Modest Mouse – Education

"Education" as written by Isaac Brock, Eric Judy, Tom Peloso, Jeremiah Green and Johnny Marr....
Call it education
It was somewhere in between
You gave me some sound advice
But I wasn't listening

After we had capsized
I could tell you how you thought
Well, I'm not sure
But laid to rest on the city on the wall

Not quite conversation
It was somewhere in between
You said everything is taught
And I listened patiently

All this talking pony
Still monkies the whole time
We could not help from flinging shit
In our modern suits and ties

Our instincts, they were cringing
About how we lived our lives
It didn't seem we'd lived enough
To even get to die

All these diss distractions
So beautifully complex
Well, I loved life's surprises so much
I don't want to know what's happened

Stubborn shouting, said
"I don't do what you do"
I don't know
Could it really hear highly if you highly care?
And you don't
Stubborn beauty, stubborn beauty
I've been away

Hardly education
It was somewhere in between
Oh, I hit the roof but I had
Aimed for the ceiling

Hardly education
All them books I didn't
They just sat there on my shelf
Looking much smarter than me

Good old Nostradamus
He knew the whole damn time
That always being east from west
Someone is there fighting

Stubborn shouting, said
"I don't do what you do"
I don't know
Could it really hear highly if you highly care?
And you don't
Stubborn beauty, stubborn beauty
I've been away
Stubborn beauty, stubborn beauty
I don't know anyway
Stubborn beauty, stubborn beauty
I don't know
Could it really hear highly if you highly care?
And you don't
Stubborn beauty, stubborn beauty
Uh.. I fell away
Stubborn beauty, stubborn beauty
Oh, very well, then
Stubborn beauty, stubborn beauty
Oh, very well, then
Stubborn beauty, stubborn beauty
Oh, very well, then

Oh, very well, then


Lyrics submitted by Mellow_Harsher, edited by ModestNova, lysdexia

"Education" as written by Isaac Brock Eric Judy

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

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Education song meanings
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26 Comments

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  • +2
    General CommentI'm going to say that I think there COULD be a bit of global warming talk going on here, POSSIBLY. I definitely see it as a sad shake of the head in regards to what's going on in our world today. For any of you assholes saying that "Isaac doesn't care about blah blah blah", who are you to say what he does and doesn't care about? You're all what I am, a FAN, and just because you like something that he makes, doesn't make you an aficionado of all things Isaac Brock. Get a fucking grip.

    ANYHOW! I think this is a statement on what's happening on our planet, with ALL things- the wars, useless energy waste, etc. etc. Stubborn beauty, indeed.
    sheionizeson June 17, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General CommentAh. I can't believe no one's commented this song yet.

    This has a pretty edgey feel to it.

    "All them books I didn't read
    They just sat there on my shelf
    Looking much smarter than me"
    Ah. I adore those lines.

    Anyways, as it's been stated multiple times,
    this is a theme album. The theme being global warming.

    So anyway, that's where a bunch of this stuff ties in:

    "Our instincts, they were cringing
    About how we lived our lives
    It didn't seem we'd lived enough
    To even get to die

    All these dense distractions
    So beautifully complex
    Well, I loved life's surprises so much
    I don't want to know what's ahead"
    And whatnot.
    lawlesslyon September 14, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General CommentTo me, education seems to represent the idea of high society, or civilization. His reference to us as monkeys and our cringing instincts means that while we can act civilized, the primal side of us is very much still there and education itself cannot fully eradicate the natural, instinctive part of who we once were. Note how Brock rejects the initial notion of education while accepts the advice of the conversation. Perhaps a little more personal, I think Brock finds himself more educated in a non-formal sort of way. In that, he is smart, just not smart in the conventional sense of books and the sort. And that is fitting for him for sure since he is white-trash and lyrical genius all the same. Maybe someone could pick up on stubborn beauty, which means nothing to me.

    BTW, global warming, are you kidding? If so... haha.
    seventynineon September 16, 2007   Link
    • 1 Reply
  • 0
    General CommentI agree with the previous post about no matter how civilized we act, we still do things that are low class or primal. we still give into our "id."

    "All this dog and pony
    Still monkies the whole time
    We could not help from flinging shit
    In our modern suits and ties"

    also, yeah. i have no idea how global warming fits into this song. i couldn't see how you interpreted global warming from the lines your provided.
    AlrightAllowanceon September 21, 2007   Link
    • 1 Reply
  • 0
    General CommentI can see elements of both those themes in there, i think the album theme is global warming, but obviously each song has a secondary theme of its own.

    so yeah global warming and... people not evolving so much (or how ever they would say it)
    RBar-nezon September 29, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Commenti cld be wrong, but i think the last verse is
    Good old Nostradamus
    He knew the whole damn time
    There'd always be an East from West
    And someone in there fighting

    This is mokcing nostradamus for his famous predictions of war, especially WWII, where both the east and west would be in the one war... as i said, cld be wrong :P
    lilimpuson October 02, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General CommentDx I'm sure this song is primarily something else,
    but yes, every song on the album ties into global warming.
    lawlesslyon October 05, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General CommentDid anyone else notice that this song uses the exact same chords, key, and rhythm as "Wild Pack of Family Dogs?" They are essentially the same song with different words. I saw them play it live and with out the production value of the CD it is really apparent.
    Iron_KittenXon November 20, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Commenti dunno why more people havent commented this...it is one of the best songs on the new CD in my opinion. i think they've already got the lyrics meanings here, that education can't wash away instincts and we're still animals despite our superiority complex.
    CoughDownOurSleeveson December 02, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General CommentIf Modest Mouse starts talking about only concrete subjects like Global Warming then its about time Issac Brock needs to get back on Drugs.
    TheDudeAbideson December 15, 2007   Link

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