Lyrics for Staring At The Sun as interpreted by insulatedsoul

Staring At The Sun Lyrics
cross the street from your storefront cemetery
hear me hailing from inside and realize

i am the conscience clear
in pain or ecstasy
and we were all weaned my dear
upon the same fatigue

staring at the sun
oh my own voice cannot save me now
standing in the sea
it's just one more breath
and then down i go

your mouth is open wide
the lover is inside
and all the tumults done
collided with the sign
you're staring at the sun
you're standing in the sea
your body's over me

note the trees because
the dirt is temporary
more to mine than fact face
name and monetary

be what you will
and then thrown down your life
oh it's a damned fine game
and we can play all night

beat the skins and let the
loose lips kiss you clean
quietly pour out like light
like light, like answering the sun

you're staring at the sun
you're standing in the sea
your mouth is open wide
you're trying hard to breathe
the water's at your neck
there's lightning in your teeth
your body's over me

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Lauranonce
03-13-2006

Rated 0 
NeoDeist....you spoke my mind. I thank you

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mevlana
03-24-2006

Rated 0 
This song has many lyric similarities to a sufi poem written a couple hundred years ago, recently translated by Coleman Barks:

On the night when you cross the street
from your shop and your house
to the cemetery,

you'll hear me hailing you from inside
the open grave, and you'll realize
how we've always been together.

I am the clear consciousness-core
of your being, the same in
ecstasy as in self-hating fatigue.

That night, when you escape the fear of snakebite
and all irritation with the ants, you'll hear
my familiar voice, see the candle being lit,

smell the incense, the surprise meal fixed
by the lover inside all your other lovers.

This heart-tumult is my signal
to you igniting in the tomb.

So don't fuss with the shroud
and the graveyard road dust.

Those get ripped open and washed away
in the music of our finally meeting.

And don't look for me in human shape.
I am inside your looking. No room
for form with love this strong.

Beat the drum and let the poets speak.
This is a day of purification for those who
are already mature and initiated into what love is.

No need to wait until we die!
There's more to want here than money
and being famous and bites of roasted meat.

Now, what shall we call this new sort of gazing-house
that has opened in our town where people sit
quietly and pour out their glancing
like light, like answering?

- Mevlana Jelalludin Rumi

Knowing rumi's philosophy I'm interpretting the images pretty differently. I just wanted to point out the similarities to the poem cause I'm damned impressed by it.

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egotrippen
04-17-2006

Rated +1 
mevlana, that's awesome. i just gained about 3 times more respect for this band than i had:)


the line, 'note the trees because the/dirt is temporary' is one of the most brilliant phrases i've ever heard. trees are symbols of permanence, strength. i think of ancient redwoods hundreds or thousands of years old. but really, nothing is permanent... if each human being considers himself as always existing (that is, that it's rather impossible to conceive of the world you've entirely experienced through your own senses occuring without you), but it's as fleeting as anything else. not only will the trees not last forever, the very dirt will one day fade. amazing

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1 Reply
couldBanyone
05-04-2006

Rated 0 
Actually it is quite dissapointing that they chose to copy a lot of lyrical images from the previous poem. I was about to congratulate them on some stunning metaphors... don't get me wrong I think that the lyrics for all TVOTR songs are very well written, just this kind of lowers it down a notch for me.

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Rasio
06-12-2006

Rated 0 
I saw them live at a NIN concert recently, got to meet the bassist (? I think.), they were REALLY good, they ended the set with this and it was good good good.

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DarkAntiCrista
08-04-2006

Rated 0 
love this song.

i heard this song a looong time ago and then when i recently was turned onto this newer band i found that they remixed this song. its one of those songs that i can listen to and depending on my mood get both death and sex out of it completely..

Rasio you lucky... i would have loved to hear this live... and i love NIN so that would have been amazing... grr.

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carlwinslow
08-23-2006

Rated 0 
This song was used at the end of the "What about Bob?" episode of Entourage.

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jcphoenix
08-27-2006

Rated 0 
As much as I love Entourage and as much as I love this song I was just sorta like wtf when they used it over the credits...didn't really fit the end of that episode imo...

