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Tiny Cities Made of Ashes Lyrics
We're going down the road
Towards tiny cities made of ashes
I'm going to hit you on the face
I'm going to punch you in your glasses
Oh no!
I just got a message that said
"Yeah, hell has frozen over"
I got a phone call from the Lord
Saying, "Hey, boy, get a sweater right now"
So we're drinking, drinking, drinking, drinking
Coca, Coca-Cola
I can feel it rolling right on down
Oh, right on down my throat
And as we're headed down the road
Towards tiny cities made of ashes
I'm going to get dressed up in plastic
Going to shake hands with the masses
Oh no!
Does anybody know a way that a body could get away
Does anybody know a way
Does anybody know a way that a body could get away
Does anybody know a way
We're going down the road
Towards tiny cities made of ashes
I'm going to hit you on the face
I'm going to punch you in your glasses
I'm wearing myself a t-shirt
That says, "The world is my ashtray"
Our hearts pump dust
And our hair's all gray
And I just got a message
Saying that hell has frozen over
Got a phone call from the Lord
Saying, "Hey, boy, get a sweater right now"
Does anybody know a way that a body could get away
Does anybody know a way
Does anybody know a way
We're drinking, drinking, drinking, drinking
Coca, Coca-Cola
I can feel it rolling right on down
Oh, right on down my throat
And as we're headed down the road
Towards tiny cities made of ashes
I'm going to lay down in the spa
Where they coat you in molasses
Right now
Does anybody know a way that a body could get away
Does anybody know a way
Does anybody know a way that a body could get away
Does anybody know a way
I had the same thought pointed out by TheSidewalk in comparing this song to the Valley of Ashes in The Great Gatsby. To add, the Valley was overlooked by a billboard for an optometrist that was just a huge sign of eyes wearing glasses (very significant in the book). So, "I'm goin' to punch you in your glasses." fits conveniently.
@Cowabunga! I think it's a lot more likely that the song is based off of Cormac McCarthy's The Road. Because in the book, the man and his son walk down a road towards cities made of ashes in hopes of finding a warmer place where it isn't freezing cold. Also there is one scene where the man finds a Coca-Cola for his son. And they frequently use binoculars that are referred to as glasses. Oh, and Isaac Brock also makes a statement in an interview with MTV that he wanted The Moon and Antartica to sound like a cool Cormac...
@Cowabunga! I think it's a lot more likely that the song is based off of Cormac McCarthy's The Road. Because in the book, the man and his son walk down a road towards cities made of ashes in hopes of finding a warmer place where it isn't freezing cold. Also there is one scene where the man finds a Coca-Cola for his son. And they frequently use binoculars that are referred to as glasses. Oh, and Isaac Brock also makes a statement in an interview with MTV that he wanted The Moon and Antartica to sound like a cool Cormac McCarthy novel. There may be similarities to The Great Gatsby, but I'm pretty sure it was written about The Road.
this song has an incredibly addicting bass line.
yeah the bass is rad. this is defiantely one of those cruising-down-the-freeway-on-a-saturday-night songs
ok i just wanna start out by saying i didnt bother to read every single comment so i might just be repeating someone... if so sorry. anyways i agree this is a creepy song. it is pretty clearly about nuclear war although its open to interpretation... "moving down the road towards tiny cities made of ashes" refers to moving towards nuclear destruction. the coca cola and spa parts suggest to me that we are distracted by commercial luxuries so we ignore this.. also i noticed that issac chose to say "a body" instead of "somebody" which is srta creepy to me... but hey thats just me... i never thought about the glasses thing that way tho, i like that interpretation.
I love the random change in instruments at the end of this song. It's so different from the rest of it.
Awesome bass. The Moon and Antarctica carries a very strong theme about trying to get away from messes in life and the world in general.
I think the song is commenting on how futile it is to be so obsessed with commercial culture. He brings up Coca-Cola, T-Shirts with ironic slogans, Spas and Spray Tans, and plastic clothing. We are surrounded with the knowledge of our inevitable decay (tiny cities made of ashes), yet we still can't let go of these objects that we care for. That is what the chorus means when it says "Does anybody know a way a body could get away?" Is there away for my body to get away from death/decay, so that I can keep consuming these unimportant things? Brock's answer would obviously be a no. Although he is known for his disbelief in a god, this song seems to share some ideology with one.
Every time I hear this song I think of Dick Cheney. The album was released too early in the Bush Administration for it to be written about the former Vice President, but there are some strong parallels to the Dark Lord. It's so prescient that it's creepy.
