| Matchbox Twenty – How Far We've Come Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| If the world were to end (and the narrator believes it's "burning to the ground") if you looked at yourself and the entire race, how would you define it? What's its significance? These are the questions the narrator is asking, both introspectively and about the world in general. So I suppose you could argue that, indirectly, make the best of your life so that when you do sit "down on the street and [take] a look at" yourself you see something meaningful and something you're happy and proud of. Just my 2 cents. And obviously the fact that the world is "burning to the ground" is emphasized and is what the narrator believes to be true, commenting on the state of the world and the human race, which is sort of ironic given the upbeat nature of the rhythm, which I think adds more to the emphasis on this line. | |
| Matchbox Twenty – Real World Lyrics | 16 years ago |
| Its definitely about how everyone always, at some point in their lives wonders what it would be like to be someone else and the pressures that the "real world" puts on us that make us feel that way. But I think the final verse sends the message home: "Please don't change, please don't break, the only thing that seems to work at all is you..." as in, don't break under the pressure and don't try to be someone your not, just be you. | |
| Pearl Jam – Jeremy Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| Such a powerful song. All of Pearl Jam's song's carry a lot of weight, but this one really hits hard. | |
| Between the Buried and Me – White Walls Lyrics | 17 years ago |
| This is my favorite BtBaM song (if i had to pick Just one). Colors is the greatest album ever made, period. | |
| Counting Crows – Einstein On The Beach Lyrics | 17 years ago |
|
I would like to preface this by saying that the Atomic Fission Bomb's development during the latter part of World War II is a very plausible explanation for this song. However, I disagree. While Einstein, in a letter to the president of the United States, did in-fact, explain the ramifications of research being done that could lead to such a weapon of mass destruction he was not a part of the Manhattan Project - the team of scientists, lead by J. Robert Oppenheimer, who created the weapon. I believe this song is about how Einstein's ideas lead to the development of Quantum Mechanics which he supported at first, and if not for his contributions (both positively and negatively) would likely not have evolved into the intricate and most accurate theory known to science to-date. First let me start with this simple fact: in Albert's early years, from childhood - when his parent's and school teachers thought he may be slightly mentally handicapped - to adulthood Einstein was an outcast in the scientific community. When he first developed his ideas of light consisting of Photons he was rejected by the scientific community. As science evolved and realized that he was right, and as he derived his theories of Special and General Relativity he went from outcast to icon. That transition took decades however. As opposed to many of the physicists and chemists who developed Quantum Theory who gained popularity and acceptance fairly quickly. So throughout Einstein's life he was "always sincere, he's the sensitive type, his intentions are clear, he wanna be well-liked." After the scientific community accepted Einstein's ideas it was "blooming uncontrolled" with regards to Quantum Mechanics. During its development Einstein was frequently asked if new ideas/theories within Q.M. were valid, he was sort of a "guru" within the physics community. And many of the (correct) strange ideas most physicists dismissed Einstein accepted. So Q.M., by the early 1930's was nearly complete. However, Einstein, and physicists alike, began to see the meaning of this bizarre, but highly precise and accurate theory. Einstein immediately, upon learning what this theory said about the nature of existance, dejected it. He spent nearly the rest of his life, including his dying days, trying to prove Q.M. wrong. He invented numerous ways of testing its incorrectness, yet when those experiments were carried out they only supported what Q.M. said. In a sense, Einstein was one of the greatest shapers of Q.M. because of his acceptance of it at the outset and his rejectance and work to disprove it at the end. So, Einstein's ideas, along with those of other scientists are "blooming." And when he finally sees what Q.M. says about the nature of reality, he, perhaps asks: "If everything is nothing then are we anything?" Q.M. states, simply, that reality only exists upon it's being consciously observed, that is, you (the reader) make reality exist because you observe it. Einstein could not accept this at all, it was against what he morally believed. Also, the fact that Q.M. states that there is no certainty, there is only chance, lead to one of Einstein's famous quotes: "God doesn't play dice." So "Is it better to be better than to be anything?" aka. is a better theory of reality better than the lesser one if it implies that everything is nothing? Again, this new concept of Quantum Mechanics is "blooming uncontrolled" and it all started (among other scientists visions as well) with some of Einstein's visions. "All his wings are slowly sinking," what he once thought to be true about the nature of the universe seems to be fading, his ideas on reality are sinking, his theories are being applied and used to things he cannot believe. So "The world begins to disappear" as Q.M. would suggest that existance is really nothing, only what one's consciousness observes. "The worst things come from inside here," I haven't really figured this line out but what seems to make the most sense to me is that, from Einstein's perspective, the "worst things come from inside here," with 'here' referring to the human mind. "All the king's men reappear for an eggman, on and off a wall, who'll never be together again." I don't know who the "king's men" refer to but the eggman is Einstein who's fallen apart. I'd like to note that around this point in Albert's life he spent more time in the lab and working on disproving Q.M. than he did with his family and friends - he became a recluse, so to speak. "Einstein's down on the beach staring into the sand, cause everything he believes in is shattered." - Based off of what I've already said this line is self-explanatory. "What you fear in the night in the day comes to call anyway-ay." Einstein's fear of rejection, the rejection he experienced in his early years, comes back to haunt him as his opposition to this new theory is becoming more and more unsupported. "We all get burned as one more sun comes sliding down the sky, one more shadow leans against the wall" - I think this tries to connect this to everyone, as time passes what we once thought to be true of something ends up being wrong, whether it be scientific theory, moral beliefs, etc. "Albert's waiting in the sun, on a field american, for the cause of some inflated form of hit-and-run" - Albert's waiting for his ideas to prevail, he's waiting for some explanation that fits his morals, he's waiting for this "hit-and-run" that occurred to him to be explained away. (I'd like to note that this line also refer's to Adam Duritz's dog, named Einstein, who was hit by a car and killed). "Albert's fallen on the sun, cracked his head wide-open." - He's utterly torn apart, he cannot prevail, but he's trying and trying and trying to disprove it. "...for an eggman, fallin' fallin'..." - He's still falling into a seemingly endless void with his research and work to disprove Q.M. and spends the rest of his life doing it. He's never the same man again. And that's my take on the song, agree or disagree that's your choice. I would like to note that I am not putting Einstein down, but as far as the facts go, this is what happened regarding Einstein's life after his major discoveries were accepted. He did neglect his family and tried and tried to disprove a theory until the day he died. Some say he died with a notebook and pencil in hand trying to jot down equations to explain what Q.M. explained in a way that would agree with his moral/religious beliefs. I believe Einstein was one of the greatest minds of all-time and he tried to confront a problem that the physics community consider's its "Skeleton in the Closet" most physicists don't care what Q.M. means, they only care that it Works. And it does work, 1/3 of todays technology came from Q.M. research, it is the most tested theory science has ever had and it's never been disproven. Does it mean it's correct? No, it may, one day, be disproven, or replaced by a better theory, it is in and of itself not wholly complete (ironically gravity is still a mystery yet to be explained by Q.M.), yet it seems to tell us that reality isn't what we all think it to be. That existance exists because our conscious observes it to. And I personally believe Einstein, despite his dejection of the theory, was one of the leading people who lead to it's acceptance. Einstein was brilliant, but stubborn - but still one of the greatest minds the world has ever been lucky enough to experience. His theories explained phoenomena Newton's couldn't, and his ideas were some of the most creative ones in history. Einstein is, personally, one of my (many) heroes. As far as the song goes, it's brilliant, it's meaningful, it's incredible, it has many interpretations and this is just mine. |
|
* This information can be up to 15 minutes delayed.