My interpretation of this song is personal and philosophical, and most likely not what Gener had in mind writing it, but here goes:
The Buddhist idea of enlightenment is about severing one's attachment to the material world of senses and objects. I hear this song as a response to that, celebrating the fact that it is precisely those attachments that bring meaning and pleasure to life. While the eventual goal is the end of suffering, along the way, suffering is inextricably linked to all our experiences.
How is that in the song? Check it out:
We're talking about an idea that originated in South Asia - "Like seeking wonder from a foreign place".
...but it's accessible to any sentient being - "It matters not from where I'm coming".
The destination, enlightenment, is in some sense inevitable - "A thread already spun".
However, the journey of being reborn over and over again - "Please believe I'm only traveling"
...and learning lessons along the way, has to actually happen - "What you are is cooked until it's done".
Our goal is to find and eliminate our worldly attachments - "Left to locate the last trace of waste".
But, that attachment also brings meaning and pleasure - "Picked it up and it was smiling".
There's an acknowledgment that the pleasure is always coupled with pain - "Like a dancer who has lost her legs / She laughs alone but then she's crying".
The line "We sleep to tight when we're breathing" has a double-meaning. The reference to breathing addresses the practice of meditation and focusing on one's breath, as the dynamic interface between self and not-self. Also, breathing implies living in this world, which implies suffering, but nevertheless we love it in an innocent, child-like way: we "sleep so tight".
The chorus sounds like the vow of a Bodhisattva: To remain in this world - "let me fly back to Basom" - postponing enlightenment and freedom - "calm the light", don't yet pass into the light - in order to help all sentient beings reach the goal.
Basom itself, though it may be a town in New York, sounds like a earthy, worldly place, made of "base" elements. It's not a place of enlightenment, but rather the "base" from which we travel.
Like I said, this is just my own interpretation, and what the song means to me. The brothers Ween are amazing musicians and writers, and their songs must speak to many people in a million different ways.
I always saw this song as a tie to the inevitability of "finding enlightenment" when playing with psychedelics.
I always saw this song as a tie to the inevitability of "finding enlightenment" when playing with psychedelics.
This and "Exactly Where I'm At" both give me the feel of somebody going through some pretty heavy self-realizations due to acid, psilocybin or whatever psychedelic is used (matters not from where I'm coming - I see this, too, as not just in regards to which drug, but what method [spiritual, playful, what have you]).
This and "Exactly Where I'm At" both give me the feel of somebody going through some pretty heavy self-realizations due to acid, psilocybin or whatever psychedelic is used (matters not from where I'm coming - I see this, too, as not just in regards to which drug, but what method [spiritual, playful, what have you]).
The thing I took from the sleep so tight line, though, was that we sleep so tight - lose awareness gained through the...
The thing I took from the sleep so tight line, though, was that we sleep so tight - lose awareness gained through the experience - when we're breathing - "living in this world".
To me it's as though he's wanting to go back to that perfect experience where he saw that truth for what it was.
Just my two cents. Ain't worth two pennies, I know, but I'll take what I can.
My interpretation of this song is personal and philosophical, and most likely not what Gener had in mind writing it, but here goes:
The Buddhist idea of enlightenment is about severing one's attachment to the material world of senses and objects. I hear this song as a response to that, celebrating the fact that it is precisely those attachments that bring meaning and pleasure to life. While the eventual goal is the end of suffering, along the way, suffering is inextricably linked to all our experiences.
How is that in the song? Check it out:
We're talking about an idea that originated in South Asia - "Like seeking wonder from a foreign place".
...but it's accessible to any sentient being - "It matters not from where I'm coming".
The destination, enlightenment, is in some sense inevitable - "A thread already spun".
However, the journey of being reborn over and over again - "Please believe I'm only traveling"
...and learning lessons along the way, has to actually happen - "What you are is cooked until it's done".
Our goal is to find and eliminate our worldly attachments - "Left to locate the last trace of waste".
But, that attachment also brings meaning and pleasure - "Picked it up and it was smiling".
There's an acknowledgment that the pleasure is always coupled with pain - "Like a dancer who has lost her legs / She laughs alone but then she's crying".
The line "We sleep to tight when we're breathing" has a double-meaning. The reference to breathing addresses the practice of meditation and focusing on one's breath, as the dynamic interface between self and not-self. Also, breathing implies living in this world, which implies suffering, but nevertheless we love it in an innocent, child-like way: we "sleep so tight".
The chorus sounds like the vow of a Bodhisattva: To remain in this world - "let me fly back to Basom" - postponing enlightenment and freedom - "calm the light", don't yet pass into the light - in order to help all sentient beings reach the goal.
Basom itself, though it may be a town in New York, sounds like a earthy, worldly place, made of "base" elements. It's not a place of enlightenment, but rather the "base" from which we travel.
Like I said, this is just my own interpretation, and what the song means to me. The brothers Ween are amazing musicians and writers, and their songs must speak to many people in a million different ways.
Hail Boognish, yo.
I always saw this song as a tie to the inevitability of "finding enlightenment" when playing with psychedelics.
I always saw this song as a tie to the inevitability of "finding enlightenment" when playing with psychedelics.
This and "Exactly Where I'm At" both give me the feel of somebody going through some pretty heavy self-realizations due to acid, psilocybin or whatever psychedelic is used (matters not from where I'm coming - I see this, too, as not just in regards to which drug, but what method [spiritual, playful, what have you]).
This and "Exactly Where I'm At" both give me the feel of somebody going through some pretty heavy self-realizations due to acid, psilocybin or whatever psychedelic is used (matters not from where I'm coming - I see this, too, as not just in regards to which drug, but what method [spiritual, playful, what have you]).
The thing I took from the sleep so tight line, though, was that we sleep so tight - lose awareness gained through the...
The thing I took from the sleep so tight line, though, was that we sleep so tight - lose awareness gained through the experience - when we're breathing - "living in this world".
To me it's as though he's wanting to go back to that perfect experience where he saw that truth for what it was.
Just my two cents. Ain't worth two pennies, I know, but I'll take what I can.