Shameful Metaphors Lyrics

Lyric discussion by Throwdown1 

Cover art for Shameful Metaphors lyrics by Chevelle

IMHO,

This song is about how people live their lives by a set of "metaphors/principles/lessons"..as if they are certain, when they consistently prove not to be... over-and-over...

"Said out loud and said again"

How we tend to want to teach other our principles/lessons... and we tend to want to teach them over and over again.

"Just a longer list of uncertain law"

The older you get, the longer your list of lessons/principles you come to live by -- but none of them are full-proof.

"This sacred chase...Brought down to the child....No better man could fail the way"

We pride ourselves on teaching our children the same uncertain lesson/principles that guided us... When they are just as uncertain to work for our children.

The chorus to me is the key... And probably the most interesting part of lateral thinking in the song.

"So why then has all my life made no sound. And are your eyes closing even though. My life made no sound. I fear your eyes closing."

As meaningful and "loud" as people's metaphors/beliefs/principles are to them -- the level of "sound" doesn't necessarily translate into the value of their life. In the grand scheme of things, their life may have the same meaning/purpose with our without these "shameful metaphors".

So your saying that these invincible guide lines people come to develop over time and through trial are actually obselete because they can be proven wrong at any time? Then what will they have to tell themselves. Nothing, Because these little ideas that they used as pick-me-ups at times aren't perfectly fitting and sometimes fail at explaining what they once always explained? ???

@Connorh33: he never said that ALL of the metaphors/principles people live by are wrong or meaningless. but if you look at the current state of our society, it's easy to understand why this song seems so critical of many of them.

It's very Nietzsche-esque of them to write this the way they did; they lash out against values in which they see no intrinsic worth in a manner that is as poetic and eloquent as they can be. i applaud them, despite some awkward wording here and there.

I applaud you. This was making no sense to me at all. Your interpretation makes a lot of sense.

@ Connor, I think more what it means is that the more people seem to 'say' that they understand a life lesson via clichéd metaphors, the less they seem to understand it. I find this to be true in my experiences, that people will latch on to a metaphor that is used, without really knowing what it truly means. Cliches do become poignant for a reason- that people who go through similar life lessons could relate. But many people seem to...