This song invokes feelings of restlessness, existential longing, and ennui–feelings that seem ubiquitous to living in a post-modern world. The individual described in the song seems to be stuck in a moratorium as he or she resorts to numerous distractions (i.e., TV, popular culture, psychoactive substances) to dull a sense of discomfort that is both palpable and obscure. His or her life is mundane and devoid of meaning. Moreover, the person lacks a clear sense of identity (i.e., an integrated sense of self, values, and direction in life) and subsequently feels listless, confused, and resorts to actively clinging to ephemeral things. However, instead of this being a personal failure, the song seems to point the finger at the environment in which the person lives. The culprit is the destruction of traditional, direct, and perhaps spiritually fulfilling ways of existing (i.e., Indian graves) to pave the way for modernity and empty consumerism. That far off feeling is existential angst. That up-close ache is mundane dysphoria. The wide-screen reason to look the other way describes our tendency to distract ourselves with contemporary palliatives instead of finding something more fulfilling–-whatever it may be.
This song invokes feelings of restlessness, existential longing, and ennui–feelings that seem ubiquitous to living in a post-modern world. The individual described in the song seems to be stuck in a moratorium as he or she resorts to numerous distractions (i.e., TV, popular culture, psychoactive substances) to dull a sense of discomfort that is both palpable and obscure. His or her life is mundane and devoid of meaning. Moreover, the person lacks a clear sense of identity (i.e., an integrated sense of self, values, and direction in life) and subsequently feels listless, confused, and resorts to actively clinging to ephemeral things. However, instead of this being a personal failure, the song seems to point the finger at the environment in which the person lives. The culprit is the destruction of traditional, direct, and perhaps spiritually fulfilling ways of existing (i.e., Indian graves) to pave the way for modernity and empty consumerism. That far off feeling is existential angst. That up-close ache is mundane dysphoria. The wide-screen reason to look the other way describes our tendency to distract ourselves with contemporary palliatives instead of finding something more fulfilling–-whatever it may be.
Kinda verbose, but I think you hit the nail on the head.
Kinda verbose, but I think you hit the nail on the head.