This is straight from Greg's mouth, from the Q&A session at the reception for his lifetime achievement award from the Harvard Humanist Chaplaincy in 2008.(- marks are where he interrupted a thought with another one)
Questioner: Tonight you played Cease ... I just wanted to have some insight into that song. What personal experiences helped inspire the lyrics?
Greg: It wasn't an inspiration, really. ... I started writing the first verse- The first verse talks about blacktop spreading endlessly, like a chemical reaction. And that was because, it's really, umm, boring, that I'm going to reveal this to you. But that's just because they were cutting down a lot of trees in our neighborhood and expanding this housing development and we have this beautiful pristine forest in the back of our property that is labeled for destruction. At the time that title came out, they decided to expand the neighborhood. And that's what got me- so the first verse talks about destruction and the end of eco systems basically. And then I thought, 'Let's build on this, what are other things that cease?' And the second verse is about social movements that have come and gone. And then the third verse is about family and interpersonal relationships, and it just so happens that was at a time when I was getting a divorce.
This is straight from Greg's mouth, from the Q&A session at the reception for his lifetime achievement award from the Harvard Humanist Chaplaincy in 2008.(- marks are where he interrupted a thought with another one)
Questioner: Tonight you played Cease ... I just wanted to have some insight into that song. What personal experiences helped inspire the lyrics?
Greg: It wasn't an inspiration, really. ... I started writing the first verse- The first verse talks about blacktop spreading endlessly, like a chemical reaction. And that was because, it's really, umm, boring, that I'm going to reveal this to you. But that's just because they were cutting down a lot of trees in our neighborhood and expanding this housing development and we have this beautiful pristine forest in the back of our property that is labeled for destruction. At the time that title came out, they decided to expand the neighborhood. And that's what got me- so the first verse talks about destruction and the end of eco systems basically. And then I thought, 'Let's build on this, what are other things that cease?' And the second verse is about social movements that have come and gone. And then the third verse is about family and interpersonal relationships, and it just so happens that was at a time when I was getting a divorce.
I guess it's not about religion. That everlasting peace bit almost had me convinced. lol
I guess it's not about religion. That everlasting peace bit almost had me convinced. lol