I think it is an over simplification to put a religious interpretation to this song. I see this as an atheistic or secular song which would be more in keeping with the themes of previous songs and lyrics.
This song takes the idea of questioning god about life or asking for help or a way out and turns it towards the godless scientific universe. The lyrics are full of the imagery of the pointlessness of questioning the universe. Nature is neither good or bad but indifferent.
It is an affirmation of atheism but its shows what someone may feel when faced with pain in life in the absence of a god figure.
It challenges religious ideas like the idea that after death a conscious being can enter a state of nothingness instead of going onto another plain where consciousness carries on.
Instead of questioning god he questions our animal instincts, evolution, physics, the universe etc, because that is what an enlightened person would question. The feeling of knowing how pointless it is to ask such questions is an undercurrent to the whole song.
"There's a hole in the floor
As black as my momma's womb
Those were the days"
I think this is meant to show that we are capable of experiencing periods of nothingness such as in the womb and that the same nothingness is what awaits after death. He sees that as a solution and an escape.
"We're the salt of the earth
From a cell of the surf,"
We are the intelligent creatures that people have tried to explain through religion but we were not placed here or created but rather we evolved from lesser life forms to reach this strange state where we can question our own pain.
"I can't stop thinking of the time
I was swallowed in the brine
Won't you let me up?"
This is a longing for the days when as animals we had no concpet of self consciousness, and I think it raises he idea of how strange it is that evolution had propelled us to a position where we can ask such deep and complicated questions about ourselves.
"Mama, the planet is a placenta
Pull the plug
Let the heavens rise above
Won't you let me up?"
The planet fuels evolution and feeds our development into beings capable of looking at our own pain and suffering. He wants to be cut off from the source of what created his conscious mind.
"I can't stop dreaming of the day
I get swallowed into space
Let me up"
When we die the atoms that make up our bodies will be spread and scattered across the universe.
So many song that deal with these themes, such as depression or questioning life, invoke god. This song looks at the same idea from the point of view of someone for who dosent consider god in any way.
He asks to be let up so many times because there in nothing to answer him. The implication is that he also knows that he will never be answered.
I think it is an over simplification to put a religious interpretation to this song. I see this as an atheistic or secular song which would be more in keeping with the themes of previous songs and lyrics. This song takes the idea of questioning god about life or asking for help or a way out and turns it towards the godless scientific universe. The lyrics are full of the imagery of the pointlessness of questioning the universe. Nature is neither good or bad but indifferent. It is an affirmation of atheism but its shows what someone may feel when faced with pain in life in the absence of a god figure. It challenges religious ideas like the idea that after death a conscious being can enter a state of nothingness instead of going onto another plain where consciousness carries on. Instead of questioning god he questions our animal instincts, evolution, physics, the universe etc, because that is what an enlightened person would question. The feeling of knowing how pointless it is to ask such questions is an undercurrent to the whole song.
"There's a hole in the floor As black as my momma's womb Those were the days" I think this is meant to show that we are capable of experiencing periods of nothingness such as in the womb and that the same nothingness is what awaits after death. He sees that as a solution and an escape.
"We're the salt of the earth From a cell of the surf," We are the intelligent creatures that people have tried to explain through religion but we were not placed here or created but rather we evolved from lesser life forms to reach this strange state where we can question our own pain.
"I can't stop thinking of the time I was swallowed in the brine Won't you let me up?" This is a longing for the days when as animals we had no concpet of self consciousness, and I think it raises he idea of how strange it is that evolution had propelled us to a position where we can ask such deep and complicated questions about ourselves.
"Mama, the planet is a placenta Pull the plug Let the heavens rise above Won't you let me up?" The planet fuels evolution and feeds our development into beings capable of looking at our own pain and suffering. He wants to be cut off from the source of what created his conscious mind.
"I can't stop dreaming of the day I get swallowed into space Let me up" When we die the atoms that make up our bodies will be spread and scattered across the universe.
So many song that deal with these themes, such as depression or questioning life, invoke god. This song looks at the same idea from the point of view of someone for who dosent consider god in any way. He asks to be let up so many times because there in nothing to answer him. The implication is that he also knows that he will never be answered.