Lyrics for Modern World as interpreted by artblot

Modern World Lyrics
I'm not in love with the modern world
I'm not in love with the modern world
It was a torch driving the savages back to the trees

Modern world has more ways
And I don't mention it since it's changed
While the people go out and the people come home again

It's gotta last to build up your eyes
And a lifetime of red skies
And from my bed saying you're haunted, hissing in my bed
Modern world don't ask why
Cause modern world will build things high
Now they house canyons filled with life

Modern world i'm not pleased to meet you
You just bring me down

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  • 26 Comments
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kaytwo
12-05-2005

Rated +1 
Compare to modest mouse's novacaine stain:

And what's replacing them now
Interchange causes a mall
And crowded chain restaurants
More housing developments go up
Named after the things they replace
So welcome to Minnow Brook
And welcome to Shady Space
And it all seems a little abrupt
No I don't like this change of pace

both excellent "be wary of overdevelopment" songs.

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2 Replies
hellobonjour
12-12-2005

Rated 0 
an incredibly fabulous overlooked song.

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mcscumbag
12-15-2005

Rated 0 
this song is so good. thats funny cause I compared it to modest mouse too.

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mcscumbag
12-15-2005

Rated 0 
this song is so good. thats funny cause I compared it to modest mouse too.

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eagle-bear
01-05-2006

Rated 0 
Amazing sound and lyrics. It says exactly what it means.

I especially like the line "It was a torch driving the savages back to the trees," which suggests that modern civilization isn't necessarily 'better' for us - it just outcompeted and marginalized other "barbaric" societal forms like hunting and gathering. The modern world is presented as cold, efficient, and totalizing.

"Modern world don't ask why" is referring to the myth of progress, which holds that the purpose of society/civilization is production, population, and unlimited growth. But the line "Modern world i'm not pleased to meet you / You just bring me down" argues otherwise - it says that maybe civilization is about happiness, and not about the increasing arms race between people's material wants and means of sating them.

As a student getting an environmental science / anthropology degree, this is my theme song.

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artblot
01-17-2006

Rated 0 
It probably is also referencing the Modern Lovers' "Modern World" ("I'm in love with the modern world")

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smunchy pb
01-22-2006

Rated 0 
comparing it to the modest mouse song is interesting, because didn't isaac brock help out during the recording sessions for this album?

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coydivision
01-26-2006

Rated 0 
yea, brock produced it

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x_Heather_x
02-10-2006

Rated 0 
I really love the guys voice. Completely amazing song...one of my favourites off the album.

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yankeeboystevel
05-19-2006

Rated 0 
I'm almost positive someone clears his throat at one point in the song. It's early in the song. Anyone notice this?

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1 Reply
emotionaltree
06-17-2006

Rated 0 
i like that guys voice too except i think hes trying to make himself sound too grungy in this song. he keeps overstretching his vocals perhaps to show that hes like wartorn from battling this modern world that hes not in love with. but i dont know maybe i look too deeply into every detail for my own and the songs good.

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IceCuban06
11-21-2006

Rated 0 
I bloody love this band, and its no wonder since Isaac produced it as u guys say. Modest Mouse and these fella's are awesome, i've been listening to Wolf Parade for months and I'm yet to get tired of the whole CD.

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halesterr
01-17-2007

Rated 0 
amazing song.

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keasr
02-25-2007

Rated 0 
great song, but i think i like the demo version more than the one that is on the album

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keasr
02-25-2007

Rated 0 
great song, but i think i like the demo version more than the one that is on the album

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vulgar
05-05-2007

Rated 0 
i love krug's wordplay.. i just love the way he doesn't say things bluntly, but instead uses more intelligent techniques
e.g. "canyons filled with life", a line obviously referencing modern day suburbs.

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1 Reply
giangiorgio
05-17-2007

Rated 0 
is it not dan boeckner singing on this song and a few others?

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notthedestroyer
09-03-2007

Rated 0 
the correct phrase is "It was a torch to drive the savages back to the trees" which definitely reinforces eagle-bear's theory.

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notthedestroyer
09-03-2007

Rated 0 
Okay.. I should elaborate on that. The current lyric makes it seem like Modern World just so happened to drive the savages back, but the real lyrics make it seem like it was intentionally used as a tool to drive the savages back.

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onethinwallaway
01-17-2008

Rated 0 
on some lines, like "It was a torch driving the savages back to the trees"... the overlaying vocalist sound like marilyn manson a bit.

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onethinwallaway
01-17-2008

Rated 0 
or Beck.

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kaitlingrace
06-25-2008

Rated 0 
I don't think Krug is trying to make his voice sound grungy. It's the level at which he is singing; it also parallels the way his voice sounds on some Sunset Rubdown songs

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afimrtl
08-05-2008

Rated 0 
Krug doesn't sing this song!
It's Dan Boeckner!
sheesh!

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maeghan
10-04-2008

Rated 0 
Yeah I was gonna say this is definitely Dan singing...
Anyway, amazing song. It really grew on me. Now I listen to it all the time...

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thisrequiresthought
05-16-2009

Rated 0 
Issac Brock produced their album.
That's probably why everyone is
seeing similarities between the two.

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