Sphagnum Esplanade

Here are the correct lyrics to this brilliant song:

Sphagnum Esplanade

sphag·num (sf?g'n?m)
n. Any of various pale or ashy mosses of the genus Sphagnum, the decomposed remains of which form peat.

es·pla·nade (?s'pl?-näd', -n?d')
n. A flat open stretch of pavement or grass, especially one designed as a promenade along a shore.

How lovely i find what's entered my mind along this mossy trail how coyly it hides the truth about how it is we can't ask how crowds jump to their deaths from the bridges i drive by tonight they miss out on it all, the whole gist there as they fall you're not expected to know why in such a short time and there are stanzas never meant to rhyme

Far better i find it is when we try to span the weird divide with no real rationale we step out of bounds and think and escape their lie

We've marched so long and we've much farther than we've gone to go we'll make a new ship and christen it for the trip with a toddler at the helm this time and there are things we never will define

crowds jump to their deaths from the bridges i drive by tonight they missed out on it all, the whole gist there as they fall you're not expected to know why in such a short time and there are things we never will define

A few minor lyric corrections to what the person above me wrote: Crowds jump to their deaths from the bridge AS I drive by tonight; and We've marched so long and we've much farther THAT WE"VE GOT to go

With that said... I just gave this song my first close, careful listen tonight, and it is striking me so hard right now that it might just be my new favorite song. To me, this song is about how everyone tries to find an answer to everything in life, what they're supposed to do, how things are supposed to turn out for them and why, why we're here, etc. but there is no way to really know and that's what's beautiful about life: maybe we're not supposed to know or maybe even we CAN'T figure those things out and shouldn't try, and by accepting this we can truly be free. I find this song truly liberating. In my own life, I've been kinda feeling like the speaker in Spilt Needles, someone who is growing up and is being asked to decide on a direction in life and just feels lost, "like I'm perched on the handlebars, of a blind man's bike." Maybe instead of trying so hard to figure out why and how certain things in my life happened the way they did and instead of trying to come up with an answer now to what my life is going to be, I should just live life and not stress out about those things. That's the effect this song is having on me right now.

its about discovering the meaning of life

this song is SO beautiful (i know, i know, how cliche is that?) but seriously. it gives me goosebumps. I think its about trying to find a way to get through life "successfully"

that and pink bullets. the shins have some strange infatuation with moss :)

"You're not expected to know why in such a short time" This is exactly how I feel. I love this song, even though it sounds a little weird.

Well it seems like it has a transcendentalist notion to it. And among an old natural setting the singer realizes people spend too much time analyzing things in life and life itself to fully enjoy it. And that maybe you're not supposed to figure it out. People kill themselves over things that will only matter to them in their short lifetime or maybe thats metaphorical for obsessing over something or somone. While we try to find a new way of figuring things out we may let someone or something with innocence guide us. (toddler at the helm) and help us acheive a certain enlightenment.

James Mercer, I think, is somewhat of a transcendentalist; an example would be this song and also the saint simon video(walking through a forest)

I definitely heard this song played (probably more than once) at the Cirque Du Soleil show Corteo a few weeks ago.

otherworldly

and unique