Modest Mouse – March Into the Sea

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  General Comment:"Edit Lyrics" didn't change a thing. Damn it...

  Flag Ryuhzaon December 11, 2012   Link

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  My Interpretation:I may be way off but this song just seems like it taps into some sort of inner darkness.
  
  The writer is in a pretty nasty argument with a girl. He wants to be punished. He wants to be hated. The girl he's arguing with him is cutting him down and he's saying bring it on he wants the worst of it. A part of him just wants to do what the title says and march into the sea and never be seen again.
  
  To me this is about him having a bit of a death wish. The part at the end of always makes me think of a guy lost at sea arguing with God during a thunderstorm and just saying do it strike me down. There's a real self destructive rage there.

  Flag norbieon December 04, 2012   Link

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    You are mistaken about him being cut down. I think he cuts himself down without any help from others. Interesting song.

    Flag Jeffreystumpon December 11, 2012  
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  General Comment:Ok, as for the "tails falling off" part, he is referring to the Darwinian evolution, how organisms came out of the sea with tails that soon fell off after adapting to living on land. So we came out of the ocean, evolved to what we are, and some are now de-evolving into stagnant creatures lacking the critical thinking needed to figure out the meaning of this song (marching back in the sea).

  Flag themostmodestofmouseson September 23, 2011   Link

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  General Comment:it's funny, i actually managed to find this band looking for dead mouse which i still don't know how to spell right.
  
  anyways i love the random tempo changes this band kicks out.
  
  still this song is my favorite of there's.

  Flag surivraon September 20, 2011   Link

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    Who you're looking for is Deadmau5 =] another awesome sound.

    Flag CassidyAnnon November 06, 2011  
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  General Comment:It seems like most people here think this song is about nature, particularly evolution or global warming. There is definately a nature theme running throughout the song, but it is all metaphor in my opinion. "Well, treat me like the sea Oh, so salty and mean," "Well, treat me like disease Like the rats and the fleas," Well, discard whom you please Like the leaves of a tree"--all these lines basically say the same thing: "you suck. you treat people like crap." Same for "Bang your head like a gong Because you call it all wrong Move your tongue Clang, clang! Clang, clang! Clang, clang! Clang, clang!" which to me says "you're an idiot, and when you talk it all just sounds like noise to me."
  
  
  So the next question is, who is you? Some have suggested that it's an ex. To me, it's pretty much everyone. Everyone who buys into our society the way that it is... obsessed with money and possessions ("Well, we all stumbled 'round, tangled up in our cords From our phones, VCRs, and our worldly woes"), no concern for the happiness or the suffering of others. A lot of people have mentioned how "Our tails wagged and then fell off" refers to de-evolution and I agree, but again I think it is metaphorical--our way of life is making us less and less human.
  
  "If you think you know enough To know you know you've had enough And if you think you don't, you probably will" is one of my favorite lines in the song. I think it's basically saying that if you think you know what's going on, you don't. And if you think you're lost in this world, as screwed up as it is, then you're onto something.
  
  I think maybe "I'll be beating my heart's record for speeding I'll be beating the record for hearts skipping in the dark" means that while we're walking all over each other and collecting our meaningless "stuff," he'll be living his life in the most authentic way that he can.
  
  I love this song because it is so angry and demented. The maniacal laughing and the tone of his voice, he sounds like he's losing it most of the time. And really, a lot of times I'll hear something on the news or read about some incredibly stupid thing that someone did, and I'll feel like I'm losing it, too. That's basically what the song boils down to for me, living in a world that is so f'ed up you can hardly stand it.
  
  

  Flag ihatepickingusernameson November 11, 2010   Link

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    You nailed it. This song has nothing to do with evolution or nature or a woman. He sees that the world is messed up and everyone is blind to it. They are marching into the sea. All the parts that he is talking about being mistreated "so salty and mean" is talking about being powerless to stop it. You get dismissed for pointing any of this out.

    Flag cja75on September 23, 2011  
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  General Comment:I really like the interpretation that its like basically the singer is talking about how he wants to basically DEvolve into a sea creature like from the beginning of time. Cuz it says "our tails wag and then fall off and we'll just march into the sea" so like yeah we're devolving... so that would say he'd be happier maybe as a lowly creature like a fish or whatever than as a human being cuz ppl suck or whatever... but then I wonder who the "you" is referring to in the song. My thoughts are either God or society as a whole.

