Flyentology (feat. Trent Reznor)

Great analysis. I think that more than that, this song is about living life with some kind of meaning. If the plane/air represents living a life of faith and ignorance, the narrative changes. It starts with Reznor on the ground, who makes a call up to El-P. Reznor is grounded - he knows what his life is about. Contact with the outside world isn't allowed in the "Flying Faith Zone" because it results in a crisis of meaning. The drop to the earth is the process of sorting out what to do in the absence of existential safety....

Great analysis. I think that more than that, this song is about living life with some kind of meaning. If the plane/air represents living a life of faith and ignorance, the narrative changes. It starts with Reznor on the ground, who makes a call up to El-P. Reznor is grounded - he knows what his life is about. Contact with the outside world isn't allowed in the "Flying Faith Zone" because it results in a crisis of meaning. The drop to the earth is the process of sorting out what to do in the absence of existential safety.

One option is to buy into Flyentology - to accept an artificial system that provides instructions for you. You might even come to believe it an turn into a Flyentologist, though clearly not all do (Hence the preacher Flyentologist and flyers). If you choose to leave the system, they completely excommunicate you - no chance of hanging out on their safety base while not being part of the cult.

In the end, you either hit rock bottom with no meaning and have to build it yourself (a process Trent is familiar with), or you make a temporary transition to Flyentology (faith).

Thus the lines about atheists in foxholes, intellect in the air, and science being a source of reflection are seen as denials during a crisis of meaning - a willful suspension of disbelief that is self-imposed in order to excuse oneself to believe in a god. Faith vs Physics is exactly what it seems - you either have faith, or come to a crashing realization about life.

Another interpretation (sans video) would be that Flyentology is a plane crash constructed to get you to join. The imminent crash is the coming apocalypse or whatever disaster they're preaching, and everyone's heading for it. "Tuck your head between your legs, Now pray." Only those who accept the bible in the back pocket will be saved. In this sense, the "physics" is artificial - there's no real crash about to happen, so they can keep picking at your brain for as long as it takes. If there were a crash, no one would be left to talk about faith.

I find it interesting that the last line of the song is "No!" It could be a wish for the crash to not happen, a rejection of Flyentology, or someone's last words right before their death. In the latter two scenarios, physics obviously wins.

A little investigating reveals the original purpose of the song, but I've got no official word on the meaning of the video.

A little investigating reveals the original purpose of the song, but I've got no official word on the meaning of the video.

From an interview in April 2007:

From an interview in April 2007:

“If I was to get caught up in the gut impression, in the immediate interpretations people have of the lyrics, I would get frustrated. But I really only have myself to blame for that. I mean, there are songs like ‘Flyentology’, which I really just wrote about being afraid of flying. That song, very specifically, was about my relationship to God and how I’m an atheist, but when I get on a plane...

“If I was to get caught up in the gut impression, in the immediate interpretations people have of the lyrics, I would get frustrated. But I really only have myself to blame for that. I mean, there are songs like ‘Flyentology’, which I really just wrote about being afraid of flying. That song, very specifically, was about my relationship to God and how I’m an atheist, but when I get on a plane and the chips are down and I’m falling, all of a sudden I’m an orthodox christian, or whatever the fuck. I was not raised with dogma, but that’s what the song was about. A lot of people, though, have said it’s me lambasting religion — I do think I carry certain connotations because of the way I think and my career in general, and sometimes people make assumptions and they apply it to songs.”

But the song does come across as a joust between science and religion.

“The song is a joust, but it’s a personal one. It’s funny to find the intellectual, in the face of danger, becoming like a baby again. All of your witticism and intelligence and sardonic outlook on the relationship between these ideas and man go out of the window, and all you want to do is be held and protected, by some omniscient force, because all of your rationale has gone.”

Just why are you so afraid of flying? It makes physical sense, after all...

“Most of my reasoning ended when I got on a plane and the engine exploded, so that… that was a couple of years ago, and that’s when I wrote the song. I am quite afraid of flying, and with my tour schedule that is a concern. When I run out of my magic pills, I’ll lose my shit. It’s not cool. So logic, and that sort of self-hypnotising meditation, is not really that applicable in my life right now.”

El-P’s unafraid of heavy touring — he’s done it before, and knows that live appearances are essential in spreading the word of I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead. After ten years in the saddle, he’s now happier than he’s ever been with his live form.