One of the big themes in this song is death. The ladder he is a metaphor for death. No one knows what happens after death, but you can be certain that you're gonna die. I feel like he mentions that "you're not alone in anything" in reference to someone who is thinking about death and is depressed. I agree with the last poster, it sounds as if he is saying that Buddha and Jesus can do their thing, he isn't paying attention to them. He would rather read science fiction.
That first chorus seems to imply that all of this talk of death is dealing with suicide. Ups and downs and twisted minds are all things that go back to depression and other things dealing with a mind that is confused.
The second verse is a bit more abstract, but I feel it has an air of betrayal. This could also go with the talk of traitors at the end of the first chorus. A charlatan was somebody who deceived people for money. When he says "be the first to know...", I think he means that if he dies, he'll be the first to know what is up the ladder, what happens after death. I don't know much about mantras but I believe that they have to do with prayer and meditation, an object of focus that can help one attain their spiritual goal. So possibly this is the person trying to work things out, get on the right track.
Here's where the song gets a bit confusing. He says he knows now...Possibly he meditated with the mantra and found some deep answer? Perhaps he finds out that what he really enjoys is music? He meditated and figured something out and then talks about a concert? I feel like the new age could be that thing that he figures out is what he is living for. He is going to embrace it and go all out (warrior paint). He opens his eyes and his mind and he appreciates life and sees it differently. A star is born may represent new hope, new life. He is emotional, and he wants to share it with someone that he finds precious, possibly somebody that he now embraces.
That last little bit seems like a reassuring statement. Perhaps he has decided to stick with the world, and he is asking himself when it will be done now that he is not going to end his own life. The world is a hallucination, it's a confusing place to live in sometimes, and it's hard to make sense of certain things at times. My favorite line of the song: "You're not along in anything, you're not alone in trying to be." That's chilling. That's what I would want to hear when I'm upset, depressed, etc. You're not alone, even when you feel alone, because there are others like you who are alone (I actually used a similar line in one of my songs so I really relate). I said "You're not as lonely as you feel that you may be, you see there's others just like you, who have a hard time dealing with their lives."
Beautiful song, let me know if you agree/disagree with anything I said. I interpreted it this way and I want other peoples' insight to help me understand it better.
Maelglon, I really like your interpretation, and when I first heard the song I also saw the references to death and religion. The opening lines tell me that this song is written to someone, and I was curious to know who the "you" in the song was referring to. Well, today I read this article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703445904576118061297486514.html?mod=rss_Arts_and_Entertainment Which says that the "Omaha community lost an old friend to suicide. Stricken, he [Conor] wrote "The Ladder Song" in two days.
Maelglon, I really like your interpretation, and when I first heard the song I also saw the references to death and religion. The opening lines tell me that this song is written to someone, and I was curious to know who the "you" in the song was referring to. Well, today I read this article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703445904576118061297486514.html?mod=rss_Arts_and_Entertainment Which says that the "Omaha community lost an old friend to suicide. Stricken, he [Conor] wrote "The Ladder Song" in two days.
So, Maelglon, you were spot on...
So, Maelglon, you were spot on when you saw the suicide reference in the first chorus. I think the person Conor is speaking to in the song is the friend who committed suicide, who he calls "precious friend of mine" at the end of the song. He is also offering his own ideas about suicide and religion, as was previously mentioned in the lines "Fall asleep reading science fiction; I wanna fly in your silver ship,; Let Jesus hand and Buddha sit"
"If I gotta go first
I'll do it on my terms
I'm tired of traitors
Always changing sides
They were friends of mine"
This could be Conor talking about his own death when he says if he has to go he'll do it on his own terms. I wonder if the "traitors" "changing sides" are references to friends of his who have committed suicide? I'm not sure.
"Don't hang around once the promise breaks
Or you'll be there when the next one's made"
^Here he could be referencing the false promises of religion
I love the line "Will I know when it's finally done? This whole life is a hallucination"
He is expressing is view of death: when we die are we aware it is over? His whole life being a "hallucination" could be a drug reference, or maybe he just means it has gone by so fast that and he doesn't know when the end will come.
I absolutely love this song, its complex lyrics and single keyboard sound brings me back to the roots of Bright Eyes. I'd love to hear more interpretations of this song, there is a lot of stuff that I don't understand
Lots of references to after death and religion are seen through out this album and this song. I see how that can fit in with his friend's own suicide, for this song.
I don't know if anyone else noticed but, in Coat Check Dream Song he says, "stuck on the ladder to heaven". Which is another reference to religion, death, after death, and ladder. As well as, the beginning of this song he says, "no one knows where the ladder goes"- suggesting we all have our own theories (or we're completely confused and don't know what to believe) for what happens...
Lots of references to after death and religion are seen through out this album and this song. I see how that can fit in with his friend's own suicide, for this song.
I don't know if anyone else noticed but, in Coat Check Dream Song he says, "stuck on the ladder to heaven". Which is another reference to religion, death, after death, and ladder. As well as, the beginning of this song he says, "no one knows where the ladder goes"- suggesting we all have our own theories (or we're completely confused and don't know what to believe) for what happens after death. That's what I got from it.