But yeah, this is my favorite TV on the Radio song...always makes me feel like I'm high...

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carlwinslow
08-27-2006

Rated 0 
I agree with you that it didn't really fit with the episode, at least lyrically. But i don't think the producers even think of the lyrics when it comes to choosing songs. I don't even think they listen past the first 30 seconds of a song when they choose em, so they prolly chose it for its epic intro.

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pumkinhed
09-14-2006

Rated 0 
It seems like the song should have a moment where everything just explodes, just to follow up on the promise made by the verses.

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mOOdymellOw
10-13-2006

Rated 0 
in regards to the whole death/orgasm idea, it reminds me of shakespeare's use of the word "die" as a pun on sexual climax. so tvotr's dual meaning is plausible. it makes sense. it's pretty cool.

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aponte99
10-19-2006

Rated 0 
pumpkinhed, taht is the same thing that happened to me. It's like I loved the song but it left me waiting for a climax. However I was so addicted I was glad when Return tCM came out cuz some of those just explode. But anyway, if you ever get to see them live, it's different man. I think the drummer makes the song so much better. I felt a weigh lifted from my shouders, this song reaches perfection.

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radiocat
01-14-2007

Rated 0 
no sabia que hacer!! y es porque era una vaca lechera!

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WishHax
01-19-2007

Rated 0 
Is it about dieing... Or having a near death experience?

I see how alot of people can relate climax to dieing/near death experience. This song is just so good...

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Red Leader
03-30-2007

Rated 0 
Wow... some people have read religious meaning into lyrics. It cheapens the song.

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artslut
04-01-2007

Rated 0 
"cheapens the song"?

I'm sorry, but you are wrong. It's not the fault of the band that some of their listeners are stupid. Nothing could cheapen this song. It is perfect.

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Snakewing
04-10-2007

Rated 0 
Has anyone suggested erotic asphyxiation? Also known as scarfing or "controlled breath play"... Like when a snake squeezes a mouse. You cut off the supply of oxygen... in this case, with water? And it produces euphoria, heightens the orgasm...

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Snakewing
04-10-2007

Rated 0 
Oh! Someone did mention it. And I just read the bit about the old poem. Nice.

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Lyricist88
05-22-2007

Rated 0 
i heard this song for the first time on a lagerfeld couture campaign and it sends shivers down my spine! i dont get the sexual entendre though?

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kristaselene
11-13-2007

Rated 0 
THANKS, MEVLANA!!! Believe it or not, I don't think I have heard of Rumi until you commented on that poem. It is now my favorite!

This song is amazing. It is cool that the band is getting inspiration from a poet but at the same time-- it makes me feel like they aren't as creative as I thought they were since the lyrics are so strikingly similar. Hmm.

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Miss.Misery
12-19-2007

Rated 0 
Thematically, this song reminds me of 'So Jealous' by Tegan and Sara, although I can definitely see the death/sex theme in there.

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rence
12-29-2007

Rated 0 
Is there another version of this song? The one I have completely skips this verse
"be what you will
and then thrown down your life
oh it's a damned fine game
and we can play all night"

Just wondering if anyone knew of two versions.

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love2obsession
02-26-2008

Rated 0 
the lines "staring at the sun, standing in the sea" remind me of The Stranger by Camus.

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buddhamuffin
03-01-2008

Rated 0 
On my old computer i downloaded this song from limewire and it had like a 20 second introduction that sounded like a clip from an old French tv show or something. It sort of faded out while the song came in but I liked this version better than the one from the cd, which is what I have now. Does anyone know where the version with the introduction came from? Maybe the young liars EP?

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1 Reply
caitlin376
04-17-2008

Rated 0 
i don't think this song is so much about dying as it about sex. Nor do i think it's about having an orgasm, i think it's more about the emotional feelings of sex, with someone who he loves, someone who he wanted to do something as simple as watching the sun, but i suppose things happened and they did it, but he didn't really want to. he wanted to appreciate her in a deeper way.

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