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If there is no such thing as time, you're already there, and you're controlling this cycle. You say, "Man, look what we found here, Einstein," or whoever you're talking to, Tesla - whoever you're talking to. Problems of the future can be solved by mankind because you create them. And you have to believe in the future, it's what we have to do. We progress, we always progress - we try to. So the Sumerian tablets, they say the same thing like Genesis said, that there were chariots of fire that came into the sky. And these beings got out of them, and they walked like a man but they had reptilian features. They had snake-like eyes, a tail, and, uh, scales, right? And they were - they were here, and they made slaves out of the people. And where they landed in is what the Bible calls the Garden of Eden. They were trying to inbreed with the people here. The women would die, the babies were deadborn. But after two thousand years they started taking, the babies started being born and living. And they had tails, they had a few reptilian features. They could phase shift from one dimension to another dimension, and the people who know say it's from the fourth dimension - the next dimension. Space is expanding; there are spirits coming from the center, right? We're going counterclockwise. There's supposed to be eight other universes going counterclockwise, and that's called Superuniverse, you know? And love's always been the message. It's just - circumstances happen, right? People freak out, just flat flip out, you know? Well, that's where Hitler came from, Hitler came from that way. He was an outspoken, charismatic yeller. And, and all these people said, "Hey, we'll use this guy, hey, look at all these people listening to this guy." You know what I mean? And so that's just what the trip's like, that. You know? It still exists, and their bloodline goes back - back into Sumerian times. You know, they didn't call it reptilian, they didn't call it that. But they did, because they called him Satan, they called him the Devil, and it's the same damn trip. It's a negative force, coming in on a positive force, because it's a third dimension, right? And for it to solidify or to crystallize, it has to have both elements, right? And you have to keep it in balance, or it will, it will, one of them will destroy the other . . . .
I do my best to sleep through the caterwaul
The classicist, the posturing avant-garde
I bought a grey macaw, named him Jules Verne
He'll probably outlive me - he's a bright bird
Keeps me company, I teach him new words
I saw a hologram at the theme park
She looked as real as me through the white fog
Then she melted down to her ankles
Turned into a million-watt candle
If I knew where she went, I would follow
Walking through the land of tomorrow
Martian trinkets, plastic Apollos
In the sunshine, try to act normal
My veins are full of flat cherry cola
Slept on the bench by the rollercoaster
Dreamt I was riding on a motorbike
Lion of Judah, painted on the side
I'm doing fine, I'm back in the Palisades
Life's a wash, a pastoral school play
China shops and cold ivory towers
I and I, make toasts to the Caesars
Forcing down the dregs of Decembers
Madeline, she spins in a slow bang
All through the house, the strong smell of burnt sage
Let's make it clean and run out the spirits
I know a diving bell when I hear it
We're going down now under the surface
Light to dark can shift in an instant
Feeling close but keeping my distance
On all fours she's just so insistent
Fills my mind with jump ropes and slit wrists
Bust through the Firewall into Heaven
And then I'm standing in that blinding light
Crooked crosses falling from the sky
Seen, yeah, seen by I and I...
I do my best to sleep through the caterwaul
The classicist, the posturing avant-garde
I bought a grey macaw, named him Jules Verne
He'll probably outlive me - he's a bright bird
Keeps me company, I teach him new words
I saw a hologram at the theme park
She looked as real as me through the white fog
Then she melted down to her ankles
Turned into a million-watt candle
If I knew where she went, I would follow
Walking through the land of tomorrow
Martian trinkets, plastic Apollos
In the sunshine, try to act normal
My veins are full of flat cherry cola
Slept on the bench by the rollercoaster
Dreamt I was riding on a motorbike
Lion of Judah, painted on the side
I'm doing fine, I'm back in the Palisades
Life's a wash, a pastoral school play
China shops and cold ivory towers
I and I, make toasts to the Caesars
Forcing down the dregs of Decembers
Madeline, she spins in a slow bang
All through the house, the strong smell of burnt sage
Let's make it clean and run out the spirits
I know a diving bell when I hear it
We're going down now under the surface
Light to dark can shift in an instant
Feeling close but keeping my distance
On all fours she's just so insistent
Fills my mind with jump ropes and slit wrists
Bust through the Firewall into Heaven
And then I'm standing in that blinding light
Crooked crosses falling from the sky
Seen, yeah, seen by I and I...
Lyrics submitted by Browns0286
Track duration: 07:16
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For a closer look at this song as well as the whole album, check out this blog: opulentproletariat.blogspot.com/
It's a belief that the world is speeding up so fast that there is going to be a new age in which order and wisdom is restored within all human beings.
The Firewall is a metaphor for the moment before this (maybe beautiful maybe terrible)that is the singularity and we just can not define. "Light to dark, could shift in an instant."
