I Have Been Floated Lyrics

when it should learn to speak before it melts away
and thus express that each have words no one else will say

i have been floated to this thought this hour
on a series of events i cannot explain
gather your wit, your will, your luck, your power
that what it would effect that will not remain

a light shines through a little hole the hole's inside somewhere
the spiracle's obedience it is true, i swear

i have been floated to this thought this hour
on a series of events i cannot explain
gather your with, your will, your luck, your power
that what it would effect that will not remain

if one claims to know the way let fashion be his bride
and more akin to welcome in to being forced inside
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Cover art for I Have Been Floated lyrics by Olivia Tremor Control, The

There's a passage in Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Intellect" that I just came across that sounds like this song's chorus. The song is probably about/based on ideas in the essay because they seem a little too close to be coincidental.

The passage goes "I have been floated into this thought, this hour, this connection of events, by secret currents of might and mind..."

The quote relates to how Emerson believes that if people use their mind and examine what goes on around them, then what happens to them won't be surprising. If one doesn't use their intellect they won't understand why things unfold the way they do and thus they "will have been floated" into their situation.

Cover art for I Have Been Floated lyrics by Olivia Tremor Control, The

It's about causal determinism. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Determinism

As others have referenced, the chorus is obviously a reference to an essay by Emerson, which says:

"What am I? What has my will done to make me that I am? Nothing. I have been floated into this thought, this hour, this connection of events, by secret currents of might and mind, and my ingenuity and wilfulness have not thwarted, have not aided to an appreciable degree."

Everyone's actions are just determined by their genes and environment. Everything that exists and happens today only does so because it was caused by something else, tracing all the way back to the beginning of the universe. We have all been "floated" to our current lives by a particular "series of events", free will is an illusion.

Cover art for I Have Been Floated lyrics by Olivia Tremor Control, The

This song now gives me goosebumps. It is written so beautifully and while I do not attempt to deny it, help from Emerson be damned!

When put together in paragraph form, it really is amazing how much beauty it retains while taking on a wholly different thing altogether. Beautiful songwriting and beautiful writing are different things, I believe. This song is both.

And it is true. I've been floated my whole life...

Hi, found this site by accident. Umm, I wrote this song. Thanks for the kind words. Emerson is correct. I don't think anyone ever caught that although I have mentioned it in the past and would never take credit from him. I was reading his essays when I wrote the tune. Thanks to Alanana because I could never find the essay again. Must have lost that copy of essays. It is the essay - Intellect. I will read it again real soon.

Some of the lyrics here are a little incorrect. But the gist is right.

We all did get...

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Hi, found this site by accident. Umm, I wrote this song. Thanks for the kind words. Emerson is correct. I don't think anyone ever caught that although I have mentioned it in the past and would never take credit from him. I was reading his essays when I wrote the tune. Thanks to Alanana because I could never find the essay again. Must have lost that copy of essays. It is the essay - Intellect. I will read it again real soon.

Some of the lyrics here are a little incorrect. But the gist is right.

We all did get...

Not Valid
Cover art for I Have Been Floated lyrics by Olivia Tremor Control, The

Either this song or "I have been Floated" is the top OTC song in my book. It's on the Singles & Beyond album but I think it could have been included in Black Foliage perfectly.

Cover art for I Have Been Floated lyrics by Olivia Tremor Control, The

Jeff Magnum is in this song around the 1:30 mark. Either this or "Fireplace" is the best OTC song, in my opinion.

Cover art for I Have Been Floated lyrics by Olivia Tremor Control, The

Awesome.

Cover art for I Have Been Floated lyrics by Olivia Tremor Control, The

grandpa - it sounds like it could have been included on Black Foliage perfectly cause it was on Black Foliage. lol. Great song. Love that Jeff sings on it.

Cover art for I Have Been Floated lyrics by Olivia Tremor Control, The

Superb song. I'm guessing it's about dreams, or something along those lines (given the general theme of Black Foliege).

Cover art for I Have Been Floated lyrics by Olivia Tremor Control, The

i thought that sounded like jeff! this song is awsome.

Cover art for I Have Been Floated lyrics by Olivia Tremor Control, The

uh.... its about acid. everybody knows thaat.

(and a good hint for your future otc experiences; theyre all about lsd, generally speaking)

Actually it's about the over-the-counter cough suppressant dextromethorphan, a psychedelic dissociative in higher than medicinal doses. It's effects on the third and fourth plateau of dissociation are sometimes described as "floating", although that's not exactly the word I would use for my own subjective experiences.

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