First, there's the reference to a psychopath, charming politician: "gonna get dressed up in plastic / gonna shake hands with the masses." And then the line, "our hearts pump dust and our hair's all gray" fits perfectly with Dick Cheney's old rich white guy appearance and well known heart problems. "I'm gonna hit you on the face / I'm gonna punch you in the glasses" is a lot like shooting someone in the face.
The song even contextualizes itself in consumerist America, complete with product placement: "...drinkin' Coca-Cola." What could be more American than Coke?
"The world is my ashtray" is a good way to paraphrase the Neoconservative foreign policy philosophy that Dick Cheney promulgated.
"Were goin' down the road towards tiny cities made of ashes:" The invasion of Iraq, shock and awe, and its destructive aftermath.
The song was written well before the Iraq invasion and the accidental face-shooting incident, but it's disturbing how well the song alludes to Dick Cheney's time in office. And the bassline fits my memory of that part of American history pretty well, too.
@jskiir wow, that’s truly another awesome view to this song, well done, genuinely respect that pov
@jskiir wow, that’s truly another awesome view to this song, well done, genuinely respect that pov
@badgerbonegonepersuader \r\n\r\nI read your comment just after posting mine about drugs. \r\nNow I have to say or.....its about war and bombed out cities. Well done
@badgerbonegonepersuader \r\n\r\nI read your comment just after posting mine about drugs. \r\nNow I have to say or.....its about war and bombed out cities. Well done
Tiny cities full of asses. Easiest way to summarize, get lost in the plastic of life and the selective hearing of life while the world blatantly implodes in front of you
Great song even though i dont know wht it means
What Modest Mouse means in Tiny Cities made of Ashes. If we take this song two lyrics at a time, I can see three reoccurring themes. The first of which is: humanity is heading for disaster and war, due to our mass manufacturerism, commercialistic habits, and our conflicting religions. The second is more on a single person level rather then the global scale. It is that he is falling apart, and that he is loosing himself to drugs and other practices that damage the body. The third major theme I can see addresses specifically religion and how...
What Modest Mouse means in Tiny Cities made of Ashes. If we take this song two lyrics at a time, I can see three reoccurring themes. The first of which is: humanity is heading for disaster and war, due to our mass manufacturerism, commercialistic habits, and our conflicting religions. The second is more on a single person level rather then the global scale. It is that he is falling apart, and that he is loosing himself to drugs and other practices that damage the body. The third major theme I can see addresses specifically religion and how is effecting him, along side the world! We are going down a road, towards tiny cities made of ashes. A. We as humanity are on a path, where he sees the aftermath of the war that has happened! B. He himself is going down (“We” maybe as in other people in the same boat) a road that is taking his body to its final resting place. C. This might be referring to Sodom and Gomorrah, which was reduced to ashes because of its filth and sin.
(I am just trying to look at all avenues not just have a closed mind to any possibility!) I'm going to hit you on the face I'm going to punch you in your glasses. A. “I” (possibly meaning the United States or another big country) am going to attack you first, attack you where you are weakest. Meaning that we are not trying to stop, the impending war, we are provoking it. B. “I”: Meaning the drugs, am going to show on you body and make you more fragile. More noticeable! C. “I” (Possibly meaning God or the Devil) am going to punish you, for being a sinful city just like he has done in the past.
(Again, I am just trying to look at all avenues not rule out any possibility!) Skipping down a few because I don’t have time to do them all!! Does anybody know a way that a body could get away? Does anybody know a way? A. How can we avoid it, there has got “to be a way” to steer clear of the impending war. B. How can he stop, and get clean again? C. How can you stop the world from its own filth and make it more presentable? (All of these are pretty much the same answer!) Lastly we are going to do four lyrics as the finally! I just got a message Saying that hell has frozen over, got a phone call from the Lord Saying, "Hey, boy, get a sweater right now!" ABC: Even when we think the evil is stopped or at least slowed the damage is already done. All we can do now is wait for the punishment: The ASHES!!
So the song seems universal with all three, same points, same ending. I think the details don’t matter as long as you understand the point. Plan Ahead, look into the future rather then the now and solve the problems of tomorrow, as if they were here today!! Drake Richardson
wow... i never looked at it that way lol
wow... i never looked at it that way lol
anyone else think of the great gatsby? maybe just the american dream in general
anyone else think of the great gatsby? maybe just the american dream in general