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Harmonium Lyrics
the air is thick
the air is wasted
the lamb lies down for our entertainment
some mother's son
crashed at the pavement
his little eyes gone
we're one in the same man
now you know you never waste it
now you know you're wasted
I hear your voice, there's no emotion
did something die
you're not even responsive
when we were young we'd bottle water
collect reptile bones, commence the slaughter
now you know you never waste it
now you know you're wasted
all your dreams thrown in the trash
you were born into war
you were taught not to ask
for every single possibility
moving shadows in the dark
deciding fates over cocktail lunch
every single possibility
we better bust them out
you better bust them out
heart attacks won't get us down
our rifle butts pressed in the ground
our brains are lost, our skulls are found
we're kicking up the dust above them
the air is wasted
the lamb lies down for our entertainment
some mother's son
crashed at the pavement
his little eyes gone
we're one in the same man
now you know you never waste it
now you know you're wasted
did something die
you're not even responsive
when we were young we'd bottle water
collect reptile bones, commence the slaughter
now you know you never waste it
now you know you're wasted
you were born into war
you were taught not to ask
for every single possibility
moving shadows in the dark
deciding fates over cocktail lunch
every single possibility
you better bust them out
heart attacks won't get us down
our rifle butts pressed in the ground
our brains are lost, our skulls are found
we're kicking up the dust above them
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I think this song is about life in general. we are born into a world of conflict ("the air is wasted", "you were born into war", and the other allusions to war). some people take it for granted, but later learn how they shouldn't ("now you know you never waste it").
I also think the song is talking about society in general is slipping away, with the comparison he makes to himself and the dying kid, the person who has no emotion when someone dies, and someone who is down in life and is repressed.
"The Lamb lies down for our entertainment" seems to me to be a reference to a sacrificial Lamb.. I think in this case he is talking about our inability to realize that people at war are out there dying for our freedom.
"When we were young we'd bottle water, collect reptile bones, commence the slaughter" seems to me to be talking about when you are young you don't understand war.. You are naive to the violence and the reality of war.
"You were born into war, you were taught not to ask about every single possibility, moving shadows in the dark deciding fates over cocktail lunch, every single possibility " This to me seems that they are talking about the few "elites" that have the power in this country. They know what all the options are, but they withhold that information and make decisions for the rest of the country.. they only give us the scraps of information that they want us to have.
""You were born into war, you were taught not to ask about every single possibility, moving shadows in the dark deciding fates over cocktail lunch, every single possibility " This to me seems that they are talking about the few "elites" that have the power in this country. They know what all the options are, but they withhold that information and make decisions for the rest of the country.. they only give us the scraps of information that they want us to have."
Couldn't say it any better spottiedottie. I was thinking that a lot during this part of the song:
"we better bust them out you better bust them out"
I think chalking this down to war is missing a lot. There's a lot of that, to be sure, but it's also about our culture and how insensitive WE are to violence and the cost of our entertainment and lifestyle choices.
"the air is thick / the air is wasted" sets the table suggesting that the atmosphere we're living in is harsh and oppressive. the lamb speaks to US and OUR COLLECTIVE NEED for entertainment, perhaps even leading to some perverse enjoyment or at least fascination with suicide (i take the son/pavement/eyes to describe the leap from a building - i guess you could even draw out 9/11 if you try hard enough to interpret WAR), and finally the warning that it could just as easily be us on the pavement.
and that's life. and you know you shouldn't waste it, but lets face it... you're probably wasted.
i think the second verse is about the personal cost of serving in war. the first half might be about us again, and how we can send our soldiers to fight without even considering them or the so-called enemy. the last half is pretty clearly suggesting we kill for resources. or in other words, that we spill blood for luxury.
the third section is back to the atmosphere: your dreams are garbage, whenever you were born there was probably some kind of war, you're not allowed to question it and it might be useless anyway because the darkest things you can imagine are already in motion, having been decided by people hopelessly more powerful while they were distracted by a tipsy meal.
finally the last two lines have almost convinced me the entire song is meant to be about shell shock. i still think there's a lot more to it than simply war.
awesome awesome song. again a bit too long and a lack of consideration for syllables but this song is just builds up as does "sleeping lessons" by the shins. like most rogue wave songs it could be much better but what is given is enough to make the garden state soundtrack. i love the frustration of the lines that imply thhat his relationship has lost its fire.
Totally a song about war. I think its obvious.
It could be not just war in general but the Iraq war, "collect reptile bones," is probably a reference to oil.
another war reference is
"some mother's son crashed at the pavement"
bringing up all of the young men that go to war