A Grain of Salt

I’m getting tired of not being able to embed videos.

Like this one.

Well, anyway, here are the lyrics.

it’s been so long I’ve been out of my body with you
I feel alone, feel at home, feel like nothing is true
she took me to a place where my senses gave-way
turn it round, shut it down, what the people say
climbing up, killing time, let them give you some
take my hand and let it come, let it come, let it…

take it back when she knows that your doing it right
cuz everybody else knows what their taking tonight

but I just wanna play it right
we’re gonna get there tonight!

it’s been so far, I’ve been walking the line on my own
lift me up to the stars, we are coming home
I only had a chase, but were out of time
we are souls in the cold, physical design
set me free, set me out on the run
lift me up to the sun, to the sun, to the…

we are burning down, we are burning down
it’s the way that you fake it, I know it’s too late

but I just want to play it right
we’re gonna get there tonight!

I just want to take you down
we’re gonna get there tonight!

but I just want to play it right
we’re gonna get there tonight!

Songs like these can be hard to analyze for one simple reason- they really don’t say much. Notice I said songs LIKE this one; this song has a true meaning behind it. What it seems to be happening to me (taken with the video, of course.) Some may disagree, or think I’m being naive, but I believe this song is another message about drugs. It seems that the narrator is describing his girlfriend encouraging him to take drugs, and, not wanting to upset her, agrees. The hospital scene in the video reflects this- he did not make a wise choice.

Don’t just take this as a “drugs are bad” message– it goes further than that. Acceptance is not worth your life; peer pressure IS effective; and desire to fit in actually is a huge influence. And if you think this is another “drugs are bad message”, enjoy the song anyway.

If I wasn’t so lazy, I would have embedded this video.

Start out with listening to the song, then hop back here for an analysis.

“I do not exist,” we faithfully insist
sailing in our separate ships,
and in each tiny caravel -
tiring of trying, there’s a necessary dying
like the horseshoe crab in its proper season sheds its shell
such distance from our friends,
like a scratch across a lens,
made everything look wrong from anywhere we stood
and our paper blew away before we’d left the bay
so half-blind we wrote these songs on sheets of salty wood

you caught me making eyes at the other boatmen’s wives
and heard me laughing louder at the jokes told by their daughters
I’d set my course for land,
but you well understand
it takes a steady hand to navigate adulterous waters
the propeller’s spinning blades held acquaintance with the waves
as there’s mistakes I’ve made no rowing could outrun
the cloth low on the mast like to say Ive got no past
but I’m nonetheless the librarian and secretary’s son
with tarnish on my brass and mildew on my glass
I’d never want someone so crass as to want someone like me
but a few leagues off the shore, I bit a flashing lure
and I assure you, it was not what it expected it to be!
I still taste its kiss, that dull hook in my lip
is a memory as useless as a rod without a reel
to an anchor-ever-dropped-seasick-yet-still-docked captain spotted napping with his first mate at the wheel floating forgetfully along, with no need to be strong. we keep our confessions long and when we pray we keep it short
I drank a thimbleful of fire and I’m not ever going back

Oh, my G-d!

“I do not exist,” we faithfully insist
while watching sink the heavy ship of everything we knew
if ever you come near I’ll hold up high a mirror
Lord, I could never show you anything as beautiful as you

I’ll start out with a quick look at some of the lyrics.

To start out with, I believe the general meaning of the song is quite obvious. The speaker is caught in an adulterous relationship that he cannot seem to escape. He tries his hardest to get away from his problem, (the propeller’s spinning blades held acquaintance with the waves, as there’s mistakes I’ve made no rowing could outrun) but can’t seem to be able to.  Even when he is leaving his situation, he falls into another sin (as shown by the section on the fishhook.) Even though it appears alluring, he is trapped by it. The only thing that frees him from his capture is the memory of God’s love (…thimbleful of fire…). Without the sin holding him down, the narrator is free to bask in God’s glory.

The last verse contains as much theological significance as the rest of the song in it’s entirety. “While watching sink the heavy ship of everything we knew,” I believe, symbolizes the author’s final commitment- getting rid of his former self entirely, and accepting God entirely. However, the one line that sticks out to me more than any other in this song is the last– “Lord, I could never show you anything as beautiful as you.” It’s pretty self explanatory. Nothing we could ever do would be an adequate representation of the love God has for us, much less the enormity of the sacrifice of his son.

The rest of the song is chock-full of good nuggets- I just scratched the surface. Feel free to leave other impressions in the comments.

First, check out the song, and read the lyrics.

A cat came drifting onto my porch from the outside cold
and with eyes closed, drinking warm milk from my bowl,
thought:

“nobody hears me!(nobody hears me) I crept in so soft!
and nobody sees me!(nobody sees me) as I watched six steps off.”

like the peacocks wandering the walkways of the zoo
who have twice the autonomy the giraffes and the tigers do,
saying:

“no one can stop me,(no one can stop me)
no one clips my claws! now everyone watch me(everyone watch me)
scale these outside walls!”
you took the pious and profane,
turned around the praise and blame,
said “a glass can only spill what it contains”
To the perpetually plain and the incurably inane
a glass can only spill what it contains

what new mystery is this?
what blessed backwardness??
the Immeasurable One is held and does not resist!
struck by wicked words and foolish fists of senseless men
the Almighty One does not defend!

I was halfway listening to what she thinks she knows
We’re like children dressing in our parents’ clothes, saying:

“Nobody knows me,(nobody knows me)
no one knows my name,
No, nobody knows me,(nobody knows me)
nobody knows me…”
I half-heartedly explained
but gave up peacefully ashamed
as a glass can only spill what it contains
we went to Portugal and Spain
and in her mind the entire time it rained!
a glass can only spill what it contains

what new mystery is this? in overflowing emptiness
the Invisible is seen among the shadows and the mist,
before my doubting eyes the Infinite appears in time-
the Unquestionable is questioned but makes no reply!

what new mystery is this(x5)?!
“my Rabbi!”
my lips betray with a kiss

what new mystery is this?

What powerful lyrics. mewithoutyou, a Philadelphia based experimental rock band, has always made me think twice, but this song really amazes me. I’ll break it down into two parts. First, the lines that involve the seemingly egotistical animals. (Wow, what a strange sentence.) These phrases tell about a problem that many people don’t really recognize- this is God’s world. What gives us the right to march around, saying what we will and will not do, acting like no one can stop us and we are masters of our own fates. How proud! Like God is some distant figure, looking the other way as the little ants march around, sneaking little sins while he shakes his head, unable to stop them. What we (myself included) need to figure out is that GOD IS WITH US. He is watching you, waiting for you to make your choice to do what is right. When we become the peacock, proud of our power and ability to do anything, we slowly start to lose our respect for God and his boundaries.

Next are the other sections that describe the crucifixion- or, more accurately, the betrayal, along with one of the most baffling moments in the Bible. During the betrayal at the garden, the Lord of the universe is bound in human form and beaten by his own creations. Imagine his disciple’s fear! This man, who says he is God, is now “held powerless and does not resist!” Even now, as we see the whole story, we seem to have missed out on quite a bit of the meaning by skipping the various trials before the actual crucifixion. How could the “Immeasurable One” allow himself to be struck down by his own foolish creations? The necessary love is absolutely mind-boggling. We should realize this and give more (if it’s possible) weight to the terrible suffering Christ endured.