So this has been.my favorite song of OTEP's since it came out in 2004, and I always thought it was a song about a child's narrative of suffering in an abusive Christian home. But now that I am revisiting the lyrics, I am seeing something totally new.
This song could be gospel of John but from the perspective of Jesus.
Jesus was NOT having a good time up to and during the crucifixion. Everyone in the known world at the time looked to him with fear, admiration or disgust and he was constantly being asked questions. He spoke in "verses, prophesies and curses". He had made an enemy of the state, and believed the world was increasingly wicked and fallen from grace, or that he was in the "mouth of madness".
The spine of atlas is the structure that allows the titan to hold the world up. Jesus challenged the state and in doing so became a celebrated resistance figure. It also made him public enemy #1.
All of this happened simply because he was doing his thing, not because of any agenda he had or strategy.
And then he gets scourged (storm of thorns)
There are some plot holes here but I think it's an interesting interpretation.
Freak of nature, with jaw dropping skill
From the low rhythmic bass lines to the harmonic fills
New Age Funk on acoustic guitar
Always wanted to be like him, Except for that day in the car
With the old beat up Martin
He would spank like a hound
Not even God knew what he turned to he had his own sound
[Chorus]
He was "Live on a Double Planet"
He was "Watching his Life go By"
All the "Aerial Boundaries"
Lifted me so I could fly
He had "Breakfast in the Field" with the "Taproot"
And the "Tourched" theories would burn
"The Oracle" of his own existence
Is now on "The Road to Return"
Sometimes the louden or the Impossible Harp thing
Playing drum on a bouncing ball, I loved to hear him sing
Spike dog collar that hung his rabies tag
Dramatic interpretation his shows would never drag
[Chorus]
The Flood Zone or Wolf Trap
Or way up to Telluride
Or that day in High Sierra
Where we definitely locked eyes.
From the low rhythmic bass lines to the harmonic fills
New Age Funk on acoustic guitar
Always wanted to be like him, Except for that day in the car
With the old beat up Martin
He would spank like a hound
Not even God knew what he turned to he had his own sound
[Chorus]
He was "Live on a Double Planet"
He was "Watching his Life go By"
All the "Aerial Boundaries"
Lifted me so I could fly
He had "Breakfast in the Field" with the "Taproot"
And the "Tourched" theories would burn
"The Oracle" of his own existence
Is now on "The Road to Return"
Sometimes the louden or the Impossible Harp thing
Playing drum on a bouncing ball, I loved to hear him sing
Spike dog collar that hung his rabies tag
Dramatic interpretation his shows would never drag
[Chorus]
The Flood Zone or Wolf Trap
Or way up to Telluride
Or that day in High Sierra
Where we definitely locked eyes.
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Ave Grave
Thee More Shallows
Thee More Shallows
Love in a Vacuum
'Til Tuesday
'Til Tuesday
Well, in my opinion this song is about being a young & maybe a little naive &/or introverted girl and finding yourself loving a man who is at first very charming, carefree & outgoing, and seems at first to be without limits, as in
"There was a time
you opened up every doorway
you didn't mind if everything
wasn't your way"
then that man starts to gradually become more introverted & shows their more possessive/obsessive side to you as the relationship progresses, even while they keep up the appearance of being carefree & outgoing to everyone else,
"Don't pull away
that goes against what you told me
I look in your eyes
I realize what you've sold me
is love in a vacuum"
so you confront them about the way they're acting and of course they deny it,
"I think you've changed
but you insist that
that's not true"
quite possibly they are an addict of some sort, my guess would be cocaine, &/or showing very obsessive behavior towards you (early on in the video for this song we see the man hanging a picture up, it is a very large portrait of Aimee & it is prominently displayed in his/their apartment for the duration of the song), thus their "love in a vacuum",
"You look so strange, so distant
that you're hardly you
Now I can see
how you have been acting different
You say it's me
but I know
that it isn't
it's love in a vacuum"
but still you are in love with them and don't want to leave them and you know that they are truly in love with you and they don't want you to leave them either, maybe they are convinced you can save them from themself, maybe they are so broken that the possibility of an overdose &/or suicide attempt is very real and you want to get through to them that their behavior not only dangerous but it is also just pissing you off and if they don't wise up they run the risk of loosing you, as in the lines
"You will be lonely
if you leave me alone", so you want to save them but can't get through to them due to the addiction &/or emotional problems they have,
"Love in a vacuum
and that's not enough
love in a vacuum
You will be lonely
you'll be the only one who feels this way
You will be lonely
if you leave me alone
You will be lonely
you'll be the only one who feels this way
it's just not enough"
you want them to understand that the love they are giving you is not enough when it is filtered through the vacuum of their drug addiction &/or emotional impairment,
"You will be lonely
you'll be the only one who feels this way
it's just not enough
and just wait
you will be lonely
Love in a vacuum
Love in a vacuum
and that's not enough
Love in a vacuum".
