Gogol Bordello

Name Your Ship

1 Meaning

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Name Your Ship Lyrics

You know
It's time for a change
But how
And where do you start?

When bitching
And moaning
And frowning
And groaning
And loathing
And throwing
Has torn you apart

It has torn you apart
From deep within
Left no vigorous cell
Even in Eden you seek knothole to hell

Oh hey (Hey)
Ho (Ho)
Captain Crooked Grin
Tell me where you trying to go

You taught your parrot to stutter
Now you repeat his old chatter
But it is the way you name your ship
That's the way it's going to row
Oh
It's the way you name your ship
That's the way it's going to row

Now in the beginning there was a word
In the end there is no end
People don't live or die
People just fade in and out of the fog
We come to comprehend

And now all alone with your crooked grin
How you plan staying afloat
Even the boatsman grab Bible
And split from the boat

Oh hey (Hey)
Ho (Ho)
Captain Crooked Grin
Tell us where you trying to go

You taught your parrot to stutter
Now you believe his old chatter
But it is the way you name your ship
That's the way it's going to row

It's the way you name your ship
That's the way it's going to row

Row

You taught your parrot to stutter
Now you're slave to his chatter
But it is the way you name your ship
That's the way it's going to row
Oh
It's the way you name your ship
That's the way it's going to row
Oh
It's the way you name your ship
That's exactly how it's going to row

Submitted by

mellow_harsher On Jul 21, 2013

Start Wearing Purple

Not a Crime

Through the Roof 'n' Underground

Supertheory of Supereverything

60 Revolutions

You know 
It's time for a change 
But how 
And where do you start?

When bitching 
And moaning 
And frowning 
And groaning 
And loathing 
And throwing 
Has torn you apart

It has torn you apart 
From deep within 
Left no vigorous cell 
Even in Eden you seek knothole to hell

Oh hey (Hey) 
Ho (Ho) 
Captain Crooked Grin 
Tell me where you trying to go

You taught your parrot to stutter 
Now you repeat his old chatter 
But it is the way you name your ship 
That's the way it's going to row 
Oh
It's the way you name your ship 
That's the way it's going to row

Now in the beginning there was a word 
In the end there is no end 
People don't live or die 
People just fade in and out of the fog 
We come to comprehend

And now all alone with your crooked grin 
How you plan staying afloat 
Even the boatsman grab Bible 
And split from the boat

Oh hey (Hey) 
Ho (Ho) 
Captain Crooked Grin 
Tell us where you trying to go

You taught your parrot to stutter 
Now you believe his old chatter 
But it is the way you name your ship 
That's the way it's going to row

It's the way you name your ship 
That's the way it's going to row

Row

You taught your parrot to stutter 
Now you're slave to his chatter 
But it is the way you name your ship 
That's the way it's going to row 
Oh
It's the way you name your ship 
That's the way it's going to row 
Oh
It's the way you name your ship 
That's exactly how it's going to row

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When in doubt, ask the crowd

Not sure what they’re singing in that fuzzy bridge? Drop a question in the comments and let the music nerds swarm. Someone always knows.

Mellow_Harsher

Submitter

2013-07-21 00:15:04

1 Meaning

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by EriBv

12y ago

You know It's time for a change But how And where do you start? When bitching And moaning And frowning And groaning And loathing And throwing Has torn you apart

Sometimes you spend so much time bitching, moaning, frowning, etc., that you realize you can't keep living that way because it destroys you,

It has torn you apart From deep within Left no vigorous cell Even in Eden you seek knothole to hell

It destroys you so much that there's no more energy in you, but you keep digging in that hole of awful feelings ("even in Eden you seek knothole to Hell"). Even in what could be the happiest moment of your life you find a way to feel bad.

Oh hey (Hey) Ho (Ho) Captain Crooked Grin Tell me where you trying to go

What's the point of being like that all the time? He's telling you: you aren't going anywhere.

You taught your parrot to stutter Now you repeat his old chatter But it is the way you name your ship That's the way it's going to row Oh It's the way you name your ship That's the way it's going to row

You convinced yourself that your life is so bad, that now you keep repeating that and you can't change that thought. But, it's how you name your own life how it's going to be. If you decide that you'll seek for happiness, that's where your life is going to go. But if you keep saying "my life is awful", yeah, it probably will be. I think he uses the ship as a metaphore of people's life.

Now in the beginning there was a word In the end there is no end People don't live or die People just fade in and out of the fog We come to comprehend

Here the song seems a little more spiritual, he's just talking about how when you die, you don't just disappear, some part of you is still there somewhere.

And now all alone with your crooked grin How you plan staying afloat Even the boatsman grab Bible And split from the boat

How can you stay afloat if you keep living like that? You have to change, even the boatsman split from the boat. That would mean something like, even if your whole life went that way and that's who you are, sometimes you just have to change. In my opinion the Bible verse doesn't have to be about religion, as the boatsman grabs Bible and changes his path, you can grab something else and change your path. I'm myself an atheist but I still find this one of the most inspiring phrases ever.

The rest is the same. Keep repeating bad things to yourself and you'll believe them, and they will make you a slave of your own thoughts,

You know
It's time for a change
But how
And where do you start?
When bitching
And moaning
And frowning
And groaning
And loathing
And throwing
Has torn you apart