| Nirvana – Plateau Lyrics | 19 years ago |
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In my own opinion... This song is about spirituality and the journey toward salvation. "Many a hand has scaled the grand old face of the plateau" could be symbolic of the large religious movements found throughout history (i.e. Crusades). "Some belong to strangers and some to folks you know" could mean that the journey is taken by everyone, regardless of their social status or any other hinderance. "Holy ghosts and talk show hosts are planted in the sand" may be a reference to the distractions and blockades that present themselves during a person's journey toward salvation (i.e. in Christian religions Satan, possibly greed). "To beautify the foothills and shake the many hands" could mean (in correlation to the previous line) that the distractions (once again - the Devil or greed) could be there to glorify or "beautify" the objective - salvation. They are there to make it look more wondrous or epic. "Nothing on the top but a bucket and a mop And an illustrated book about birds" could be, surprisingly, a complete contradiction to the first verse because, in my interpretation, it means that salvation is really nothing much at all but a "bucket and a mop." The book about birds could be a figment alluring to the entire concept of salvation and its stupidity. It could also be saying that spirituality is for the birds (excuse the crummy saying). "You see a lot up there but don't be scared" could be a comparison to standing on a mountain or overcoming some sort of feat. That feat may be the realization that there is no salvation, or perhaps we are searching for salvation in the wrong place. "Who needs action when you got words" could be symbolic of the preaching of many judeo-Christian religions which teach what they believe to be a "correct" or "enlightened" path toward salvation and how they take words over action in a literal sense (preaching over physical acts of persuasion). "When you've finished with the mop then you can stop And look at what you've done The plateau's clean, no dirt to be seen And the work it took was fun" could mean that, after you have reached "salvation," and discovered the truth you are not angered by the deceitfulness involved. In fact, you are happy because you have learned and grown from it. It was a fun experience. "Many a hands began to scan around for the next plateau Some said it was in Greenland and some in Mexico" could mean that people speculate about salvation, but are truly indecisive as to where to search for it. This statement is made more clear in the next line "Others decided it was nowhere except for where they stood Those were all just guesses, wouldn't help you if they could" which may mean that all it really comes down to is a decision. Spirituality is a personal journey. Everyone has a different approach toward it and ideas about it. There is not set or correct path as everyone is just guessing. Others cannot help you - the decision to believe in something or not is your's. |
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