"So there was this woman and she was, uh, on an airplane
And she was flying to meet her fiance
Sailing high above the, the largest ocean on planet earth
And she was seated next to this man, who
You know, she had tried to start conversations
And the only, really the only thing she heard him say was
Was to order his, his Bloody Mary
And she's sitting there and she was reading this
Really arduous magazine article about a third world country
That she couldn't even pronounce the, the name of
And she was feeling very bored and very despondent
And then, uh, suddenly there was this huge mechanical failure
And one of the, the engines gave out
And they started just falling thirty-thousand feet
The pilot's on the, on the microphone and he's, he's saying
'I'm sorry, I'm sorry, oh my god, I'm sorry' and apologizing
And she looks at the man and she, and she says, she says
She says 'Where are we going?'
And he looks at her and he says 'We're going to a party
It's a birthday party, it's your birthday party
Happy birthday, darling
We love you very, very, very, very, very, very, very much'
And then, uhm, he starts humming this little tune
And, and uh, it kind of goes like this, it's kinda
One, two, one, two, three, four"

We must talk on every telephone
Get eaten off the web
We must rip out all the epilogues
From the books that we have read
And to the face of every criminal
Strapped firmly to a chair
We must stare, we must stare, we must stare

We must take all of the medicines
Too expensive now to sell
Set fire to the preacher
Who is promising us hell
And in the ear of every anarchist
That sleeps but doesn't dream
We must sing, we must sing, we must sing

And it'll go like this, alright

While my mother waters plants
My father loads his gun
He says death will give us back to God
Just like the setting sun
Its return to the lonesome ocean

And then they splashed into the deep blue sea
Oh, it was a wonderful splash

We must blend into the choir
Sing ecstatic with the whole
Must memorize nine numbers
And deny we have a soul
And in this endless race for property
And privilege to be one
We must run, we must run, we must run

We must hang up in the belfry
Where the bats and moonlight laugh
We must stare into a crystal ball
And only see the past
And into the caverns of tomorrow
With just our flashlights and our love
We must plunge, we must plunge, we must plunge
And then we'll get down there
Way down to the very bottom of everything
And then we'll see it, we'll see it, we'll see it

Oh my mornings coming back
The whole world's waking up
Oh, the city bus is swimming past
I'm happy just because
I found out I am really no one


Lyrics submitted by Hunter, edited by sarahbelum, Cafehollander, RickyFiggy

At The Bottom Of Everything Lyrics as written by Conor Oberst

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Unison Rights S.L.

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At the Bottom of Everything song meanings
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  • +1
    General Comment

    How can someone's interpretation of art be wrong?

    I see this as the singer urging everyone to realize they need to experience their life as it happens and face themselves for who they are. The one bit about taking a good hard look at those we condemn - well gee, humans are well known for that pack mentality of burning witches at the stake.

    We have to conform to fit in, while having a constant need to not conform and be individual. We feel we have to run, run, run in the rat race. The simile of : "Death will give us back to god, just like the setting sun is returned to the lonesome ocean"... is in itself a denial of god and fate and destiny. The sun doesn't go into the ocean, it only looks that way the way we see it, so the way we see it our souls will go to god. (ok, when I say we i guess i mean people in general). He repeats this lack of destiny later by telling us we can't see the future in a crystal ball and can only plunge through each day with hope and very little foresight.

    Then after having all these wonderful realizations of the way life really is, he wakes up in the morning finally happy to know that there is no meaning to life after all.

    Thats my two cents :D

    rageonyxon March 01, 2005   Link

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