'Love In A Vacuum' for me is a hauntingly truthful acute argument on the loneliness of obsession and almost inevitable loss of love that follows people who are broken in some way or another; the obsessives, the coke heads, the drunks, addicts or the just-plain-old emotionally broken; a razor sharp, lyrically driven, deceptively poppy, yet ultimately-depressing-in-the-best-way song.
Quintessential Aimee Mann.
Battle Royale
Word Alive, The
Word Alive, The
This song is def a twin to "Unfair" (a song she has been quoted as saying is about falling in love with someone who is already in a relationship) so it is presumably about the same person. Given the references to buying an apartment and not being able to see her love interest "after tonight," it's most likely that she's moving away and she'll "wait a day to break the bad news" (i.e. notifying him that she's leaving once she's already gone).
And, of course, the fact that she sees in him a fellow "idealist" and "dreamer" (terms commonly given to people with the INFP personality on the Myers–Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)) portends that she'll always be left wondering if they would've been perfect together.
Techno Ted
Audioslave
Audioslave
Techno Ted may be a person who caused Chris incredible emotional pain & trepidation as well as moments of peace & happiness but now is removed and awaiting his fate. Darling may be a different person who is also free of him and can live her life free of Ted's tyranny. "In between all the laughing, and daydreams ... lies: a desert of truth" Lies are like a desert or the omission of Truth: Where there were Lies then Truth was absent. The song, "Techno Ted", may be a cathartic celebration of the downfall of this person.
Light Up The Sky
Van Halen
Van Halen
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.
Without a question this song is a Tribute to the Late Michael Hedges. Wonder were i got my login id??
Keller Williams has said that Michael was one of his biggest influences. The influence of Michael's slap happy guitar style and strong use of not only open tuned guitars but "harmonic fills" are very evident in Kellers own style.
I've often described a Michael Hedges concert as a room full, half with guitarist, and almost all of them with their jaws sitting in their lap.
Hedges was on the Windham Hill label that is mainly a New Age label. But Michael was so different from the rest of the lot because he added a lot of "funk", rock, boogie to his style while also adding a "new age" melodic solo "acoustic guitar" style to his playing.
When Keller says he "always wanted to be like him" (personally i think he is very close with a lot of hippieness in breed in him) "except for that day in the car" which is a reference to how Michael died in a one vehicle car accident in which his BMW swirved off a Northern California mountain road.
Michael's favorite guitar was an old "Martin".
"Live on the Double Planet". "Watching my Life go By", "Aerial Boundaries", "Breakfast in the Field", "Taproot", "Tourched", "Oracle" and "The Road to Return" are all Michael Hedges releases. Personally i highly recommend "Live on the Double Planet" and "Taproot" for all those who might be curious.
"The Impossible Harp thing" is a refernece to several Harp Guitars that Michael owned and played on CD and Concert. The Harp guitar is guitar that looks like a distored two neck guitar on steroids. The top part is plucked and not fretted, like a harp. The lower part is a six string acoustic guitar. They were midly popular in the 1800s in one man bands.
The "drum on a bouncing ball" is Keller reference this gigantic ball that Michael would occasionall sit (bounce) on his last few years while playing guitar. There is a video of him doing this while playing a slow version of Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone".
I'm not sure what Keller is referring to with the "Spike Collar/Rabies Tag". These are things i never noticed in any of the Michael Hedges shows I atteneded which was probably around 15 of them (1989-1997).
I think the last stanza is a reference to a time when Keller might have met Michael but i'm not sure. i thought i read somewhere that Keller did meet him but not sure, just a guess. The last line could be a Keller joke on a frequent comment made by Deadheads about Jerry Garcia. Some would freak out that "Jerry looked up and we definately were looking at each other". My guess is Keller either experianced the same thing with Michael or he is using Michael to replace Garcia in the joke.
Personal Note: Michael Hedges was the most charismatic performer, and (i love ya keller but i think you'd understand) by far the most amazing guitarist i ever saw or heard. Nothing can explain Michael more then this paraphrased William Ackerman quote: "My skull just got ripped apart as I watched the guitar get reinvented".
"No angel ever flew me throught this Heaven" -- Michael Hedges