| Beck – Wow Lyrics | 8 years ago |
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Wow indeed. I think this song is way more important and packed with meaning than people will notice at first. But they will be drawn in to the alluring layers of sound and beat, and perhaps not know why they like it so much. I think I'd like a three hour version of it. MY INTERPRETATION — BUT IT MAKES SENSE TO ME :) Beck has woven a really ambitious idea into a song. Many have tried. I'm astounded. Notice how few words Beck uses to say what takes me all of the paragraphs below to describe. There are art pieces that purportedly have achieved the ability to evolve people's consciousness just by the viewing of them. That's what I think this song does. Paired with the video, I think people's brains will be bathed in the positive brain chemicals serotonin and oxytocin as they watch, and they can experience what 'right now' means in real time as they listen to the song. He begins by addressing us with his direct and calm speaking voice. "Giddy up Giddy up" — literally, a gentle encouragement "let's get going". First Verse He seems to be talking about the way he creates music. Wants to move to a "fool's gold room" — He wants to create from a place where the idea of reward or money does not influence his art. With his "pulse on the animal jewels". He is wanting to be able to reliably access his body's innate intelligence, senses, and intuition when he sits down to create. He talks of his usual process: "the rules that you choose to use", or the mental routine that he goes through to 'get loose' before creating something new, including how he weaves dance into his music, "the luminous moves". But now he sees all this structure as 'limits' he wants to be free of. He perceives that he should trust 'being present to the moment' instead of trying to plan everything out. "Let me get it like wow - it's like right now." Being open and present to creativity as it comes in the moment of 'right now'. Second Verse Value the rare opportunity that living your life is, it can't be redone. Make good use of the time. "So nice, so nice..." he's saying he knows we'll all see this song as 'so particularly nice', but that's on purpose, and he's tipping his hand as to why. He's providing this song "like a tidal wave, a getaway". It's intentional that this song has a calming quality, made to bring on soothing brain waves — helping to transport your awareness to what he's saying as you listen. Cultivate a sense of urgency. Be aware of the passage of time, and love your friends like there's no time left. But he realizes that even being concerned about this problem of time is useless (pissing in the wind), because we don't know what's next, nor do we know if time running out even matters. "It's so pine fresh" — the perpetually unfurling 'now', that is. "Right now. Yeah I, I wanna get it like Wow, it's like right now." This could be restating the chorus, or it could be his desire that the answers to those spiritual questions will also be revealed while he's being in 'right now'. Third Verse Your life ticks away without resistance (falling like a hot knife - through butter). "Call your wife" We cling to our loved ones for a sense of spiritual connection, to protect us from feeling alone in the void. But we feel out of touch with the Greater Spiritual Life in this current era. Though we do suspect it's there, perhaps from soul memory of a closer connection to Spirit in some other time. "My demon's on the cell phone to your demons" — We're all flawed and deal with similar demons — and in the expanded view, experience is valuable for experience's sake. Spending any time holding on to our wrongs and others' wrongs on us, is living in the past — I think that is 'the elephant in the room'. Being in the 'wonder of right now' makes all of that instantly irrelevant to creating your experience of life 'now'. So that elephant disappears (goes boom), when we forgive and let go of the past. On first reading, the next two lines seem like 'atmospheric Beck lyrics' which is tricky, because Beck has said that part of his process is that sometimes those free-association word strings begin as placeholders to fit the music — but then they become irreplaceable as part of the 'atmosphere' or 'attractive mystery' of a song. But I think in the case of these two lines, the words do have meaning. So. Imagine the feeling of standing on the lawn doing the forms of a martial art, Jujitsu. It's a great example of having a 'wow, it's like right now' experience. Imagine feeling the grass under your bare feet, and you are fully present to the experience of doing something mentally and physically absorbing, something that you know so well, that you have a sense of body memory and 'flow' as you're doing it. It's like being in a transcended state of meditation. And just like in meditation, or yoga, absorption alternates with attention. As an example, while enjoying the bliss of his practice on the lawn, he notices a bikini'd girl drives by in a convertible with her dog in the next seat. A delightful slice of life. Finally he suggests that people take stock of their lives and make it all count, "you've gotta try to get it right." Don't forget that you come from Spirit "where you came from'. "It's just another perfect night." Even with a typical life-share of stresses and demands on you, you can choose to feel the gratitude of something as simple as a perfect night. "We're going to take it around the world." The idea of being in 'now' and 'gratitude' or 'wow' as a way of approaching life can be taught. "Ride these wild horses" have some trust in yourself and the universe, revel in the feeling of 'wow' and bravely ride the wild unfolding of 'right now'. Just before the end when the woman exclaims: "Wow! what a beautiful day!" It's startling because her voice conveys such a childlike and intense enjoyment of that simple moment. That's the promise offered by the intention to be in 'wow', and be in 'right now'. I'd like to be hooked up to have my alpha states measured while listening to this song. It's brilliantly couched as an exceptional brand new Beck anthem, for the people who aren't inquisitive enough to see it as anything but that. But I think that art like this has the power to lift up humanity and heal the planet. When I was watching the video, there are so many places where, I was just so curious as to why all the stops were pulled out to make sure that a viewer's brain would be awash in good chemistry throughout the song. And, even though all of the slow motion imagery of horses, beautiful children, Beck dancing, the layers and surging voices, were all doing their job — it was the gratuitously stunning Slo-Mo Wind-Machine Puppy that was the sparkly bread crumb too big for me to ignore, and that's what got me looking at each line. This is so much more than a riveting music video and a hauntingly beautiful song. This is a real musical, visual, and writing achievement. Yay Beck! It would be so great if he performs this in Redmond in about two weeks. |
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| Beck – Totally Confused Lyrics | 8 years ago |
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Here's my guess: The imagery of 'a ten foot man making his lunch' leaves me to imagine that this is a heart-rending song about his father. It sounds like something he wrote when he was a boy — when his father seemed huge to him. He's 'totally confused' — because it sounds like his experience is that the relationship is chaotic. Sometimes the dad is whispering in his ear, and other times screaming in his face. Then there's the perception that this adult does confounding, disconnected things, leaving the son feeling disrespected and at risk. In the chorus it sounds like he's incredulous how much he cares — like he's walled himself off, and sees himself as being self-contained. He sounds perplexed at himself, because he feels like normally he 'never never wants it' (a family member's attention and/or love). But even though the experiences with his father are mixed, and he's confused — he confesses early in the song "You'll never understand. I want you so much." Having had a conflicted relationship with my alternately charismatic/abusive stepdad, this leaps out to me as a father and son theme. But of course, I could be wrong :) |
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