I, unlike apparently every other listener, reject the idea that this song is about the environment, or a changing world. No, dear read, it is in fact about transhumanism. Confused yet? Good, now read on.
"Souvenirs sustain life.
Souvenirs of flesh and bone."
This line is about the remnants of a human body, after it has undergone a cybernetic "enhancement", something that our current technological path is clearly leading to. They still 'sustain life' as the brain still sends signals for an artificial heart to beat, and a pair of iron lungs to breathe.
"Waste them all for wealth and gain.
When the time comes you'll know."
This line is about shedding even those last remnants of humanity and embracing full roboticism. Perhaps someone is promised a great deal of money or power for being the first experiment, or an average fellow is promised to excel, something he has never done before. For whatever reason, all vestiges of humanism are forsaken in favour of technology.
"Machinery dredge the sea,
and all that's left is memory."
No, they're not talking about literally dredging a sea. They're talking about dredging the 'sea' of humanity, removing everything that is human in us, so all that is left is memory of what it means to be human.
"All the time they lie to me, they suffocate.
All the time they're suffering.
When will it end?"
Pretty obvious. Corporations lying to the little guy and pulling him around by the nose. All he wants to do is have it end, which leads into the next verse.
"It breaks my heart to watch,
as we rip this world we have apart."
Pretty much the only part in the song that could really be interpreted as "we're screwing our planet in the corn hole". But again, it's a metaphor. We're ripping our environment to shreds, yes, but look at all the violence in the world. Look at the wars, terrorism, all that. We're destroying our society and our very humanity as well.
"Kill for pleasure.
Seven wonders of our history.
Endless pleasure.
Careful pleasure.
Guilty pleasure."
(I cut out the needless repetition and corrected the lyrics to reflect the 2007 version)
This one is fairly obvious in its meaning. 'Kill for pleasure': kill the human in us so that we can experience pleasure. The seven wonders alludes to what we managed to accomplish as "mere mortals". "Endless pleasure" is about the nigh immortality granted by stripping away the flesh and bone of the human to replace it with machinery. "Careful pleasure" a caution against replacing what we are to be "better" than we are. "Guilty pleasure" what little remains of the human being guilty of replacing so much of himself and knowing he can't go back.
"Machinery bled the sea.
You protect this misery.
Sacrifice no sacrifice."
Again, this refers to the sea of humanity and its replacement with technology. The protection of misery is about the apologists of machinery as a replacement for man. Sacrifice refers to the sacrifice of ones humanity, and physical limbs/organs/etc. to be replaced.
"No!"
Of course, the rejection of it all.
...Remember when music was about hip thrusting and blue suede shoes? That was such a simpler time. Maybe this is a consequence of the modern music scene growing up, as our rosy view of the world is stripped away and the bare, rotting core is exposed and we are forced to confront the reality of a cruel, unfeeling world.
Or maybe I'm just reading too much into it, take from this what you will.
@Envyash I'm going to agree with your interpretation of the basic theme.
@Envyash I'm going to agree with your interpretation of the basic theme.
"All that's left is memory"
If everything is gone there can't be anyone to remember what was lost.
Memory as in computer memory. All that's left is data, an attempt to emulate the mind.
"All that's left is memory"
If everything is gone there can't be anyone to remember what was lost.
Memory as in computer memory. All that's left is data, an attempt to emulate the mind.
"All the time they lie to me, they suffocate
All the time they're suffering
When will it end?"
They lie to people to promote and sell this new technology, or even deceive themselves into thinking they're benefiting from it. Not necessarily a trans-humanism or sci-fi exclusive statement. Could be relevant to all kinds of technology...
"All the time they lie to me, they suffocate
All the time they're suffering
When will it end?"
They lie to people to promote and sell this new technology, or even deceive themselves into thinking they're benefiting from it. Not necessarily a trans-humanism or sci-fi exclusive statement. Could be relevant to all kinds of technology we have today that's supposed to make life easier but has the potential to make us more miserable. While life becomes easier, people become weak and sedentary, they read songmeanings on the internet instead of spending more time outside and ruin the environment to sustain the technology that enables them to hear the bad news about it on TV.
"Kill for pleasure
Seven wonders of our history
Endless pleasure
Satisfaction is reality
Careful pleasure
No protection of ancestry
Guilty pleasure"
That's the song's conclusion of blindly embracing technology. Instead of a tool that makes life more enjoyable by extension of how it helps us, we eventually find a way to trigger our pleasure sense directly. It becomes an endless reality of pleasure with nothing else, existing mindlessly except for the permanent ecstasy experienced.
