| Thursday – Past and Future Ruins Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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I love this line the most. The metaphor is completely perfect. "Don't call on me, I'm a plastic reed Bending in the feigning wind Of artificial fields" Reeds are thin plants that bend in whatever direction the wind blows, much like people. Whether it be religion (and I definitely think this song is about religion), or something else, people tend to blow with the wind. People can easily become followers of trends, ideas, or religion without having a strong belief in them (shallow belief). Also, the emphasis that it is a plastic reed in an artificial field implies that it is not natural. Plants come from the earth and are supposed to be natural, but since they're plastic they're not real. They're merely imitating something that is real. I'm personally atheist, but I think faith is something natural and real, and sometimes people follow a religion that they don't believe in. Also, when I think of plastic, I think of something manufactured, where every product looks the exact same as the others. I think this song is urging to find your own beliefs and decide for yourself what you believe in (Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, or whatever it may be...doesn't even have to be organized religion) I like that it doesn't bash religion too. |
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| Thursday – Turnpike Divides Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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I think this song could definitely be about Geoff coming back home to New Jersey, and saying goodbye to his former life. There's a lot of references to death, not as in the parting of the senses, but as in the death of a significant period in one's life. (black cars, headstone, coffin). You can imagine Geoff passing over the Hudson into jersey at night (experiencing the unwelcoming chill of being back in a place he doesn't really want to be), and he's staring at the city lights and buildings, images that would usually be beautiful and all he can see is the death of his former life (the building seem to rise like coffins). I think this is more personal of a song than Thursday has put out in a while so it really feels like it's about Geoff, but it could really be about anyone who has ever felt like they've made so much progress in life (grown up, left home, got married) and now they're back at home. Almost feels like taking one gigantic step backwards. |
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| Thursday – A Gun In The First Act Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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I think it's also a reference to Chekhov's gun. It's a literary technique that involves presenting something seemingly irrelevant in the first act that is later revealed to be important. The basic idea is to not place any material into a plot that is meaningless. Everything has to be symbolized. Everything has to be significant; hence, don't place a loaded gun in the first act if you're not going to fire it. I think it definitely has to do with symbolism and how sometimes the symbols themselves become too much of the focus rather than the actual intentions. All religions revolve around faith but use different symbols to represent that faith. I think Geoff is suggesting that symbols and metaphors can be powerful tools for conceptualizing and understanding the world. Without them we'd be walking around in a silent place with no names for anything, but at the same time when symbols rule our lives they lose their inherent meaning. The louder the ring, the more showy it is, the less it actually represents. |
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