The Great Nothing Lyrics
II: One Note
Came out of nowhere
It wailed like the wind and night
It sought no glory
It added no meaning
Not even a reason why
No need to say something
No message to sell
It played without a buzz or a showing
Out of the great nothing
It came without fail
Trying to get somewhere
He thought, "Man this thing could fly!"
He had good intentions, even some feeling
He thought, "Lord, I've got to try ..."
He had to say something
His message would sell
He got a buzz without knowing
Into the great nothing
The boy slipped and fell
III: Come Up Breathing
Up from the water
Man, he was so submerged
Where's the feeling?
Far from the spoken word
No hometown parade
The fat cats just keep getting fatter
What does it matter
The thing must be played .....
Don't lose your memory or you'll sink fast and drown
But you can't seem to sleep for the thoughts in your mind
Since you can't stand to think you have one hell of a time
Hanging with submergers you drink yourself blind
You think it's fine
You've got time ......
IV: Submerged
But he's never had commercial success
There's flies in his ointment
There's Stuyvesants and liquor on his breath
We'll have him charge the gate
We'll have to set him straight
We'll have him seal his future fate
Before it's too late
It must have been ten years ago
Of all the pains in the asses
He's the worst
I've had the bad taste to know
He's undirectable
Completely uncoachable
But perhaps we can put him
In an altered state
Before it's too late
V: Missed Your Calling
Once the man who had it all
You threw it all away, look around and nothing's left
You've got nothing to forget
No golden yesterday
You could have lived up in the sky
You missed your calling every time
Have her come up to your room
She comes from Montreal
There's no limelight only line
And Tequila's made you blind
It's time to lose it all
You could have lived up in the sky
You missed your calling one more time
But he'll never have commercial success
We gave him good direction
But he always thought that he knew what's best
We tried to set him straight
His calls will have to wait
We tried to change his future fate
But now it's too late
Mother says quiet down, quiet down - quiet down .........
VI: The Great Nothing
Came out of nowhere
Just when all hope was gone
And nothing matters
But that it's breathing
It ends as it has begun
No need to say something
No message to run
From the ashes
Out of the great nothing
Without a buzz or a showing
Out of the great nothing
With nobody knowing
It plays on and on ...
This one is about a man who has a dream, but ends up getting caught up with a drinking habit, possibly due to some disappointments along the way, and eventually loses everything he worked for because of this, and even though he had someone teaching him how to become successful, he thought he was doing well, and completely ignored his mentor's advice.
The "Note" that's mentioned in the song might be about life itself. Even after this man is gone, life will go on, and there will be more people like him.
Interesting Theory, lukescott. Sort of sounds like the concept of The Mars Volta's First Album "De-Loused In The Comatorium"...
Interesting Theory, lukescott. Sort of sounds like the concept of The Mars Volta's First Album "De-Loused In The Comatorium"...
The song, at least in part, references the life and career of the late Kevin Gilbert.
For those who may be unaware of who Kevin Gilbert was: http://www.filthylucre.com/kevin-gilbert-retrospective
For those who may be unaware of who Kevin Gilbert was: http://www.filthylucre.com/kevin-gilbert-retrospective
Highly recommend you seek out his work w/ Toy Matinee and his "Thud" CD as well as "Shaming Of The True," which Nick D'Virgilio and some others were asked to finish posthumously by his family & friends. The man was a genius who never got his due.
Highly recommend you seek out his work w/ Toy Matinee and his "Thud" CD as well as "Shaming Of The True," which Nick D'Virgilio and some others were asked to finish posthumously by his family & friends. The man was a genius who never got his due.
Well, sadly, I have no idea what the meaning of the song is, but i really wish i did. So if anyone at all has a clue of what it is about, please, comment about it. Also, great song.
There's really no need to wonder what this song is about. Is's about the great nothing, as the title says.
It starts with this, it ends with this, and in between, it's the lifes we make. No one knows where this comes from, It's a miracle, it's the note that comes out of nowhere. It's just what we do with this, as that's what the most of the song is about (hopes and dreams and how people fail with them). But in the beginning, it seems to start out of nowhere, and it ends with this.
I think it corresponds very much to the first song (at th end of the day), and in generel, I think the whole record is about life and death and the way you spend the time in between. For example. "all on a sunday" seems to be dealing with a person spending a boresome sunday, but it might be as well about spending your whole life with an attitude like this.
The song is about the modern version of Icarus, possibly a personal allegory for Neal's career at the time. The protagonist ("the boy") is someone who has higher aspirations in his field, (music, in Neal's case) but he of course will "never have commercial success", because he is striving for a goal that is deeper and more important (i.e. deep and meaningful music, in contrast with superficial pop music).
The protagonist ultimately burns out in his career and begins to indulge in self-destructive tendencies (i.e. drinking) because his goal is unattainable. From the outside, people begin to resent him for his ideology, but still attempt to help him find a workable path forward ("I've worked with him closely...Before it's too late"). Ultimately, the protagonist is too headstrong, and spirals out into complete and utter nihilism (The Great Nothing).