I, unlike apparently every other listener, reject the idea that this song is about the environment, or a changing world. No, dear read, it is in fact about transhumanism. Confused yet? Good, now read on.
"Souvenirs sustain life. Souvenirs of flesh and bone."
This line is about the remnants of a human body, after it has undergone a cybernetic "enhancement", something that our current technological path is clearly leading to. They still 'sustain life' as the brain still sends signals for an artificial heart to beat, and a pair of iron lungs to breathe.
"Waste them all for wealth and gain. When the time comes you'll know."
This line is about shedding even those last remnants of humanity and embracing full roboticism. Perhaps someone is promised a great deal of money or power for being the first experiment, or an average fellow is promised to excel, something he has never done before. For whatever reason, all vestiges of humanism are forsaken in favour of technology.
"Machinery dredge the sea, and all that's left is memory."
No, they're not talking about literally dredging a sea. They're talking about dredging the 'sea' of humanity, removing everything that is human in us, so all that is left is memory of what it means to be human.
"All the time they lie to me, they suffocate. All the time they're suffering. When will it end?"
Pretty obvious. Corporations lying to the little guy and pulling him around by the nose. All he wants to do is have it end, which leads into the next verse.
"It breaks my heart to watch, as we rip this world we have apart."
Pretty much the only part in the song that could really be interpreted as "we're screwing our planet in the corn hole". But again, it's a metaphor. We're ripping our environment to shreds, yes, but look at all the violence in the world. Look at the wars, terrorism, all that. We're destroying our society and our very humanity as well.
"Kill for pleasure. Seven wonders of our history. Endless pleasure. Careful pleasure. Guilty pleasure."
(I cut out the needless repetition and corrected the lyrics to reflect the 2007 version) This one is fairly obvious in its meaning. 'Kill for pleasure': kill the human in us so that we can experience pleasure. The seven wonders alludes to what we managed to accomplish as "mere mortals". "Endless pleasure" is about the nigh immortality granted by stripping away the flesh and bone of the human to replace it with machinery. "Careful pleasure" a caution against replacing what we are to be "better" than we are. "Guilty pleasure" what little remains of the human being guilty of replacing so much of himself and knowing he can't go back.
"Machinery bled the sea. You protect this misery. Sacrifice no sacrifice."
Again, this refers to the sea of humanity and its replacement with technology. The protection of misery is about the apologists of machinery as a replacement for man. Sacrifice refers to the sacrifice of ones humanity, and physical limbs/organs/etc. to be replaced.
"No!"
Of course, the rejection of it all.
...Remember when music was about hip thrusting and blue suede shoes? That was such a simpler time. Maybe this is a consequence of the modern music scene growing up, as our rosy view of the world is stripped away and the bare, rotting core is exposed and we are forced to confront the reality of a cruel, unfeeling world.
Or maybe I'm just reading too much into it, take from this what you will.
@Envyash I'm going to agree with your interpretation of the basic theme.
@Envyash I'm going to agree with your interpretation of the basic theme.
"All that's left is memory" If everything is gone there can't be anyone to remember what was lost. Memory as in computer memory. All that's left is data, an attempt to emulate the mind.
"All that's left is memory" If everything is gone there can't be anyone to remember what was lost. Memory as in computer memory. All that's left is data, an attempt to emulate the mind.
"All the time they lie to me, they suffocate All the time they're suffering When will it end?" They lie to people to promote and sell this new technology, or even deceive themselves into thinking they're benefiting from it. Not necessarily a trans-humanism or sci-fi exclusive statement. Could be relevant to all kinds of technology...
"All the time they lie to me, they suffocate All the time they're suffering When will it end?" They lie to people to promote and sell this new technology, or even deceive themselves into thinking they're benefiting from it. Not necessarily a trans-humanism or sci-fi exclusive statement. Could be relevant to all kinds of technology we have today that's supposed to make life easier but has the potential to make us more miserable. While life becomes easier, people become weak and sedentary, they read songmeanings on the internet instead of spending more time outside and ruin the environment to sustain the technology that enables them to hear the bad news about it on TV.
"Kill for pleasure Seven wonders of our history Endless pleasure Satisfaction is reality Careful pleasure No protection of ancestry Guilty pleasure" That's the song's conclusion of blindly embracing technology. Instead of a tool that makes life more enjoyable by extension of how it helps us, we eventually find a way to trigger our pleasure sense directly. It becomes an endless reality of pleasure with nothing else, existing mindlessly except for the permanent ecstasy experienced.