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Bottoms Up, Socrates Lyrics
They came marchin' down the street in robes,
In the spirit of Spanish Inquisition.
Guitars and trombones,
Mechanical monkeys make good musicians.
Streets urchins, the smugglers and dingos,
dead languages and living man lingos.
Put the relics of the saint in a glass box and march him around the block.
Hangin' on the words of a madman,
Islands in the abyss,
No use for the poet,
when the hopeless seek no bliss.
Mason jars of petroleum,
You know those kids don't play,
And should you ever get a hold of them,
I'll tell you exactly what they say:
"Time we told you son about the family curse"
And when they opened up the diary
to gain an explanation,
They find only terminal verse.
Hangin' on the words of a madman,
Islands in the abyss,
No use for the poet,
when the hopeless seek no bliss.
X-ray visions,
Eye in the sky,
the naked being led by the blind
So Bottoms up, Socrates.
Hemlock straight up
Goes down easy
Hangin' on the words of a madman,
Islands in the abyss,
No use for the poet,
when the hopeless seek no bliss.
X-ray visions,
Eye in the sky,
the naked being led by the blind
So Bottoms up, Socrates.
Hemlock tastes like ripple wine
CHORUS
X-ray visions,
Eye in the sky,
the naked being led by the blind
So Bottoms up, Socrates.
Hemlock straight up
Goes down easy
In the spirit of Spanish Inquisition.
Guitars and trombones,
Mechanical monkeys make good musicians.
dead languages and living man lingos.
Put the relics of the saint in a glass box and march him around the block.
Islands in the abyss,
No use for the poet,
when the hopeless seek no bliss.
You know those kids don't play,
And should you ever get a hold of them,
I'll tell you exactly what they say:
"Time we told you son about the family curse"
And when they opened up the diary
to gain an explanation,
They find only terminal verse.
Islands in the abyss,
No use for the poet,
when the hopeless seek no bliss.
Eye in the sky,
the naked being led by the blind
So Bottoms up, Socrates.
Hemlock straight up
Goes down easy
Islands in the abyss,
No use for the poet,
when the hopeless seek no bliss.
Eye in the sky,
the naked being led by the blind
So Bottoms up, Socrates.
Hemlock tastes like ripple wine
X-ray visions,
Eye in the sky,
the naked being led by the blind
So Bottoms up, Socrates.
Hemlock straight up
Goes down easy
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
Good songs are Clutch's trade.
I don't think that the "hanging on the words of a madman" line specifically refers to the pope, or god or anything religious. Socrates died because he challenged the status quo. His trial was mainly political seeing as he challenged the way Athens was run. If you look at the next few lines "No use for the poet, when the hopeless seek no bliss", this is written from his perspective. It's mainly just about trying to help people that don't want to be helped. That's why I think the line "Islands in the abyss" is how they need help but don't know that they do.
stabbing truth and dogma in the eye. people tend to hold to the dogma and myth of Christianity without really taking anything away from the stories they should. 'hanging on the words of a madman' is a reference to the pope or god. 'bottoms up Socrates' says that searching for the truth is useless if you cling to something without learning anything from it. Socrates also died for an idea do you see anything being done to celebrate what he established for humanity.
No I get the gist that it is about the irish still fighting over being catholic or protestent "mason jars of petrollium", aka molatov cocktail
No I get the gist that it is about the irish still fighting over being catholic or protestent "mason jars of petrollium", aka molatov cocktail
"came marching down the street in robes", parades.
"came marching down the street in robes", parades.
"Islands in the abyss" irland is an island and in religious turmoil
"Islands in the abyss" irland is an island and in religious turmoil
and the line "bottoms up socrates hemlock straight up gose down easy" is the idea of philsofic intrigue being thwarted by people not just giving up fighting about religious differences hemlock is a naturally occuring poison, plus it is a cool word
and the line "bottoms up socrates hemlock straight up gose down easy" is the idea of philsofic intrigue being thwarted by people not just giving up fighting about religious differences hemlock is a naturally occuring poison, plus it is a cool word
"dead languages and living man's...
"dead languages and living man's lingos" the catholic church sometimes uses a dead language Latin in its survices and the protastants are against that
metathought is right. This is more or less about the trial of Socrates. I don't think it's about any kind of statement on religion or helping anyone so much as it's a story about Socrates.
The chorus line "hemlock straight up goes down easy" is a direct reference to how Socrates was killed, by drinking a poison hemlock potion.
Purely speculative, but "islands in the abyss" could be a reference to Atlantis. Plato was Socrates's student, Atlantis is attributed to Plato.
There has to be more to it than just the trial of Socrates. "In the spirit of the Spanish Inquisition" is from the point of view that the Spanish inquisition is in the past... where the Spanish Inquisition itself is more than 1800 years after Socrates...
Thinking this is strictly about Socrates is taking a few lines out of context. Parts to the gestalt.
"No use for the poet When the hopeless seek no bliss" imply a shunning of the artistic achievements of man and favor a more spartan existence.
Seems to me that this is more of a general warning using contemporary and historical references as examples. (Contemporary Reference being "X-ray visions, eye in the sky," as in artificial Satellites as well as "Petroleum")
The warning would be of blindly following leaders and movements without thinking for oneself. ("Mechanical monkeys make good musicians") no reason to believe it is strictly about Christianity either.
Regardless, I would love to get an understanding as to the impetus for the song.
I think all of these points are feasible. I'd caution people to remember, that as a songwriter I am more pleased when my lyrics are interpreted in a way I never expected. It actually makes the song mean more to me that it can tell a different story that other than the one I intended. So I carefully place words and phrases that lean toward alternative interpretation. It is an ironic device of sorts. Many other songwriters share this view. So, in that respect, their is no wrong answer, unless Neil weighs in and ends the conversation. Where would the fun be in that?