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the parasites are excited when you're dead, eyes bulging, entering your head. and all your thoughts, yeah, they rot. god and satan gamble when you're dead. beams of light one's sprite the other's bourbon instead. and all your thoughts, yeah, they rot. it was hot and time was stickin' to my skin. we're all the punch line to the joke that they won't let us in on. and all your thoughts, yeah, they rot.
Lyrics submitted by prod
Track duration: 03:36
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'To the best of his comprehension, life is meaningless and nothing happens when we die. There is no creator diety and the concept of one is even more unsettling than the lack thereof, the latter being the most probable.'
Many existentialist concepts expressed and built upon here...
There are many songs I could list that contain illustrations/snippets of these concepts but I suppose one of the best parallesls between songs I can elaborate on is "Parting of the Sensory". Considering "Parasites" was written much earlier for UC and the concept was in and around the writings of 'Sad Sappy Sucker, its pretty safe to say he hasn't had much experiences, realizations, epiphanies, etc.. that would suggest a drastically different theme.
In the end we have nothing but our biology left as evidence. Decomposers and detrivores ("Parasites") will consume what is left of you and recyle your carbon-based organic molecules. ("Parting of the Sensory").
Parasites does a nice jobe of illustrating that our thoughts are really just a series of neural pathways made up of organic molecules that eventually are decompsed biologically/chemically. Its been this way for all organisms for all of recordable/measurable life history
"and all your thoughts, they rot,"
...and its really prevalent in Parting of the Sensory
"Dehydrate back into minerals
A life long walk to the same exact spot
Carbon's anniversary
The parting of the sensory
It's old, old news to read
The parting of the sensory"
Turning to the spiritual opinions...the following line reiterates Brock's frustration with the whole creator/diety belief
"we're all the punch line to the joke that they won't let us in on."
It seems like Brock is really close to agnosticism (which is why I personally relate with a lot of his stuff). To me its evident in the fact that he actually mentions characters like god and satan but never chooses a concrete stance either way. His parallels with some core biological and scientific concepts show up in the overwhelming concept that no one really knows shit anyway. It isnt very practical or even possible for humans to let this influence the actions contained in our realities and day-to-day lives, however, when one contemplates and ponders abstract concepts such as these its difficult to not arrive at such conclusions and still seem logical. (Sorry if that seems to offend anyone, I still practice live and let live and fully endorse choice in belief, whether it be science, spirituality or some combination of the two.)
Not only does he mention them {god/devil} but he frequently expresses anger, confusion, and eventually apathy surrounding their creations, actions, and motives:
"we're all the punch line to the joke that they won't let us in on" ("Parasites")
"Who the hell made you the boss?
We placed our chips in all the right spots but still lost ("Parting of the Sensory")
Any shithead who had ever walked ""
Could take this ship and do a much finer job ""
This fit like clothes made out of wasps ""
Oh, fuck it, I guess I lost" ""
"Who the hell made you the boss ("Parting of the Sensory")
If you say what to do I know what not to stop
If you were the ship then who would ever get on ""
The weather changed it for the worse ""
Just my belief/opinions....so many MM and UC are open to lots of interpretations...which is why I find the man's writing/performance style so captivating, genuine, and downright freakin awesome.
"I figured out what I'm good for
Making anything look better"
-from "THings I Don't Remember", that about sums up his style for me. ;)
Its kind of a stretch, but maybe its about drinking and the "parasites" are the effects of drinking. "beams of light one's sprite the other's bourbon instead" God and the devil and the "little guys" on your shoulder telling you "to drink or not to drink" I know Issac is a drinker. Any thoughts on that??
"the parasites will love you when you're dead."
- sparklehorse, 1995.
the early demo version of this was recorded in 1993
youtube.com/…
so who ripped off who?
... you were saying?
dead = sleep
sticking to your skin = sheets sticking to your body
Once I let go of all the religious crap I was raised on, I felt so liberated, and still do. Knowing that this is the one chance I have at life makes me appreciate and value who I am and what I have. The afterlife was created by people to comfort themselves because no one wants to die. But really, when you're dead, you have no idea you're dead, so why freak out and pretend some fairy tale that isn't real?
Can I get an amen, yo. ;)
...or as they say in Mr. Show...."can I get a fuckin' A"
...FUCKIN A!!!!!
Yeah I thought this song was saying in the first line that bugs are happy when you die because they get to eat, but then I read Serilazareth's post about another "song that deals with parasites (actually not parasites; parasites feed off the living)...". So if parasites feed off the living (eg. head lice are only interested in living heads), it makes the line, "the parasites are excited when you're dead," alot more interesting. Why would parasites be excited when you're dead if they feed off the living? Maybe they're sick of their appointed role (as parasites) in the "joke", just as the host life-form is of his, and they're happy one line of the "joke" is finally over.
I am a Modest Mouse fan, but have only recently learnt of Ugly Casanova. Apparently, Isaac said in an interview that "...some homeless guy" (Edgar Graham) was fictional. I think the whole story is funny ( :
Who knew the Modest Mouse/Isaac history was so interesting.
..pretty sure this song deals with what happens after you die. (to the best of his knowledge, nothing but the biological processes we've only ever had any evidence of)