In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
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Funny thing, what he says doesn't matter. He rants, he raves and we both can do it really. I agree with tarnok, here. I just saw the video on the GNN website, it is a slick infusion of rhymes and animation but it only goes so far. This imagery of young people donning black hoodies and rampaging a state building to sign up to vote is completely and wholly unrealistic. Gore Vidal said it best, he voiced that Democrats and Republicans are really two wings of the same party. If the above scenarios were realistic, every black-hooded person would write Eminem in on the ballot and neither candidate would be elected. Even if you crowd up all the young people to vote in Eminem, you could never amass the popular voting power of their elders (parents and grandparents) because they outnumber my generation twofold. Bush and Kerry would still win the presidency. The ones who are truly in charge, the ones who are truly threatened, would make sure every bit zealotry that is taken as truth by the masses would be vanquished before its taken on as an axiom in the arena of common sense. It's common sense that anybody who is elevated to a position of popularity will surely turn out like their successors. Absolute power corrupts absolutely and with human nature being what it is (social for survival unless egged on into conflict), I guarantee you Eminem would make a fabulous addition to that long list of political failures much like Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, Jesse Ventura, Harry Truman, Elizabeth I, etc. I foresee Schwarzenegger and Affleck becoming additions to that list.
The point is this: songs like this bring out false hope and this is another song that falls on that false hope list. They are unrealistic and only for the moment. They don't offer a method for curing human nature. If you want a truthful song about politics, "Won't Get Fooled Again" by The Who is maybe the best example that comes to mind about the perpetual state of politics and human nature. That's true mood music if you want my opinion on the subject. Eminem's deceiving himself, there is no way around the power-hungry aspect of human nature. I am liberal in my heart but I'm both a realist and a liberal in my head, I'm torn like that.
If this essay is removed from the boards, I sincerely apologize for torquing anybody off but I think it had to be said.