The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
This path that we walk upon is the collection of points that the rain has drawn.
The rhythm section of the storm.
By the moonlight to the gateposts of the forest,
in the snow light, we are bound for the portal of the pines.
Grey as famine, on this path against our will by our main sails we're bound to the tempest until the sea is still.
Which compulsion with this miniature death tributize?
From behind the walls of my broken coughing tent, a formal vision,
but I allude to my helpless passion for the obtuse
When will this night end?
When the lightening finally tears through the mast of our sinking ship.
All the hopes of the slaves are betrayed by the grates.
On this coffin of a vessel every note's another breaking wave.
Revel in this vision, a formal visitation, on the night with the light from above.
Famished dogs follow slowly as my own paws drag me to a dock,
to the last plank where I struggle to deny myself the path that every Pisces craves,
just above the water in the middle of that man-made lake.
On that pier I turn my eyes from the water like a mirror of myself in the moonlight,
and I cough for every crater that I could see,
on the surface of that coffin we've come to call the moon.
Now I wonder if all those judgments that you made were true.
And the trapdoor of the solstice is thrown wide, wide open.
Let them all sink, let them all sink through.
The talking, the spinning of a web- its all just formal ritual.
The burning.
The burning question what do you deserve?
The gazing at a candle to find calm, but we all know its at the center of the storm.
Oh moon, though pluckest me out, oh moon-
I who have sat by Thebes below the wall and walked among the lowest of the dead
(to Carthage then I came).
Only the most sacred crater will suit my burial,
only the most sacred choir performs this ritual dirge.
Perfectly imperfect, like a storm.
By our mane dragged and bound to our grave by our mane,
to the grave dragged and bound to the tomb by the scavenger's tooth.
The rhythm section of the storm.
By the moonlight to the gateposts of the forest,
in the snow light, we are bound for the portal of the pines.
Grey as famine, on this path against our will by our main sails we're bound to the tempest until the sea is still.
Which compulsion with this miniature death tributize?
From behind the walls of my broken coughing tent, a formal vision,
but I allude to my helpless passion for the obtuse
When will this night end?
When the lightening finally tears through the mast of our sinking ship.
All the hopes of the slaves are betrayed by the grates.
On this coffin of a vessel every note's another breaking wave.
Revel in this vision, a formal visitation, on the night with the light from above.
Famished dogs follow slowly as my own paws drag me to a dock,
to the last plank where I struggle to deny myself the path that every Pisces craves,
just above the water in the middle of that man-made lake.
On that pier I turn my eyes from the water like a mirror of myself in the moonlight,
and I cough for every crater that I could see,
on the surface of that coffin we've come to call the moon.
Now I wonder if all those judgments that you made were true.
And the trapdoor of the solstice is thrown wide, wide open.
Let them all sink, let them all sink through.
The talking, the spinning of a web- its all just formal ritual.
The burning.
The burning question what do you deserve?
The gazing at a candle to find calm, but we all know its at the center of the storm.
Oh moon, though pluckest me out, oh moon-
I who have sat by Thebes below the wall and walked among the lowest of the dead
(to Carthage then I came).
Only the most sacred crater will suit my burial,
only the most sacred choir performs this ritual dirge.
Perfectly imperfect, like a storm.
By our mane dragged and bound to our grave by our mane,
to the grave dragged and bound to the tomb by the scavenger's tooth.
Lyrics submitted by Darth_Squirrel
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Draws heavy influence from The Wasteland :o
heres quite a long one, i dont comment on many songs, but this is to verbalize my thoughts more than a meaning for you to analyze. this song describes (intentionally or not) a spiritual journey, experienced by sages, psychonauts and psychedelic explorers for a long time now. ego death, seeing god, enlightenment or the jouney towards it, i have sort of experienced it.
This path that we walk upon is the collection of points that the rain has drawn. - yes, rivers, but also means a route which we have no control over, all we can do is go along and see where it takes us, try to weather the storms.
The rhythm section of the storm. - the music, 'voice of god' some kind of beat that controls all that happens, patterns that cannot be predicted.
forest, pines etc - back to nature, not in the naturalist, hippy pagan way, but back to the universe, when man loses his ego of all that he has accomplished, his so called victory over nature. we are all bound to this end, because the universe will end, and there is nothing man can do to stop it.
Grey as famine, on this path against our will by our main sails we're bound to the tempest until the sea is still. - the journey, especially when experienced by drug users who do not know exactly what theyre in for is scary as shit, hence grey as famine. we are not agents who control our actions, they are decided for us by the "river" and the wind, we have no choice but to deal with the storm, or the scary part of the journey until we reach the end 'heaven, nirvana, ego death or death', whatever you want to call it, and whichever comes first.
