Volcano

Isn't it just he's not the happiest bunny, (cause people are crap -> I'm tired of people who only want to be pleased ) and he knows about the japanese girl jumped into the volcano to get away from it.

However, he knows there's light at the end of the tunnel, so he just wants to warm his bones and deal with it.

" I don't know if I'm sane But there's a ghost in my heart Who's trying to see in the dark I'm tired of people who only want to be pleased But I still want to please you "

That's the stand out bit for me. Is he the only one that's sane that still sees goodness? Even in the face of people who are crap.

I used to think that this song was about commiting suicide so that his soul could be free and not stuck inside a body. However,

"I don't want to fall in through Just want to warm my bones On that fire a while"

Tricky.

It's the perfect ending for the album and the theme of "Modern Guilt" itself, I think.

He feels tired and almost hopeless, after all he's seen in the other songs of the album, and the worlds is pretty much going to hell for him. He notices we're halfway there, but what to do? Suicide, like the Japanese girl? What did she get by that, he wonders. He knows he and all of mankind are going to that volcano, but at the end he decides he doesn't want to do the same, he has some hope for this world after all.

The whole album has some sort of underlying themes about how this planet is going to hell, and Volcano is like a final reflection on it. I haven't thought much about Scientology here, but if you think about the lyrics as reflecting a loss of faith in something (the world, mankind, religion) it can fit.

Agreed, beautiful song.

While I'd hate to be that one that suspects everything a Scientologist writes is about Scientology, you've really got to wonder with this one... Yes, Beck is a second generation Scientologist, and has taken at least a few courses.

"Volcano" could definitely be about something else, but the title itself is a bit suggestive. There is a volcano on the main cover of Dianetics, and the volcano is supposed to represent the "explosive results obtainable by Hubbard's methods". It is also prominent in the story told only at the OTIII (Operating Thetan 3) level, that pre-clears and lower level Scientologists are not supposed to hear. Beck may or may not be in the OT levels; I've found no confirmation either way. According to L. Ron Hubbard, Xenu (dictator of the Galactic Confederacy) had an overpopulation problem, so he froze billions of people and brought them to Earth (then called Teegeeack), lined them up around volcanoes, and killed them with hydrogen bombs. When their souls (Thetans) escaped, he gathered them and sat them in front of hours of streamed color images and sounds of false memories or "implants" of things like Christ. As humans evolved, Thetans inhabited them. This is said to be the cause of all human suffering. But again, Beck might not even know about this story. Lower level Scientologists are taught that anything they hear about Scientology from an outside source (the internet, media) is a lie.

"I've been walking down these streets so long I don't know where they're going to lead me anymore But I think I must have seen a ghost I don't know if it's my illusions that keep me alive"

Since he was born into it, he's been "walking down these streets" of Scientology for quite some time, and maybe he's hit a rut in the religion, or gotten to the point that it's no longer helping him anymore. To me, Scientology seems to have two main parts to it: self-help psychological philosophy, and brainwashing cult. The transition from one to the other takes careful planning and treatment. I think the above stanza makes it sound like Beck is nearing that transition point, and questioning too much to be blindly led into culthood. "I don't know" seems to be a common theme, as he uses the term seven times. "Illusions" as in his faith, or the false memories implanted into him? "Ghost" as in "Thetan"?

"I don't know what I've seen Was it all an illusion; all a mirage gone bad?"

Scientologists believe that people have lived many, many previous lives, and that memories from those lives (as well as from this one) can traumatize you and effect you emotionally now. The above lines could be a reference to past lives, or to all he's seen in the Church. Some of those courses, particularly the ones on Auditing, are pretty intense and can involve everything from training one not to blink for up to two hours, to physically moving objects.

"I'm tired of evil And all that it feeds But I don't know"

Scientology's main claim is basically that they rid people and the world of evil. This sort of sounds like a "Yeah, you're right, evil is bad...but still...I don't know if this is the evil that needs to be fought...and in this way?" Just a general questioning, probably.

"And I heard of that Japanese girl who jumped into the volcano Was she trying to make it back Back into the womb of the world"

Besides being a really beautiful stanza, maybe it goes back to Hubbard's story of Xenu. If 944 people jumped in that volcano after this girl (I'm referencing clane's post^), maybe he could be comparing it to all of the people who join Scientology, just trying to make it back into the "womb of the world", before any of this Thetan bullshit arose. To a purer state of being, or "clear".. A bit of a stretch, though. Does anyone have a better interpretation for that?

"I've been drinking all these tears so long All I've got left is the taste of salt in my mouth"

In Scientology, one of the main goals is to be able to completely control your negative emotions, or become "clear". Expressing sadness, then (as well as any sort of illness, which is said to be caused solely by mental entheta [bad emotions]), is a sign that you aren't handling yourself well enough. No one wants to be visibly failing, so some probably "swallow their tears" and pretend everything's fine. Maybe Beck is reflecting on this effect in the above verse... He was in it even as a child, afterall...

"I don't know where I've been"

Past life reference?

"But I know where I'm going; To that volcano"

The same volcano of Scientology?

"I don't want to fall in through"

Doesn't want to fall into the culty part of it, like everyone else?

"Just want to warm my bones On that fire a while"

Just wants to stay on the lower levels, helping better himself and his life?

There's my interpretation, assuming the song is indeed about Scientology. Beck tends to be pretty abstract with his songs, though, so the chances that he means any of this literally are probably pretty slim. Plus, I'm not sure that the CoS would be down with a song about questioning his faith in them. And you can make any song sound like it's about anything, with the power of suggestion... I don't know.

Most soothing Beck song of all time.

I like this a lot it is so much more refined.

"I don't know where I've been But I know where I'm going"

I love it.

i hope people try to figure out this songs relation to scientology....its obviously about scientology because the COS uses the image of a volcano on the cover of dianetics and in the story of theta implants....any interpretations....i think this song has beck doubting his belief in the religion honestly

Is he a follower of Scientology?

yes, he is. I believe he said it in an interview with the NYT in 2005.

I didn't even think about the Scientology connection. That is a possibility. I know what it means for me and my personal life, and that's what counts :).

sounds a little bit like he's trying to sound like elliott smith.

i don't see why it should matter that it pertains to Scientology. The Information is basically all about scientology and i think that was his best album yet.. and not because of the religion. I mean, it's his choice to be a scientologist but i do hope he's doubting it because that religion is insane IMO. but this song can connect to people in more emotional levels. like mr. christopher said.