One of the big themes in this song is death. The ladder he is a metaphor for death. No one knows what happens after death, but you can be certain that you're gonna die. I feel like he mentions that "you're not alone in anything" in reference to someone who is thinking about death and is depressed. I agree with the last poster, it sounds as if he is saying that Buddha and Jesus can do their thing, he isn't paying attention to them. He would rather read science fiction.
That first chorus seems to imply that all of this talk of death is dealing with suicide. Ups and downs and twisted minds are all things that go back to depression and other things dealing with a mind that is confused.
The second verse is a bit more abstract, but I feel it has an air of betrayal. This could also go with the talk of traitors at the end of the first chorus. A charlatan was somebody who deceived people for money. When he says "be the first to know...", I think he means that if he dies, he'll be the first to know what is up the ladder, what happens after death. I don't know much about mantras but I believe that they have to do with prayer and meditation, an object of focus that can help one attain their spiritual goal. So possibly this is the person trying to work things out, get on the right track.
Here's where the song gets a bit confusing. He says he knows now...Possibly he meditated with the mantra and found some deep answer? Perhaps he finds out that what he really enjoys is music? He meditated and figured something out and then talks about a concert? I feel like the new age could be that thing that he figures out is what he is living for. He is going to embrace it and go all out (warrior paint). He opens his eyes and his mind and he appreciates life and sees it differently. A star is born may represent new hope, new life. He is emotional, and he wants to share it with someone that he finds precious, possibly somebody that he now embraces.
That last little bit seems like a reassuring statement. Perhaps he has decided to stick with the world, and he is asking himself when it will be done now that he is not going to end his own life. The world is a hallucination, it's a confusing place to live in sometimes, and it's hard to make sense of certain things at times. My favorite line of the song: "You're not along in anything, you're not alone in trying to be." That's chilling. That's what I would want to hear when I'm upset, depressed, etc. You're not alone, even when you feel alone, because there are others like you who are alone (I actually used a similar line in one of my songs so I really relate). I said "You're not as lonely as you feel that you may be, you see there's others just like you, who have a hard time dealing with their lives."
Beautiful song, let me know if you agree/disagree with anything I said. I interpreted it this way and I want other peoples' insight to help me understand it better.
Maelglon, I really like your interpretation, and when I first heard the song I also saw the references to death and religion. The opening lines tell me that this song is written to someone, and I was curious to know who the "you" in the song was referring to. Well, today I read this article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703445904576118061297486514.html?mod=rss_Arts_and_Entertainment Which says that the "Omaha community lost an old friend to suicide. Stricken, he [Conor] wrote "The Ladder Song" in two days.
Maelglon, I really like your interpretation, and when I first heard the song I also saw the references to death and religion. The opening lines tell me that this song is written to someone, and I was curious to know who the "you" in the song was referring to. Well, today I read this article: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703445904576118061297486514.html?mod=rss_Arts_and_Entertainment Which says that the "Omaha community lost an old friend to suicide. Stricken, he [Conor] wrote "The Ladder Song" in two days.
So, Maelglon, you were spot on...
So, Maelglon, you were spot on when you saw the suicide reference in the first chorus. I think the person Conor is speaking to in the song is the friend who committed suicide, who he calls "precious friend of mine" at the end of the song. He is also offering his own ideas about suicide and religion, as was previously mentioned in the lines "Fall asleep reading science fiction; I wanna fly in your silver ship,; Let Jesus hand and Buddha sit"
"If I gotta go first I'll do it on my terms I'm tired of traitors Always changing sides They were friends of mine"
This could be Conor talking about his own death when he says if he has to go he'll do it on his own terms. I wonder if the "traitors" "changing sides" are references to friends of his who have committed suicide? I'm not sure.
"Don't hang around once the promise breaks Or you'll be there when the next one's made" ^Here he could be referencing the false promises of religion
I love the line "Will I know when it's finally done? This whole life is a hallucination" He is expressing is view of death: when we die are we aware it is over? His whole life being a "hallucination" could be a drug reference, or maybe he just means it has gone by so fast that and he doesn't know when the end will come.
I absolutely love this song, its complex lyrics and single keyboard sound brings me back to the roots of Bright Eyes. I'd love to hear more interpretations of this song, there is a lot of stuff that I don't understand
Lots of references to after death and religion are seen through out this album and this song. I see how that can fit in with his friend's own suicide, for this song. I don't know if anyone else noticed but, in Coat Check Dream Song he says, "stuck on the ladder to heaven". Which is another reference to religion, death, after death, and ladder. As well as, the beginning of this song he says, "no one knows where the ladder goes"- suggesting we all have our own theories (or we're completely confused and don't know what to believe) for what happens...
Lots of references to after death and religion are seen through out this album and this song. I see how that can fit in with his friend's own suicide, for this song. I don't know if anyone else noticed but, in Coat Check Dream Song he says, "stuck on the ladder to heaven". Which is another reference to religion, death, after death, and ladder. As well as, the beginning of this song he says, "no one knows where the ladder goes"- suggesting we all have our own theories (or we're completely confused and don't know what to believe) for what happens after death. That's what I got from it.