Actually, I think this is a song about dying: one of a short list of things good songs are allowed to be about. It is a song by a young man who is self conscious enough to be thinking about dying, and what it means, and also what being alive means.
We die alone, yet not really alone. and we live that way too. There's a party in our heads, which we can never leave, never truly witness or experience the end of. "Other people can go home...everyone else will split", as perhaps will we, too - into all the bits and pieces bouncing around together that we called ourselves. But like so many of the phenomena of consciousness, that probably looks very different on the inside than on the out. There are many uncertainties involved in the final Unknown, and some of the possibilities may be fearful, and not just the melodramatic ones. Fear of disappointment with the emptiness and aloneness that we may hope doesn't await us at or near the closing parenthesis might be enough to make many millions of people unconsciously wish for fire and brimstone as more interesting alternatives.
In the end, though, although we may lose the memories that make up our selves as we know them, whether there is a "true" end or not, we as we know ourselves may not be there to witness it, which is practically the same thing as eternity, the same eternity available to the living, as well, in every moment, for those who look for it tenaciously.
never occurred to me before, but it's a great interpretation. to "take a walk through the land of shadows" is reminiscent of various traditions of the underworld. (for some odd reason the Land of the Dead from the His Dark Materials series comes to mind. perhaps because its cold gray landscape matches the tone of the words and the music.)
never occurred to me before, but it's a great interpretation. to "take a walk through the land of shadows" is reminiscent of various traditions of the underworld. (for some odd reason the Land of the Dead from the His Dark Materials series comes to mind. perhaps because its cold gray landscape matches the tone of the words and the music.)
"Is isn't what you hoped for, is it?" I've often had this thought, at less-than-stellar shows where the discomfort of being in a crowded club for seemingly endless hours is not sufficiently compensated by the desired peak experience...
"Is isn't what you hoped for, is it?" I've often had this thought, at less-than-stellar shows where the discomfort of being in a crowded club for seemingly endless hours is not sufficiently compensated by the desired peak experience of an exciting performance. but in general--despite the everyday (even vapid) language of this line--it's a sentiment which feels a bit overwrought to be simply a comment on a lackluster party. something more existential lurks under the surface.
only just now clicked on something which allowed me to look ahead a bit, and of course my eyes were immediately drawn to the reference to Sartre's Nausea. now my use of the word "existential" is going to seem not only pretentious but also derivative. well, I can be philosophical about it. (I keep digging the hole deeper and deeper...)
if David had intended the song to reverberate with these sorts of life-and-death themes, then it has an oddly solipsistic quality. I'm reminded of the title track from the Colossal Youth LP by Young Marble Giants, when Alison sings "the world is your head." this may be related to my having discovered both bands during my college years; given the musical selections you can imagine how ancient I must be, by now.
Actually, I think this is a song about dying: one of a short list of things good songs are allowed to be about. It is a song by a young man who is self conscious enough to be thinking about dying, and what it means, and also what being alive means.
We die alone, yet not really alone. and we live that way too. There's a party in our heads, which we can never leave, never truly witness or experience the end of. "Other people can go home...everyone else will split", as perhaps will we, too - into all the bits and pieces bouncing around together that we called ourselves. But like so many of the phenomena of consciousness, that probably looks very different on the inside than on the out. There are many uncertainties involved in the final Unknown, and some of the possibilities may be fearful, and not just the melodramatic ones. Fear of disappointment with the emptiness and aloneness that we may hope doesn't await us at or near the closing parenthesis might be enough to make many millions of people unconsciously wish for fire and brimstone as more interesting alternatives.
In the end, though, although we may lose the memories that make up our selves as we know them, whether there is a "true" end or not, we as we know ourselves may not be there to witness it, which is practically the same thing as eternity, the same eternity available to the living, as well, in every moment, for those who look for it tenaciously.
never occurred to me before, but it's a great interpretation. to "take a walk through the land of shadows" is reminiscent of various traditions of the underworld. (for some odd reason the Land of the Dead from the His Dark Materials series comes to mind. perhaps because its cold gray landscape matches the tone of the words and the music.)
never occurred to me before, but it's a great interpretation. to "take a walk through the land of shadows" is reminiscent of various traditions of the underworld. (for some odd reason the Land of the Dead from the His Dark Materials series comes to mind. perhaps because its cold gray landscape matches the tone of the words and the music.)
"Is isn't what you hoped for, is it?" I've often had this thought, at less-than-stellar shows where the discomfort of being in a crowded club for seemingly endless hours is not sufficiently compensated by the desired peak experience...
"Is isn't what you hoped for, is it?" I've often had this thought, at less-than-stellar shows where the discomfort of being in a crowded club for seemingly endless hours is not sufficiently compensated by the desired peak experience of an exciting performance. but in general--despite the everyday (even vapid) language of this line--it's a sentiment which feels a bit overwrought to be simply a comment on a lackluster party. something more existential lurks under the surface.
only just now clicked on something which allowed me to look ahead a bit, and of course my eyes were immediately drawn to the reference to Sartre's Nausea. now my use of the word "existential" is going to seem not only pretentious but also derivative. well, I can be philosophical about it. (I keep digging the hole deeper and deeper...)
if David had intended the song to reverberate with these sorts of life-and-death themes, then it has an oddly solipsistic quality. I'm reminded of the title track from the Colossal Youth LP by Young Marble Giants, when Alison sings "the world is your head." this may be related to my having discovered both bands during my college years; given the musical selections you can imagine how ancient I must be, by now.