Which compulsion with this miniature death tributize? - the idea of reincarnation, and having a particular lesson to learn in each 'miniature lifetime' compulsion being the human things we long for, the meaningless, hopefully, by our 'miniature death'(meaning actual death of one lifetime, or ego death) we will have learned to drop petty 'compulsions'
broken tent, formal vision - while it seems from observers that the person in the dissociative state(shaman, sage, psychonaut) looks useless, still, incoherent, he is actually seeing a bit of truth.
helpless passion for the obtuse - all persons who experience this are people (like me) who have a keen interest for the obtuse - the hard to understand, the unusual, the bizarre, the abstract. and time after time of the scary experience we break our promises of "whoah, that was intense, im never doing it again" because it draws us to it.
when will this night end? - the feeling of eternity and loss of time is very strong in dissociative state. night meaning scary, dark unknown etc.
when the lightning... - this journey will eventually seem to ruin us, and at our most vulnerable and hopeless death seems to be the only escape the hopes of the slaves are betrayed by the greats - our gods, or whoever controls the storm and the river (our lives) betray us, ie: we dont get what we want to teach us about how stupid our desires are
every notes another breaking wave - the particular experience i had was especially difficult when i listend to music, notes and tunes became like patterns, the longer i concentrated on them the worse and worse my level of comfort became (
just a couple of things i think i might mention. the lead singer, Drew, is a pisces, hence the 'path that every pisces craves', this song is written from his perspective in this sense.
also, IF the path that they walk upon, the collection of points the rain has drawn, is in fact a body of water, then that means they are walking on a path of water, which kinda links back to all the biblical references in 'same shade as concrete'
with references to slaves, sinking at sea, ones burial and so i on, i think the song in general is about trying to overcome inner torment (sinking feelings) on a journey of self discovery. fits with the theme of the album.
also, yes the album is circular, the wistling, the intro to this song (and it's main melody) and the end chant on 'interview at the ruins' are all the same melody. also it contains numerous passages of circular lyrics, again like the chant on interview at the ruins but also in this song in the section containing 'to our grave, dragged and bound, to the tomb, by a scavengers tooth, by our mane'
I think the meaning of the song, as a whole is that no matter how much you try to control your own destiny, you're on a path that was set out long before you came. You can't change it, no matter how much of nature you control. Which goes back to the theme of the album, you have to enjoy the adventure, because the destination isn't the objective.
this song is so amazing. the intro to it is the best, and i love the way that same little melody stays through the the whole song just barely in the backround. my favorite part is ...
"Famished dogs follow slowly as my own paws drag me to a dock, to the last plank where I struggle to deny myself the path that every Pisces craves, just above the water in the middle of that man-made lake. On that pier I turn my eyes from the water like a mirror of myself in the moonlight, and I cough for every crater that I could see, on the surface of that coffin we've come to call the moon."
the most beautiful ctts song. amazing beyond words.
i agree with unfinished. definately my favorite circle takes the square song.
awsome song... what what the fuck does it mean?
this may not be ground breaking stuff, but maybe it'll get the ball rolling for someone else to throw in their 2 cents:<br> points the rain has drawn = a river, gateposts of the forest and portal of the pines = forest on each side of the river, which compulsion.. = what will the effect of the sinking ship have. walls of a broken coughing tent = wind in the broken sail, sees the moon through it, obtuse = those things uncommon. makes a comparison to the waves being like music, and the lightning through the mast is a wave breaking the sail pole, famished dogs = tired crew, paws drag me to the dock = using paddles to row, pisces (fish) craves = drowning , man made lake = ???.... that's all i got for now
ok, here goes nothing. The collection points are indeed the body of water (river, ocean, etc) as it is the "rhythm section of the store"'; rhythm is constant; much like a metronome, keeping time through the duration of a song. The waters are as constant as the latter, never ceasing to move and more than likely rocking the vessel back and forth (once again like the metronome swaying to and fro).
Gate posts connote that we are situated outside of something, in this case the forest. They are not however trying to get through this gate but simply use it as a means of geographic placement, ie: the search for one's place in the world.
This search does not come without consequence however, as we can see that the "dogs" (crew/those who yurn to escape social norms or confines) are "grey as famine"; the nurishment lying only in the acceptance of these dogs by their peers regardless of their differences and chosen way of life.
If they long for the night to end, then it must represent their alienation from the rest of the world, and the longing questions illustrates their desire to find daylight (acceptance).
The fact that "every pisces crave" the water (death/downing) may suggest that they crew is experiencing weakness from their endevour, and is close to giving up (suicide by drowning, stuck between the social norms and their goal of differentiated independance).
The second half is more convoluted, i will have to reflect further.