The science is the relationship.
The silo is Eden.
The bomb/the button is the apple.
The apocalypse is sin.
*Please don't read this if you will be offended by my agnostic viewpoint.
BIBLICAL ANALOGY:
This is a biblical analogy but it has been twisted so its implications and ramifications are backwards (I imagine purposely so). In the original biblical story of Adam and Eve, the apple signified sin but it also signified knowledge. If Adam and Eve gave in to temptation and ate the apple of knowledge they would be expelled from Eden to live and die as mortals. If they left the apple of knowledge alone they could've stayed in Eden for eternity. In choosing to eat the apple they were expelled.
In Ritter's analogy it is Adam and Marie's desire to remain in Eden that is dangerous. They realize that if they eat the apple (explode the nuke) they will be free to remain in Eden (the silo) indefinitely. Unlike in Genesis where their expulsion from Eden is the damning moment, in Ritter's song their decision to remain eternally in Eden (the silo) would be the damning moment - not just for them but for all mankind. In making this suggestion Ritter is saying that knowledge must by necessity be the ultimate pursuit, even if it sentences us to loss and hardship. We must surface. If Men accept their own ignorance out of fear then we are a self-damning race. We may as well be 'pushing the button' on ourselves.
SCIENTIFIC ANALOGY:
Biblical analogy then merges with scientific analogy. In the bible the apple was infused with knowledge and if Adam and eve ate the apple they would also be infused with its knowledge. Genesis effectively treated 'apple' and 'sin' and 'knowledge' as one thing. Ritter doesn't do this. He recognizes that biting the apple (detonating the bomb) would be 'sinful' but that it would also be ignorant. It would grant no knowledge; rather, it would obliterate knowledge. This intelligent understanding is what Ritter's character Marie understands and tries to explain to Adam: "We already have the knowledge of the apple, Adam" she is trying to tell him. "We already know all about it. We don't need to sin (detonate the bomb) to be given its knowledge, because we already know."
Chiefly, Adam thinks the bomb (apple) offers Marie and him the chance to remain eternally in the shelter of their love (the silo/Eden). This is why, when Marie talks to him of science - the science of nuclear warheads - she is also speaking metaphorically about the miracle of love. She is trying to help them both to understand that the apple (explosion and resultant apocalypse) doesn't contain anything for them that they both don't already have - they just can't understand exactly what they have yet. The science they know and the love they feel is beyond their comprehension. Marie, though, goes a long way to understanding both when she tells Adam of her "flash of inspiration":
"fusion was the broken heart that's lonely's only thought
and all night long you drove me wild with your equations"
In layman's terms, Fusion is what makes nuclear reactions so devastating: If, on an elemental level, an atom is disrupted it can cause a chain reaction of disruption in all the particles surrounding it. Thus, a very big explosion. This reaction happens because an incomplete atom must seek to find completion, or to do something with itself. It will try to bond with or disrupt other atoms.
Fusion can also be a metaphor for love: a single atom (single person) with a broken 'heart' is desperately lonely. So lonely that it will do anything to bond with another atom (person). It will thoughtlessly do anything - including, say, destroy the encroaching world in order to fully possess one other atom (person).
SEXUAL ANALOGY:
As though the depth Ritter has woven into his song weren't enough, he brilliantly includes sexual connotations as well. As J.R. said above, the missile can be seen as phallus and the silo as womb. Parting from this analogy slightly, I would argue that Ritter intended to draw vague parallels between clitoris and 'the button'. Adam is tempted by Marie and because he desires her he is also tempted to detonate the bomb, thus: "I think about that big red button and I’m tempted" can be seen sexually or literally.
@mayhit Thank you for your in-depth and well written comment. Exactly what I was hoping to find when I came to the site. You've increased my enjoyment of the song by pointing out it's many layers of meaning. Champion :)
@mayhit Thank you for your in-depth and well written comment. Exactly what I was hoping to find when I came to the site. You've increased my enjoyment of the song by pointing out it's many layers of meaning. Champion :)
@mayhit this is an amazing interpretation. Thank u for posting it. I only discovered this song a couple of weeks ago and have been swimming in its depth ever since. Once in a while I come across a song that is masterful musically and lyrically and this is one.
@mayhit this is an amazing interpretation. Thank u for posting it. I only discovered this song a couple of weeks ago and have been swimming in its depth ever since. Once in a while I come across a song that is masterful musically and lyrically and this is one.
