January 1979 Lyrics
And I couldn’t help but laugh
My ear pressed against the past
Like a glass on a wall of a house in a photograph
My forehead no longer sweet
With holy kisses worthy of your fiery lips
I was floating in a peaceful sea
Rescued by a sinking ship
No lower place to fall
(I could be your servant)
If I could become the servant of all
No lower place to fall
(If I could be your servant)
If I could become the servant of all
No lower place to fall
(I could be your servant)
If I could become the servant of all
No lower place to fall
(If I could be your servant)
With detached, vulgar curiosity
Us looking down on the tops of the hats
Of us passersby from your seventh floor balcony
And from such a height you missed
Creatures too small for sight
Carry on covert conversation as the misguided insects
Crown me their grasshopper king with a dance of celebration
I’ve grown overfed, unconcerned and comfortably numb
Kept busy indulging in the pleasures of the wealthy
Oh, someone make me afraid of what I’ve become!
At the first sign of possible sorrow I’ll turn my heel and run
Oh, I’ll never learn
My life’s a cup of sugar I borrowed before
Time began and forgot to return
I always said I could see, but now I'm going blind
It was a matter of miserable time
But I heard somewhere, there was a cure for useless eyes
"January 1979" is a song themed around Aaron Weiss's failure as a human in life. He and former bassist, Daniel Pishock, were both born in January 1979. The "crash" Aaron explains refers to his birth. Aaron wrote this song discussing his frustration surrounding his "overfed, unconcerned, and comfortably numb" existence. Realizing his failure, he sings of becoming a servant of all, a reference to Matthew 23:11. Becoming the lowest would imply that there would no longer be any possibility of failing more. While he remarks that his eyes have become useless, the song ends with hope of a cure. His concept about grasshoppers may reference to Numbers 13:33, or Isaiah 40:22.
- Wikipedia
First off...mewithoutYou=Amazing...music and lyrics.. Second..i think this song does have a lot to do with humility. "January 1979, saw a terrible crash And it couldn’t help but laugh" - I believe he is talking about his birth and how he was born with sin...but all he did was laugh it off... "My forehead no longer sweet With holy kisses worthy of your fiery lips I was floating in a peaceful sea Rescued by a sinking ship" - He had fallen away from God...he was living a peaceful sea...thought he was being rescued because life away from God looks good at first...but he was climbing aboard a sinking ship. Second verse is about him starting to think he can do things on his own and thinking too highly of himself that he missed the small things happening that were not good..
It seems the first part is about being born:
"My forehead no longer sweet With holy kisses worthy of your fiery lips I was floating in a peaceful sea Rescued by a sinking ship" - like how a child is born in a sinful world. i love that part 'i was floating in a peaceful sea' (in the womb you're still a child of God) 'rescued by a sinking ship' (being born in a sinful world.. from the moment we're born we start dying. sinking ship=evanescence?
My 2 cents :)
Also check out this interview with Aaron:
L: Alright, first of all... I read in other interviews you’re 26 years old and you’re an aquarius; is January 1979 the month of your birth?
A: Yeah, me and our old bass player Daniel, who just left the band.
L: Yeah, I heard about that.
A: Yeah, we were both born the same day, the same year, so I thought ‘I’ve got to write a song about it.’
L: Alright, so that’s what the song’s about?
A: Yeah, well, not just that. It starts out... the first verse is about being born but then it goes on from there. I don’t remember much about that day.
Source: http://www.godcore.com/music/bands/articles.php?a=interview&bid=1259
I was reading the first verse again and I remembered that in the bible, when Peter walks out to Jesus on water in the middle of the storm, hence "I was floating in a peaceful sea / Rescued by a sinking ship". Also, I think of the description of Jesus in the bible, and how awesome and fearsome He is, and that maybe Aaron feels guilty : "My forehead no longer sweet / With holy kisses worthy of your fiery lips". Maybe he feels guilty about something that happened in the past, that maybe he did something or something happened for him to feel guilty: "January 1979, saw a terrible crash / And it couldn�t help but laugh / My ear pressed against the past / Like a glass on a wall of a hospital photograph"
But that's just my interpretation of only the first verse. I could be far from right. Lol =)
People of all 'religions' can enjoy this music, Hindus, Hare Krishnas, Buddhists, Mulims, Christians, Jews. Because God's truth isn't biased to any 'religion'. Religions are our material designations, similarly all religions act for the same thing: attaining love of God.
"I was floating in a peaceful sea Rescued by a sinking ship"
This reminds me of a quote by Shane Claiborned from his book Irrisistable Revolution where he says something along the lines of.. 'I was comfortable until I found God.' and how God 'comforts the disturbed and disturbs the comfortable.'
It's true though.. He comes in and completely turns everything in your life upside-down, but it's always ALWAYS for the better.
Straight from Wikipedia: "January 1979" is a song themed around Aaron Weiss's failure as a human in life. He and former bassist, Daniel Pishock, were both born in January 1979. The "crash" Aaron explains refers to his birth. Aaron wrote this song discussing his frustration surrounding his "overfed, unconcerned, and comfortably numb" existence. Realizing his failure, he sings of becoming a servant of all, a reference to Matthew 23:11. Becoming the lowest would imply that there would no longer be any possibility of failing more. While he remarks that his eyes have become useless, the song ends with hope of a cure. His concept about grasshoppers may reference to Numbers 13:33, or Isaiah 40:22. The line "My ear pressed against the past / like a glass on the wall of a house in a photograph" closely resembles a line in Richard Brautigan's novel So the Wind Won't Blow It All Away.
Oh, someone make me afraid of what I've become!
this song is the rock.
mewithoutyou never ceases to amaze me. the lyrics represent an insect (or someone of a lower standard) turning into a king (or someone of a higher standard)..and he's afriad of this higher being that he's become...and he looks past what he used to be and the people that represent his past also. or at least thats what ive gathered.
this is truly ana amazing song it combines everything you need in a song oh the whole album lives up to the amazement of this song as well the whole album is amazing go goet it october 5th and if your reading this and its past october 5th the go to best buy and buy it you will not regret