leaders'. It's a very hopeless song because it reflects real life.
Amazing
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran tells a story of unsuccessfully trying to feel “Amazing.” This track is about the being weighed down by emotional stress despite valiant attempts to find some positivity in the situation. This track was written by Ed Sheeran from the perspective of his friend. From the track, we see this person fall deeper into the negative thoughts and slide further down the path of mental torment with every lyric.
I think that the book Bob is referring to is a supposed lost, second part of the Bible. Basically what it boils down to is that Rastas believe that Ethiopians are descendents of the exiled people of Isreal, and that the coronation of Haile Selassie was predicted in the Bible, and that he is Jesus reincarnated (there is a lot of cool stuff you can read about how they justify this, Google "Lion of Judah" and "Rastafari" to get a better sense of it, I am no expert I'm just giving the gist of it). They believe that among the exiled peoples of Isreal, one of the tribes carried the Arc of the Covenant. According to Rastas, in the Arc of the Covenant is an additional holy book which contains a wealth of African-specific wisdom and spiritual truth.
I've read quite a few comments that claim that Bob was anti-religious. This is so false, he was not only spiritual but extremely religious: a complete zealot of Rastafari. Ratsafarians believe that over history and through many translations that the Bible has been corrupted and anglicized, changed to marginalize Africans and pander to Europeans. They contend that since we know the human species originated in Africa, that Adam and Eve were Africans, and the Garden of Eden and Mount Zion must be in Africa. So when Bob denounces religion (which he does do pretty often, like in "Get Up, Stand Up") he is criticizing the modern, white-washed version of Christianity.
I don't really know how this all fits into the whole song, but I am pretty sure that the book is a lost portion of the bible. I think that "We've got to fulfill the book" is an argument AGAINST "Some say it's just a part of it". In other words, I think he is saying that Africans shouldn't just accept oppression as a part of life, but that they should live up to the ideals of the true message of the bible, a message that has been diluted and corrupted over the course of human history.