Toxicity

I love it when songs sound like they had thought put into them.. anyway. Toxicity. I think it’s about greed, pollution and destruction poisoning us as a society. A toxic city. “Software version 7.0” – that’s a little extreme. After all, there’s only so much you can add; for instance, I haven’t noticed one significant difference between AOL 2.0 and 7.0. They could be mocking AOL or just technology in general, but either way they’re pointing out that we go to excesses in pursuit of the best we can find. We narrow our focus, and see life from a tire hub; if you’re looking out from a tire, all you can see is the street flashing by. All you care about is how fast you’re going, but you never notice what you’re passing.
I think the reference to eating seeds, in context of the whole song, means that things have gotten so out of hand that we have to pump ourselves full of foreign substances just to feel alive. We’ve become corrupt and greedy. Instead of developing relationships with our family and friends, we spend time with our software. Instead of keeping our environment clean we carelessly pollute. We have to take extreme measures just to distract us from the mess we’ve created out of our lives. It hadn’t occurred to me, but I agree – I think sacred silence means death. I have no clue what he means by ‘somewhere between the sacred silence and sleep’. But I get this weird sense he means insanity. That or he could mean an overall lack of consciousness. Makes sense, sleep is the lightest form of being unconscious, death is obviously the ultimate form.

The interpretation of the truck hitting oncoming traffic is very interesting. However, I just don’t get that impression from ‘flashlight reveries’. It sounds more like a cult gathering to do their rituals, only instead of candles or torches they use flashlights. The idea of using technology in a way that seems wrong fits with the song. Also ‘more wood for their fires’ and ‘loud neighbors’ obviously could relate to the cult idea. I don’t know where the headlights come in though.

I also definitely agree with whoever said he was mocking Christ. He might blame Christ for evil things that have happened in society; for example, the Holocaust and the witch trials. Or he might think that Christ’s appearance led us to technology somehow. “Shone life into the man’s hearts”.. somehow motivated us to create a more complex society.. maybe. I can see a remote connection there. Mainly though I don’t think the ending is supposed to be optimistic, more sarcastic.