The world we live in now is actually so bad because people don't pay attention to what's real.
It's an unsure feeling that holds incredible change which is where Madeline comes from. It's her persona that this Firewall gives off. "Fills my head with jump jopes and slit wrists" means that he does not know how to feel about this Firewall, but it's coming and it seems almost hopeful and childlike or scary and unnatural.
"Q: In one song you seem you be singing about the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland. Are you a big fan?
A: I like Disneyland - I actually went there one time with Jenny Lewis and [The Postal Service's] Jimmy Tamborello. That remains one of my fondest memories.
Q: Were you guys superhigh or something?
A: Yeah [laughs]. There were definitely some moments of freaking out."
So, yeah, part of it is indeed about Disneyland.
Also, from another interview (don't remember which one) he mentions that he thinks the idea of having just a bird for company is sad because it can only say what you've already taught it to say, nothing new.
I'd love to hear more input about the opening story. The reptilians, that's another term for the Illuminati, correct?
I think it's important to point out how mundane and finite the details and activities hes taking part in throughout the song..owning a bird, going to a theme park, sleeping, listening to madeline. Then things near kind of shift into insanity near the end.
Whoever said more or less that the song is about ways people (unsuccessfully) try to combat lonliness is dead on. In this song Conor mentions using everything from religion, sex, and drugs, to parrots and holograms to try to feel connected to something. Yet at the same time I think Conor has become very antisocial, and is almost afraid of actually experiencing a meaningful connection to anything again. This is solidified in the line "Feeling close, but keeping my distance"
The fact that he's choosing to bond with a parrot shows that he desires some sort of connection to end his loneliness, but is afraid of human connection.
The lines about the hologram are absolutely brilliant. So I picture him walking through Disneyland's Tomorrowland, tripping out ("in the sunshine try to act normal"), and he sees this hologram that looks as real as he is just disappearing, and that gets him thinking about what's really real ya know? "If I knew where she went I would follow" means he'd kinda like to disappear too I think.
Then's he back in the Palisades feeling lonely and all.
As someone mentioned before, Madeline is a folk singer, and "Slow Bang" is one of her albums (good stuff by the way). However, it has not been said yet that Conor probably knew Madeline personally (She is from Athens, GA, and Conor lived there a while while he was recording Lifted and the 2 eps from that era.) So, it is possible that the song is talking about being with her physically, or that he's just simply listening to her album, or both. Assuming he was intimate with her at least at one time that would explain the whole theme of "feeling close, but keeping my distance".
"All through the house the strong smell of burnt sage" is definitely a reference to salvia ('sage' being the common name for the salvia genus). It is true, as someone mentioned that several ancient cultures burned sage to get rid of evil spirits or whatever, but this is of course for anyone who doesnt know because salvia is a potent hallucinogenic drug. So in this scene he is either listening to Madeline's Slow Bang while smoking salvia, or they're smoking it together, which would explain the line "I know a diving bell when I hear it, we're going down under the surface". (By the way.....this song is perfect for trippin)
I think 'jump ropes and slit writs' is a reference to suicide (i.e. hanging yourself with a jump rope). So feeling connected to Madeline, or anyone for that matter, while he deeply desires that, makes him afraid it will turn out like his previous, gravely unsuccessful relationships. (p.s. salvia trips often bring up memories, good or bad, in vivid detail)
As for the line "bust through the firewall into heaven" I'm torn, because everything mentioned so far could be right. Could be a reference to sex, or it could be a reference to the fire shaman guy dieing in the 'firewall'. I'll also add it could be a reference to a computer's firewall, which of course is supposed to keep out bad things. This would make sense since the song had recurrent themes of both nature and technology. Either way it reminds me of the line in "No One Would Riot for Less" that mentions death coming in a "holy wall of fire".
I think the "crooked crosses falling from the sky" are either swastikas (since the intro mentions Hitler), or crosses as in Christ's cross. Either way, they're falling from the sky, meaning losing their power.
"I and I" is a Rastafarian term basically meaning a sense of being whole in one's self. This song and album has many Rastafarian references.
All in all, it's an amazing song. I was a little disappointed with Cassadega, and devasted to learn that Bright Eyes would only do one more album, but at least they're going out in style.
They have done studies with DMT and many people reported experiences with 'reptilian creatures' some of which where loving and others horrifying.
So if you think about. Life can be a series of hallucinations. Dreams within dreams.
acsu.buffalo.edu/~jatill/175/…
Basically it is about a Shaman who is considered a fire God who spends much of his life dreaming. He dreams up another creation who becomes his son. In his old age a fire burns through his temple, he walks through it knowing it is his time to die and as the fire consumes and caresess him- he realizes that he too, is merely an illusion of another persons dreams.
check it out. thoughts?