I took a walk with an invisible friend
And on that walk, I gave my hand
O, to be a machine
O, to be wanted
To be useful
With this ring am I wed to thee
My whole world is your property
O, to be a machine
O, to be wanted
To be useful
I took a walk with an invisible friend
And on that walk, I gave my hand
And on that walk, I gave my hand
O, to be wanted
To be useful
My whole world is your property
O, to be wanted
To be useful
And on that walk, I gave my hand
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The invisible friend is the savior mentioned in the song before. The dichotomy between the two songs (calling him a traitor vs. friend) reflects the name of the album: Friend and Foe. The title reflects the whole album's message: a struggle with understanding life and understanding god.
A "machine" is: "any mechanical or electrical device that transmits or modifies energy to perform or assist in the performance of human tasks". Being a machine is a metaphor for submitting to the will of his savior and act on behalf of him. By being a machine or tool of his savior, he gains meaning ("to be wanted, to be useful")
This song seems almost meaningless, but I think menomena just has a knack for referencing themselves. When he says that he gave his hand, I think back to the song before this one on the album, "boyscout'n". That song seems to be about blind faith for the most part. He mentions lending his hand to destroy a helpless man. Could be a stretch, but maybe the invisible friend is the supposed "savior" from the song before. Now using the bee metaphor, he feels needed because he is another cog in the machine. It doesn't matter what he's told to do, because he's wanted by the others. Sounds like a cult to me. but who knows.
I think that
the "With this ring" line is wrong, I think it has something to do with marriage, "With this ring, be my to thee", that's wrong, but something like that.
I think this song has to do with the previous song as well, he previously says, "Should my soul survive this fall, then I pray if I pray at all," well he obviously lost his soul. So now he's a machine. And now he's wanted and and useful, exactly what he wanted to be in Boyscout'N. Almost as if maybe when he did that, he became God... "my whole world is your property."
the lines "oh to be machine, oh to be wanted, to be useful," are so poignant, mostly to me because i don't think menomena mean them sincerely. Throughout the entire song you have these synthetic noises in tight cadences but all this punctuated by those saxophone like back-fires and farts as if 'the machine' is much more fun when its breaking apart, malfunctioning, all told, when it is anything but useful.
All the members in the band are Christians. This song is about having an invisible relationship with Jesus. And accepting him as your Savior and the ruler of your life. Christians usually say that they are married to Christ and he is their bride (hence the ring).
im not so sure about that. I'm almost positive that two of them, justin harris and danny seim, were raised christian and went to christian high school together, but they're not really into it anymore. I don't know about brent knopf. For evidence, Danny wrote a list for Pitchfork of his favorite cassettes that he was allowed to listen to as a kid, and it's all christian rock, but he's making fun of it the whole time. here--> http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/feature/10262-guest-list-menomena-my-favorite-cassettes-i-was-allowed-to-listen-to-age-7-15
im not so sure about that. I'm almost positive that two of them, justin harris and danny seim, were raised christian and went to christian high school together, but they're not really into it anymore. I don't know about brent knopf. For evidence, Danny wrote a list for Pitchfork of his favorite cassettes that he was allowed to listen to as a kid, and it's all christian rock, but he's making fun of it the whole time. here--> http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/feature/10262-guest-list-menomena-my-favorite-cassettes-i-was-allowed-to-listen-to-age-7-15
I have talked to the all 3 of the boys personally and know that they are still Christians like I. There is a type of conservative Christian that some Christians don't like. Like Justin, Brent, and Danny, I make fun of this Christian all the time too(I am a Christian myself). The Christians they make fun of are the ones that are sticklers for the rules, only listen to Christian music, & basically have no fun and are pricks.
Thanks for the clarification. But im kinda iffy at least on this song, because if the "invisible friend" is in fact Jesus, then the "o, to be a machine" part would be seemingly saying that his followers are like machines.
well this song is probably related to Boyscoutn in some way,because as I stated in my idea of Boyscoutn, it seemed like it had something to do with Judas, and this song might be the after affects and how no one wants him anymore because he betrayed Christ.