  Flag HannahWhitney535on October 27, 2010   Link

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  My Interpretation:This song is bizarrely appropriate if you're totally infatuated with a girl and she doesn't really notice you exist. "Treat me like the sea", sounds about right for the random chaotic way you'd be treated by someone pretty much ignoring you. "Like disease, like the rats and the fleas", mix in some being treated as in inconsequential annoyance. "Bang your head like a gong, cause it's filled with all wrong!", the insane laughing and "Clang clang clang!" and the rest of the crazy lyrics, about the utter insanity of the whole thing. I like it, it's the only song brutal and insane enough to relate to that.

  Flag asdf256on August 27, 2010   Link

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  General Comment:LOVE this song

  Flag girlslikestatuson June 15, 2010   Link

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  Song Meaning:I can't say that this is what the song is about for sure, but the lyrics fit perfectly with the Salt March led by Gandhi in India in 1930. The Indian people were being repressed by the British and treated unfairly, racism was rampant against Indians ("Treat me like disease like the rats and the fleas").
  
  The British were trying to reform the Indian constitution in 1927, and their reform included zero Indian members ("Give me forced health till I wish death on myself"). Gandhi tried to push a resolution to the reform, but it was ignored, and so the Indians announced their independence at the beginning of 1930 ("if you think you enough to know you've had enough").
  
  This is where the correlation becomes obvious. They signified their independence with the famous "Salt March", a protest against a new British tax on Indian salt where Gandhi and thousands of other Indians marched for 241 miles over the course of several weeks to the sea to make their own salt, which really pissed the British off and caused them to imprison 60,000 Indians.
  
  "If food need pleasing suck out all the seasoning" - direct reference to the british imposing their control on Indian salt
  
  "Bang your head like a gong because it's filled with wrong" "drag me out to the sea and then teach me to breath" - British thought Indians couldn't govern themselves without the British (because they were racist and thought Indians weren't capable of that, and taxing India was profitable). Teaching someone how to breath is obviously unnecessary, as was the British ruling India for them.
  
  "Take all that you need like my signs says for free" - British taxing Indians unreasonably
  
  "well discard who you need like leaves on the tree" - British imprisoning 60,000 Indians in response to Salt March
  
  "let's shake hands if you want but soon both hands are gone" - Gandhi's long term goal was total independence, but knew he had to do it step by step, which involved making a lot of deals in the process
  
  "Our tails wagged then fell off, we just turned out backs and marched into the sea" - I think this is a reference to the civil disobedience tactics used by Indians. It's a metaphor for how they took the beatings but never fought back (tails falling off), instead they peacefully disobeyed (marched to sea to make their own salt)
  
  

  Flag DrSilverwormon June 07, 2010   Link

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    "I'll be beating my heart's record for speeding" - As part of the Indian civil disobedience, they got they willingly got the crap beat out of them without any intention of fighting back, which must have required some balls of steel
    
    "Let's shake hands if you want but soon both hands are gone" - Once the prisons filled, the Ghandi-Irwin pact was signed, allowing Ghandi a seat in the round table conference and freeing the 60,000 prisoners. Ghandi was making deals because he knew he had to, but his long-term goal was total independence
    
    "Cut me down like the trees like the lumber or weeds" - could be a direct reference to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in April 1919 where 50 british soldiers opened fire on an unarmed gathering of men, women and children for 10-15 minutes (they were in an enclosed area with no where to hide) until ammunition ran short, causalities were said to have been as high as 1,526
    
    "Well, we all stumbled 'round, tangled up in our cords from our phones, VCRs, and our worldly woes" - this last part must be a comparison of the incredible story of the salt march to our "worldy woes" of today, which seem so mundane and unimportant in comparison

    Flag DrSilverwormon June 07, 2010  
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  General Comment:Oh my gosh I LOVE this song. It's the perfect song when you're super pissed about something. I mean whenever I have an issue, I blast this song. It's really calming after a while.

  Flag jemmaCon May 13, 2010   Link

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