The science is the relationship. The silo is Eden. The bomb/the button is the apple. The apocalypse is sin.
*Please don't read this if you will be offended by my agnostic viewpoint.
BIBLICAL ANALOGY:
This is a biblical analogy but it has been twisted so its implications and ramifications are backwards (I imagine purposely so). In the original biblical story of Adam and Eve, the apple signified sin but it also signified knowledge. If Adam and Eve gave in to temptation and ate the apple of knowledge they would be expelled from Eden to live and die as mortals. If they left the apple of knowledge alone they could've stayed in Eden for eternity. In choosing to eat the apple they were expelled.
In Ritter's analogy it is Adam and Marie's desire to remain in Eden that is dangerous. They realize that if they eat the apple (explode the nuke) they will be free to remain in Eden (the silo) indefinitely. Unlike in Genesis where their expulsion from Eden is the damning moment, in Ritter's song their decision to remain eternally in Eden (the silo) would be the damning moment - not just for them but for all mankind. In making this suggestion Ritter is saying that knowledge must by necessity be the ultimate pursuit, even if it sentences us to loss and hardship. We must surface. If Men accept their own ignorance out of fear then we are a self-damning race. We may as well be 'pushing the button' on ourselves.
SCIENTIFIC ANALOGY:
Biblical analogy then merges with scientific analogy. In the bible the apple was infused with knowledge and if Adam and eve ate the apple they would also be infused with its knowledge. Genesis effectively treated 'apple' and 'sin' and 'knowledge' as one thing. Ritter doesn't do this. He recognizes that biting the apple (detonating the bomb) would be 'sinful' but that it would also be ignorant. It would grant no knowledge; rather, it would obliterate knowledge. This intelligent understanding is what Ritter's character Marie understands and tries to explain to Adam: "We already have the knowledge of the apple, Adam" she is trying to tell him. "We already know all about it. We don't need to sin (detonate the bomb) to be given its knowledge, because we already know."
Chiefly, Adam thinks the bomb (apple) offers Marie and him the chance to remain eternally in the shelter of their love (the silo/Eden). This is why, when Marie talks to him of science - the science of nuclear warheads - she is also speaking metaphorically about the miracle of love. She is trying to help them both to understand that the apple (explosion and resultant apocalypse) doesn't contain anything for them that they both don't already have - they just can't understand exactly what they have yet. The science they know and the love they feel is beyond their comprehension. Marie, though, goes a long way to understanding both when she tells Adam of her "flash of inspiration":
"fusion was the broken heart that's lonely's only thought and all night long you drove me wild with your equations"
In layman's terms, Fusion is what makes nuclear reactions so devastating: If, on an elemental level, an atom is disrupted it can cause a chain reaction of disruption in all the particles surrounding it. Thus, a very big explosion. This reaction happens because an incomplete atom must seek to find completion, or to do something with itself. It will try to bond with or disrupt other atoms.
Fusion can also be a metaphor for love: a single atom (single person) with a broken 'heart' is desperately lonely. So lonely that it will do anything to bond with another atom (person). It will thoughtlessly do anything - including, say, destroy the encroaching world in order to fully possess one other atom (person).
SEXUAL ANALOGY:
As though the depth Ritter has woven into his song weren't enough, he brilliantly includes sexual connotations as well. As J.R. said above, the missile can be seen as phallus and the silo as womb. Parting from this analogy slightly, I would argue that Ritter intended to draw vague parallels between clitoris and 'the button'. Adam is tempted by Marie and because he desires her he is also tempted to detonate the bomb, thus: "I think about that big red button and I’m tempted" can be seen sexually or literally.
@mayhit Thank you for your in-depth and well written comment. Exactly what I was hoping to find when I came to the site. You've increased my enjoyment of the song by pointing out it's many layers of meaning. Champion :)
@mayhit Thank you for your in-depth and well written comment. Exactly what I was hoping to find when I came to the site. You've increased my enjoyment of the song by pointing out it's many layers of meaning. Champion :)
@mayhit this is an amazing interpretation. Thank u for posting it. I only discovered this song a couple of weeks ago and have been swimming in its depth ever since. Once in a while I come across a song that is masterful musically and lyrically and this is one.
@mayhit this is an amazing interpretation. Thank u for posting it. I only discovered this song a couple of weeks ago and have been swimming in its depth ever since. Once in a while I come across a song that is masterful musically and lyrically and this is one.