Beginner's Mind

Hold on tight Beginner’s Mind The wheel is spinning too Fast to make your move The worst must be assumed Oh how they will try To pull and to pry Away what you know now Beat and beat it out Leave a drum that makes no sound

A snuff film on a JumboTron for all the world to see

A cocktail napkin epitaph A psychobabble telegram Message written in the sand The tide rolls in

Swear you’ll do the opposite Of all those tangled hypocrites Who say that the experiment has failed Don’t go there You’re getting nowhere You’re getting nowhere

Stay awhile my Inner Child I’d like to learn your trick To know what makes you tick To nurse you when you’re sick Oh how you’ve grown so cynical Hard lines carved in your face The sunshine is so cliché Just like love and pain

You tried your best on the Rorschach test but there is just nothing to see

Heard terabytes of perfect pitch Some universal elegance Stack the seventh and the fifth Along the grid

Swear you’ll be the opposite Of all those stilted hypocrites You know what made you infamous to them, don’t you? You keep starting over You keep starting over You keep starting over You keep starting over

Hold on tight Beginner’s Mind The current is far too strong It will carry you along Till you’re just like everyone Stay awhile my Inner Child I’d like to learn your trick To know what makes you tick To nurse you when you’re sick

I find it amazing and beautiful just how simple and powerful this song is. The title says it all. Beginner's mind is Zen practice in action. It's taking on things as a beginner, as a child, as an open mind. It's a brilliant and amazing song, to be honest. I love it so much! It really is my anthem for life! It's works so well in my field of work which is philosophy. Be humble. Be open. Stay awhile, beginner's mind. LOVE.

It's not that spiritual experiences are hard to come by, it's just that we have mental habits and conditioning that tends to come back to rule our thinking and behavior. The zen practice of the same name mentioned earlier is practiced to achieve a state of mind free from conditioning and habits, thus experiencing divine clarity. This is written from the point of view of someone experiencing, once again, this clarity. He pleads, or prays, "Hold on tight, beginner's mind... Stay a while my inner child, I'd like to know your trick" grasping with the intellect, for some thought that will bring him back to the state of clarity he is experiencing now.

He knows from experience, though, what often follows this experience of spiritual clarity, shown by the lines, "hold on tight beginner's mind/ the currents far too strong/ It’ll carry you along/ Till you’re just like everyone." So, he expects that the old, stale way of thinking and experiencing the world will come back, though he pleads with this new feeling to stay.

"Oh how they will try/ to pull and pry/ away what you know now." This is an ironic line, implying that the beginner's mind is actually more informed than the experienced. This paints conditioning as a bad thing, a weakness, which is contrary to the way it usually works. So many activities are skill based- the longer you've been doing them, the better you are. Here he points out that this is not the rule for spiritual evolution, where our conditioning and preconceived notions only hold us back from our goal.

hold on tight beginners mind the wheel is spinning too fast to make your move the worst must be assumed oh how they'll try to pull and pry away what you know now beat and beat it out leave a drum that makes no sound a snuff film on a jumbotron for all the world to see

a cocktail napkin epitaph some psycho babel telegram message written in the sand the tide rolls in swear you'll do the opposite of all those tangled hypocrites who say that the experiment has failed don't go there you're getting nowhere you're getting nowhere

stay a while my inner child i'd like to learn your tricks know what makes you tick nurse you when you're sick oh how you've grown so cynical hard lines carved in your face the sunshine's so cliche just like love and pain you tried your best the rorschach test but there's just nothing to see

? hope terabytes the perfect pitch? some universal elegance ? stack the sound and then the fifth? along the bridge

swear you'll be the opposite of all the stilted hypocrites you know what made you infamous to them don't you you keep starting over keep starting over

hold on tight beginner's mind the currents far too strong It’ll carry you along Till you’re just like everyone

stay a while my inner child i’d like to learn your trick to know what make you tick to nurse you when you’re sick

From the digital lyric booklet:

"The wheel is spinning too" "Heard terabytes of a perfect pitch" "Stack the seventh and the fifth Along the grid"

It has a wider meaning that just a "beginners approach to things" the whole albums speaks of ending life as we know it now and starting over again.

This seems to me almost like Oberst addressing his former self, the innocent child we all once were and reflecting on how the world changes us, and how he would have changed the way he's lives and grown up. It's like encouraging the young not to get wearied and sullied by the cynics and drudgery of life.

I can't help but think this chorus and "Messenger bird song"s chorus sound remarkably similar. Don't get me wrong, both songs are fantastic. It's just a little odd.

I saw him perform this song live last night and he said that this song was about trying to keep your inner child and not letting the world drag you down in to this miserable, cynical person that everyone else is but rather look at everything the way you did when you were an innocent child. This song is beautiful when you look at it that way. Conor is an amazing musician.

Does anyone know what "A snuff film on a jumbotron For all the world to see," means.